When I make a sharp left turn, the steering wheel will center at the 11 o' clock position until i make a sharp right turn and then it'll center at the 1 o clock position. No audible or visible suspension issues otherwise. What would you say the culprit is? In the hopes of not disrupting any good ideas, let's assume I haven't checked any of the suspension bits and bushings. Also getting a slight vibration around 65mph which seems to likely be imbalanced tires (one or several). Will rebalance all of them after work tomorrow.
After more driving around the neighborhood paying close attention to exactly what was happening and doing copious amounts of NASIOC and subaruforester.org research, I believe I'm dealing with "memory steer". Steering rack bushings are on order and all 4 struts will be disassembled and rebuilt to ensure that they are assembled correctly. Apparently a flipped conical washer is pretty common (when struts have been pulled apart) and an easy fix.
Remember how much of a bitch of a time it was getting your front top hats to line up when we put them struts in.....could be this.
Yup, almost definitely. Replacement hats dropped right in with no complaining. I think the bent ear is what blew the bearing. Sounded like grinding teeth when rotated.
when we put his fronts in we had to tweak one of the ears on each of the top hats as it did have a noticeable tweak on each one.
Yeah, sounds about right. Those top hats are most assuredly in question. Will have to look around and find a set.
That's dealer cost but believe it or not, parts geek has them for the same price. Also, same part numbers 02-07. You're looking at the same cost.
