danbennett2u Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 95 Imoreza AWD 171k miles.. When I bought the car the brake rotors were so warped the side to side shaking would cause this weird loose feeling, like two parts were smacking each other somewhere in the steering. fixed brakes but noticed I get same feeling going over railroad tracks at an angle. normal driving I feel nothing. very spirited driving feels fine. I can go over speed bumps and not feel it. I am not sure what to check or if this is even really a major problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Probably just worn out struts. Common wobble parts are steering rack bushings, rear control arm bushings, and struts. Wobbles with associated clunks could be ball joints, and inner and outer tie rod ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uniberp Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 95 Imoreza AWD 171k miles.. When I bought the car the brake rotors were so warped the side to side shaking would cause this weird loose feeling, like two parts were smacking each other somewhere in the steering. fixed brakes but noticed I get same feeling going over railroad tracks at an angle. normal driving I feel nothing. very spirited driving feels fine. I can go over speed bumps and not feel it. I am not sure what to check or if this is even really a major problem. Ball joints first. There are tricks to getting the pinch bolt out without snapping it off, which is VERY common, and a pain to work past if you do. I drill the center of the thread end with a 1/8" which seems to allow the the threads to loosen enough. the heat of the drilling may also allow the PBlaster lubricant to penetrate further into the joint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru_dude Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Sounds like a sway bar bushing. Will make a clunk when approaching a grade or bump AT AN ANGLE. Struts don't behave that way. Seen people complain about the same thing many times and struts are always blamed, but it's usually sway bar bushings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesstutrey Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 (edited) Sounds like a sway bar bushing. Will make a clunk when approaching a grade or bump AT AN ANGLE. Struts don't behave that way. Seen people complain about the same thing many times and struts are always blamed, but it's usually sway bar bushings. He never said there was a clunk, just looseness in the wheel. Railroad tracks kind always do that, i live in a spot where i pretty much have to cross them all the time. Replacing my tie-rods made it a lot less loose. I'm waiting for my ball joints to go. I don't think it's ball joints, i think it's control arm bushings or tie rods, my gut says "tie rods." Especially if they've never been replaced on a 171k car.. the bushings probably aren't in very good shape either, which just makes it a bit worse. Replacing my sway links did nothing with train tracks, sways should only really be coming into effect when turning since that is why they exist for the most part. yeah they prevent side to side wobble over bumps, but train tracks don't cause sway like that. Edited September 1, 2012 by lesstutrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbennett2u Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 it doesnt feel like it is that far down towards the wheels, almost feels like it is in the steering shaft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 (edited) Jack up the front of your car and n wiggle your tire up and down if there is significant movement i would say it is your ball joints. Also when you have your car off the ground you can feal if there is slop in your Ty rods just grab the ty rod ends and see if they have free movement up and down they shouldn't have any. Edited September 2, 2012 by mikaleda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru_dude Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 like two parts were smacking each other somewhere in the steering. He never said there was a clunk. Are you sure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbennett2u Posted September 8, 2012 Author Share Posted September 8, 2012 no clunk, thats way to heavy of a sound as opposed to what is happening, kind of hard to explain other than it just feels like something inside the dash is loose. doesnt feel like it goes all the way out to the wheels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru_dude Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 no clunk, thats way to heavy of a sound as opposed to what is happening, kind of hard to explain other than it just feels like something inside the dash is loose. doesnt feel like it goes all the way out to the wheels I think I know what you're talking about being in the dash... I had a '96 Outback that did that after about the 10th camping trip that involved miles and miles of rough gravel roads started making a similar noise. Never figured out what it was though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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