Car pulls to the right or left...getting extremely pissed

[Sniper260687]

I bought a set of Enkeis raijin couple weeks ago from tire rack i got them mount and balanced from the subaru dealership and they told me that one of my tires was out of round and i need a new one but better to buy all 4, so i waited and drove the car and it was pulling to the right a bit at low speeds and at highway speed it would pull badly, so i went to discount tires and they rotate the right front tire to the left one and of course now it pulls to the left so with that i order me some continental dws tires,it was mounted today,went i took the car for a spin the car was pulling to the right in a horrible way so they rotate them again now now goes to the left, so they said maybe they got a bad tire and will order a new one, at this point im starting to think that one of the wheels is completely ****ed and i never even hit a curve, i must say now that the car drives straight but when i stop or turn either left or right and try to get back straight again it pulls hard takes a while to get straight.What are you guys opinions, im at the point that i will trade the car for something else that's how frustrating this is :/

2011 sti sedan 22k miles no suspension mods at all

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[sc00by4life]

1.) the wheel is out of round

2.) your alignment sucks

3.) roads you drive on also play a factor.

[Uncle Scotty]

and/or the alignment is just total ****

[Luke@tirerack]

wheels would not cause a pull unless one of them had a different width or offset. This certainly sounds like a radial pull from a bad tire

Diagnosing a Tire pull

[Sniper260687]

Originally Posted by Uncle Scotty

and/or the alignment is just total ****

I highly doubt the alignment is not good, Like i said it pulls right hard at first then switch the right tire to the left and now pulls left, im starting to think is the tire, im going to put it in the back and see and wait for a new tire

[DeleriousZ]

Do you have the stock wheels and tires still? Put them back on and see what happens.

[SPIRK]

You got new rims and the car pulled. You got new tires and the car pulled more, which makes sense because the new tire offered more traction for the pull to utilize. If it started pulling after you got rims, but before new tires, then it's the rims. If you put that rim on the back then you're going to burn through that new tire real quick. Have the rim fully inspected. I've seen this before. The bolt surface of the rim wasn't paralell with the outer surface. Tire Rack is awesome and they'll send you a new rim right away if that's the case.

[Sniper260687]

Originally Posted by SPIRK

You got new rims and the car pulled. You got new tires and the car pulled more, which makes sense because the new tire offered more traction for the pull to utilize. If it started pulling after you got rims, but before new tires, then it's the rims. If you put that rim on the back then you're going to burn through that new tire real quick. Have the rim fully inspected. I've seen this before. The bolt surface of the rim wasn't paralell with the outer surface. Tire Rack is awesome and they'll send you a new rim right away if that's the case.

This actually make sense, im gonna have them check the rim and see if thats the issue, because since i got the rims its been pulling to one side

[Luke@tirerack]

having the mounting surface not aligned or "parallel" with the centerline of the wheel would cause a vibration not a pull. The wheel would wobble when rotated and the vibration could possibly be very severe.

have all for wheels checked to confirm same width and offset. If all four wheels are the same then it's a tire issue

[SPIRK]

Originally Posted by Luke@tirerack

having the mounting surface not aligned or "parallel" with the centerline of the wheel would cause a vibration not a pull. The wheel would wobble when rotated and the vibration could possibly be very severe.

have all for wheels checked to confirm same width and offset. If all four wheels are the same then it's a tire issue

That's possible. But, in his original post, he said the car was pulling with the old tires and it got worse with new tires. The same problem with two different sets of tires of different age and wear makes me think it must be something else. Would one rim being a different size cause this type of problem?

[Sniper260687]

Originally Posted by SPIRK

That's possible. But, in his original post, he said the car was pulling with the old tires and it got worse with new tires. The same problem with two different sets of tires of different age and wear makes me think it must be something else. Would one rim being a different size cause this type of problem?

Correct with the old tires the car would slightly pull to the right at low speeds and at highway speeds (80 to 90mph) if you let the steering wheel go i would go off track in a hurry, with new tires is actually even worse now, it goes straight but when i stop or turn either way the car does not want to go straight after a while

[SPIRK]

Can you describe the rims? Size, width, offset, etc. I looked on Tire Rack but I didn't see that info.

[Sniper260687]

Originally Posted by SPIRK

Can you describe the rims? Size, width, offset, etc. I looked on Tire Rack but I didn't see that info.

Enkei Raijins 18x8, the sticker on all 4 boxes shows offset of 45 but i did not check the wheels which i should of done before mounting it.

Offset: 45mm Backspacing: 6.25" Bolt Pattern: 5-114
Rec. Tire Size:245/40-18
Weight: 20.1lbs.

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Wheel...All&sort=Brand

[CopperTopNWOR]

I would say I had these sorts of symptoms when I first got a new set of Star Specs for my car on the stock wheels. It was in fact an alignment issues in regard to the camber on one side being off.

That being said, the fact that it is moving sides does sound like an issue with the tire.

When was your last alignment done? What are the roads like where you live? Does it happen more at certain intersections or areas you drive?

I ask the last two because the pull with the Star Specs happened more at couple intersections in town.

I am not saying that it isn't the wheels themselves. But it seems like the least likely cause.

[SPIRK]

I would hope the dealership checked to make sure they were all the same rim since you can't run different sizes on a Subaru. Take the car to them and tell them the problem didn't happen before you gave them your car. 22k miles means you're still under warranty. The rims shouldn't cause a problem with your warranty since they're the same size that came with the car.

[Sniper260687]

Originally Posted by CopperTopNWOR

When was your last alignment done? What are the roads like where you live? Does it happen more at certain intersections or areas you drive?

It happens in any road, it pulls like it wants to turn, you can see the steering wheel going left hard.

Last aliment done was at 15k miles

[Luke@tirerack]

Originally Posted by SPIRK

That's possible. But, in his original post, he said the car was pulling with the old tires and it got worse with new tires. The same problem with two different sets of tires of different age and wear makes me think it must be something else. Would one rim being a different size cause this type of problem?

if one wheels was a different offset or width it could cause a pretty dramatic pull

[Sniper260687]

Originally Posted by Luke@tirerack

if one wheels was a different offset or width it could cause a pretty dramatic pull

Which is exactly what im getting...... now with new tires, so basically it could be a bad wheel and bad tire at the same time

Discount tire will have the new Continental dws tire tmw and will see what happens, otherwise Tire Rack will have to replace my wheels

Im just really hoping is not a different size wheel, I dont want my AWD all messed up, I will check tmw on the wheels once they are unmounted

[Sniper260687]

Heres a short video i took just now coming home turning left then trying to go straight , quality is crap on my phone but you get the idea when you see the steering wheel doing the dramatic pull, a car was coming so i had to steer right asap

WP_20120814_221645Z.mp4 video by Diego_GolazoPinto - Photobucket

WP_20120814_221645Z.mp4 video by Diego_GolazoPinto - Photobucket

[CopperTopNWOR]

This is a pretty stupid question, but I have to ask. You did check your tire pressure at all 4 corners I assume?

[Sniper260687]

Originally Posted by CopperTopNWOR

This is a pretty stupid question, but I have to ask. You did check your tire pressure at all 4 corners I assume?

LOL....yea

[Uncle Scotty]

dws on a sti....not even once

[Sniper260687]

Originally Posted by Uncle Scotty

dws on a sti....not even once

Not sure what you are trying to say

[Sniper260687]

Got the tires replace from discount tires and its doing the same thing has to be a wheel issue now, just called Tirerack and spoke with Rudy he said he will speak to a manager about it and see what can be done

[Uncle Scotty]

Originally Posted by Sniper260687

Not sure what you are trying to say

them tires are ****.......hot butter soft ****

they are too soft and you are ****ing your sti by putting such marshmallow soft tires on it

and your wheel combination and alignment along with the too soft tires are causing your issue