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2003 - Noise, uneven tire wear, hard to drive straight? - Updated!

2006 Views 15 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  bobk25
My 2003 Forester, 114k, has been making noise when I drive on bad roads. The tires seem to be wearing unevenly. Driving on highway seems hard to keep straight, and going over bad roads or railroad crossing impact is harsh, feel like there is no suspension at all. I replaced shocks at 70k, Excel-g, also had a local shop replace sway bar links and some bushings(I wish I asked the details). Recently complained to the dealer and they couldn't find anything wrong. Are they just not interested in this kind of work? I know something is definitely wrong. Now I am planning to work on it myself, but on a limited budget, I am looking for suggestion troubleshooting, and what to replace first, given I can't afford to replace everything at once. Can the shocks be bad again? I am planning to keep the car for another 100k. I am not a mechanic, but have lots of tools and no fear.
Thank you all.
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Rotating tyres won't do anything other than make sure they all wear out as quickly as each other.

Has your steering rack come loose?

He says he's got new sway bar links, it won't be those even if they were worn out, they just make a little clonking noise constantly.

Jack a front wheel and see if you can wobble it around, if so look and see where it's loose. I agree that you need to explain where on the tyre it's wearing, too.

Another thing that's possible is if you've somehow got too little caster. It would feel very light in the steering, wander like it's on holidays.

But getting it up on jacks and looking at things is going to be your first objective.
I wonder how tishenglu got on...

After all the responses, it would be nice if he came back and told us.
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