So, in the last maybe 3,000 miles I have noticed that the car wanders a lot more over rough/uneven pavement. Tires are worn evenly on all four corners and have recently been rotated and balanced. I have never had the car aligned (!) but it has never pulled to one side and still drives straight with hands off the wheel. It seems like this is getting worse as the days go by. Also, I have been getting some noise from the front left tire when making sweeping right turns at speed (sounds like the tire is scrubbing on the pavement or vibrating) - but not the right when turning either way.

I want any suggestions or conclusions before taking to the dealer. Please feel free to ask questions to help me further diagnose. I'm thinking it's probably:

• Wheel bearings
• Alignment
• Control arm bushings
• ???

Any help you can provide is great.

 

I'd jack up the front and spin the wheel, if you hear the bearings, they are bad. I have seen more then a few go bad on one side well before the other. 42K is on of the earlier ones, but 60K is not odd. It no sound check the bushings.

 

+1 on wheel bearings. All though in all likely hood your control arm bushings are also probably dying.

 

I had it aligned today. I don't have the printout in front of me, but it was a little out of spec. After driving a few miles on some not-so-perfect roads on the way home, I'm convinced that this has mostly fixed the problem. There's a more centered feel to the steeing wheel again and no wandering, loose steering in corners or on ruts in the road. It was raining too hard to see if the noise from the front left tire is gone, but overall road noise has decreased. The shop where I had this done said bushings and wheel bearings were fine.

I have to get it into the dealer fairly soon to have my driver's seat looked at (it feels like it shifts a little on hard stops or in hard turns) and I'll have them look at the bushings and wheel bearings while they have it.

I'm going to think about having those bushings replaced before they're shot. Do you guys recommend Powerflex bushings or the Alta PSRS (or something else if it's better)?

 

The Alta PSRS is going to transfer more NVH to the cabin then the powerflex stuff. It also will likely need some sort of maintaining because it is a bearing system, but you should confirm that one with Alta.

The powerflex stuff is install and forget and will last longer than OEM at the expensive of slightly more NVH but greatly improved feel under braking and turning (or so the people who run them say).