Subaru problem feels like a flat tire

[salve7]

I have a gen 1 97 subaru outback 4 cylinder that intermittently feels as though a tire is flat. It doesn't seem to coincide with turning, braking, acceleration or speed. Happened once on my way to Kentucky so I pulled over to see which tire was flat. Found that they were all full and continued without a problem for another couple of miles then it happened again. I limped it home and then took it to my local shop and the only thing they could find was worn out stabilizer links in the rear. After researching it I found nothing relating the links to the kind of "oval feeling tire" sensation I was having. Can anyone help me on this puzzle?
Thanks,
Jay

 

[Jrally]

By flat tire feeling, are you saying the car is pulling to a particular corner and handling in general, very poorly? Or are you saying it's pulling to a corner and feeling down on power? Could it be a wheel bearing going bad, just not making a lot of noise yet.

-Jon

 

[salve7]

It's not pulling to any side really, it feels like I am going over symmetrical ruts. I've owned several land rovers so I have experienced about every sort of failure but the closest I have come to this is a drive shaft going out, but this is different. That's the mystery. I can't even tell if it's front or back but keep in mind I was worried a wheel was about to fall off so I didn't test it too thoroughly. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow as the shop tested everything and only found a loose sway bar. I was thinking axel but they said they were good (torn boots but...) I don't want to throw parts on it hoping it works.

 

[CMiller]

Could be your steering rack bushings are shot. That will allow the tie rods to feel sloppy which translates to the steering wheel allowing some wobble at speed. Maybe a ball joint, or control arm bushings, Just a guess...

 

[gahi]

Check for dirt build up inside the wheels. Our impreza gets this with either mud or snow, especially after playing in it.

 

[salve7]

I will check for dirt, I have been playing on the lake bed a little... I picked it up today and drove circles and figure eights in a parking lot and thought I heard a little pop at one point but nothing that really concerns me. The alignment is off so I am going to get that fixed and get the tires checked. There is a little play in the steering but nothing different in the last 20,000 miles. Its still a mystery but I am going to take the suggestions here and see what I can do. Thanks everyone and if anybody thinks of anything else I'm def still up for ideas.

 

[salve7]

The car is doing it again. This time since I wasn't so concerned about the wheel flying off I pushed it a little to see if I could pinpoint something. It felt like the left front tire's traction control /abs /****** was pulling the car as I hit the gas. Maybe a bearing but again very little if no noise (over the piston super slap anyways). Any thoughts? I'm not driving it and plan on selling but I'd like to know what's wrong before I pawn the old gal off.

 

[Idlehour]

Try swapping front tires tO eliminate any balance/separated tread/bent wheel issues.
If it stays on the driver side it might be the cv axle even though they said they were fine. It can cause a hop/shake and usually there is a clunk you can feel through the steering wheel when doing a sharp turn. The part is ~60 bucks and looks surprisingly simple to replace. I need to replace mine on my 98, but the shaking automagically resolved itself a while back. Only symptom i still have is it stinks once in a while when grease gets puked onto the block from the torn boot.

 

[Railvan]

I had a similar sounding problem on a Datsun pickup years ago. I finally figured out it was a bulge in a tire sidewall that only showed up when the tire was heated up. The bulge was on the backside (inside) sidewall of the tire on the rear of the truck. I only found it because after stopping to inspect the truck several times when it would start to shake, the tire just happened to be stopped with the bulge near the lower part of the tire where I could see it. Check your tires very closely.

 

[Bigfoot1963]

I would really check your tires for tread separation. My Mazda was exhibiting similar problems and found that both front tires had separated.

 

[chuchu]

loose lug nuts on a wheel will also cause what you're describing.

 

[salve7]

Lug Nuts were the first thing I checked along with the suspension parts and steering components. as far as tire belt separation I would think that it would be more consistent than it has been. Prob wait until its doing it on a regular basis and take it back to the shop and see if they can figure it out or I might just sell with an as is warning.