I would measure the tires cold. If one is, say, 5 psi low, I’d drive to the station and add 5 psi to whatever the reading is I get at the station. Not exact, but should be quite close.
Truth is, exact isn’t necessary. I actually used to run mine just a bit different than the doorjam to compensate a bit for understeer (before I upgraded the swaybar) and the tire wore just fine.
So far the OP has not answered back as to whether it was a pressure issue or not.
It could in fact be a stiff sidewall type tire, but we can only speculate at this point.
The OP never said what size nor what type of Hankook tire. Outbacks could have either p255/55r17 or p225/60r16.
When I had BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/As on my 92 explorer, the were a harder riding tire. They were an LT series tire capable of 50psi. So even aired down to the truck’s 32 psi, they still road hard.
OK. Thanks for all the advice.
Seems the concensus was too much tire pressure. So I got a digital guage (Slime) and took the pressure, cold. Read 32 in the front and 30 in the rear–just what Subaru recommends. Not to be outdone, I borrowed my neighbor’s guage, also a Slime, but a sturdy, metal, dial-guage model. This one measured 30 in the front and 28 in the rear!
I was hoping this one would measure too high, not too low. Now I knew I couldn’t trust the guages (even if one of them might have been right), so I applied a little Zen and common sense. I decided to deflate each tire 2 lbs. I took it for a spin around the neighborhood (with lots of bumps and pot wholes), and what do you know? Smooth as silk!
So now I’m wondering: What’s right? I’m going to put in another lb. in each tire and see if I still get the same ride. If I do, then that’s what I’ll keep them at unless I plan a long highway trip. Lesson to be learned here: Approach your guages with healthy skepticism.
Thanks again, all of you.
A pound or two will hardly make any difference.
But if it feels good it’s alright…
I agree 100% with Circuitsmith. The important thing is that you’ve confirmed that your problem isn’t the tire pressure.
Unfortunately every single tire model sold is a compromise in some way or another. Some tire makers or even specific models within brand are far better than peers overall. The key is research. Unfortunately tire shops have absolutely no clue except to sell you what they have in stock or best profit maker.
“So I got a digital guage (Slime) and took the pressure, cold. Read 32 in the front and 30 in the rear–just what Subaru recommends. Not to be outdone, I borrowed my neighbor’s guage, also a Slime, but a sturdy, metal, dial-guage model.”
Personally, I would not trust either reading. A friend of mine purchased a Slime brand dial-type gauge a couple of years ago, and it was never accurate, even right out of the box. Then, after a few months it stopped functioning totally. As far as I am concerned, that brand is…junk.
I still have a brass dial-type Brookstone brand gauge that I purchased about 20 years ago for a fairly large amount of money, and after checking it last year against the very expensive gauges at both a tire store and a Subaru dealership, I found out that it is still reading pressure accurately. The moral of the story is that you get what you pay for.