Drifting side to side on highway -- can't keep it straight!
 

Hey all, I'm hoping someone can help!!

We purchased a new 2019 Fit last year. It had been driving great.. Lane assist was best I've ever used in a car. Didn't bounce between lines as I've experienced with other cars.

A couple months ago I started experiencing the car drifting left and right on the highway. I can't keep it going straight. The steering still seems very responsive.. the car just won't track straight. I'll start to go to the left and make slight adjustment to the right and then it's drifting to the right, then back to the left. Feels like I'm playing bumper cars between the lane! If I take my eyes off the road for a second I'm heading out of my lane.. The lane assist also won't stay centered anymore either..

I took it into the dealer. They said everything checks out. They drove it.. seems fine to them. Steering fine. Alignment is in spec. Suspension looks good. Tires great.. nothing. Admittedly it can be subtle at times. But other times it feels like I'm going to loose control of the vehicle.

They've offered to ride around with me in a new one off the lot to see if it's just how the car handles.. but I've been hesitant in pandemic times to ride around with a mechanic.. and I'm certain the car didn't handle like this for the first year we owned it.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Does it happen if you turn it off?

Turn the car off? I haven't attempted this.. especially because it's most noticeable at highway speeds..

What kind of tires do you have, and what's the wear pattern? I suspect a problem with the fronts, but more info needed. Out of round tires and unbalanced tires can do strange things to handling. Did they give all the tires a complete check and maybe a rotation to see if anything changes?

Front Tires
 

Just popped out and took a couple pics. They are stock tires. I don't think there's any unusual wear.. but I'm no expert. Honda said they looked good and they didn't rotate them.. Been making sure pressure is right.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...3a26a3ccb.jpeg
Front Left
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...d7f568582.jpeg
Front Left
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...a2e3806b1.jpeg
Front Right
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...7261ba78f.jpeg
Front Right

These are the stock tires.. I don't think there's any unusual wear, but I'm no expert. Honda said they were in good shape, but I'm not sure how detailed they got. They didn't rotate them. I've been making sure pressure is good.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...a99dcd912.jpeg
Front Left
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...f1cb54f2a.jpeg
Front Left
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...3b20be1d5.jpeg
Front Right
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...2bb5b833b.jpeg
Front Right

Of course I meant have you turned off the lane assist from the infotainment menu? I assume it can be turned off like most cars. Then you can see if there's a difference.

Yes, it happens without lane assist turned on.

I replied to this with pictures 2 times now.. I think it has to be approved. Hopefully those will come through soon.. but they are just the stock tires on the car.. doesn't look like any unusual wear.

A couple other things to check:

1. Same tire pressure all around. Different tire pressure, esp. in the fronts, can change lateral traction.

2. Inspect the rims and make sure no damage - dings, dents, flat spots, etc.

Since the car is too new to have suspension issues - worn bushings etc - I'm still back at tires.

If it were me, I'd try a rotation and see if that makes any difference. If it does, at least you have it narrowed down and can consider replacing tires. If it doesn't, then it's probably alignment or suspension, despite what the dealer says.

If it didn't happen new then obviously it's a problem. Driving a different car won't prove anything. Is there a different dealer you can take it to?

Our cars have a relatively large cross section for their weight and tire size. wind affects them a lot. could it be windy when you are noticing it more? or even turbulence from tractor trailers?

also, our LKAS isn't super high tech, it does bounce around from line to line. so it could just be totally normal, and maybe you're noticing it more now

I'll say this.. I was behind another Fit on the highway yesterday and they were straight and true down the road.. I probably looked like I was drinking trying to follow behind them. It IS much more noticeable behind a semi or if it's windy.. but not in a normal way. I ride motorcycles and am a Class A commercial driver, so I'm very familiar with the aerodynamics at play between big and little vehicles. It seems much worse than just normal turbulence caused by that.

I checked pressure again this morning. They were all within 1 psi of each other. The sticker says 33 on fronts and 32 on backs. I'm just a speck over 32 on the fronts.
I did notice all 4 tires are worn slightly more on the outside. Crudely measured with a penny.. Maybe this is normal? I know you can't adjust the rear tire alignment.

One thing I didn't mention in the original post.. mostly because I can't really pin point exactly when this started.. Backing out of a downward slopped driveway and then taking off kind of fast (to avoid traffic) we heard a metallic ping kind of sound. I want to say it came from the back, but we couldn't pin point it. I told Honda about this as well, and they came up with nothing.

One other bit of information.. for about a week we were staying at my wife's parents house. Every morning we would back out of their downstairs garage up a hill while turning. Then turning the other direction to pull away (going down the hill) the steering would jump. Tire's skipping. I assume this is just cause it was on an odd angle with the tires turned all the way. Could this have damaged something?

I could take it to another dealer about an hour from here. Or maybe another mechanic not affiliated with Honda.. Thoughts?

Isn't it still under warranty?

Yes it is. But if my Honda dealer says nothing is wrong with it, what am I to do? Also, it is my understanding that I don't have to take it to a Honda dealer for warranty work? We never buy new cars off the lot but we did with this one because it doesn't seem to depreciate as fast..

So, did you have the tire balance yet? and also tire rotation? Front to back, and back to front?

I hope I am not adding to the problem, but if you turned the system off, and it is still not keeping lane steady then it must be something else, most likely tires.

outside wear should occur with either too much positive camber, or possibly odd toe angles. But if your alignments in spec it wouldn't be either.

Unless you were gunning it, our engines shouldn't wheel hop much. If it was a medium to light acceleration and you were still getting wheel hop, your differential isn't working properly. I highly doubt you've damaged your differential because of how beefy it is, but you could check by driving circles in a parking lot with the steering wheel locked in either direction, if nothing feels weird then there shouldn't be a problem with the dif.

if you've been driving aggressively enough to somehow wheel hop, I would also check all three engine mounts, as a precaution. I've only blown engine mounts on diesel VWs but they do wear out.

If you had a ramp or lift you could inspect all the linkages, both steering and suspension, to make sure all the tie arms/bushings, etc were all solid. Wiggle everything and make sure nothing's bent.

I also agree with most people in that if you're able, try another dealership. Might as well use the warranty while you're covered by it.

Could it be the road surface, like, do the roads you typically drive have major big rig traffic? Roads being driven on by a lot of truck traffic can get depressions where their tires roll, and while not usually deep enough to see visually, can be felt and will cause tramlining, especially with our narrow light cars.