Swaying problem

My car has had a bad swaying problem on the freeway for along time, but now its getting BAD. It bobs back and fourth uncontrolably and makes a thumping sound in the rear passenger wheel. My buddy says it looks like my wheels are cambering back and fourth under the chassis. Also, whatever the problem is allows the bottom bolt on the hub to rub the inside of the rim sometimes.

Any idea of what this could be? I just replaced the Struts and Strut mounts with KYB all the way around... I need to know what the problem is before i spend money to fix the wrong problem.

Did you have the car aligned after installing the struts?

I would recheck all of the bolts on your strut assemblies ... particularly the ones on top.

Like i said, its been doing this waaaay before the new struts... The new struts make it a LOT better than it was. Its something in the rear passenger wheel, i can hear it and feel it, but i wouldnt know what.

If it is making a "wubbing" noise and gets quieter when you turn one direction ... you have a bad wheel bearing. It is relatively common to have the p-side rear wheel bearing wear out.

It could be potentially dangerous if it completely fails (i.e. locks up).

Did you have the car aligned?

like jeff said, wheel bearings would be good to check

also check your ball joints and alignment.

tie-rod end or wheel bearings?......you should check those.

easy to install. did you change ride height?

cause if you do that, then all your alignment angles change.

i would check the wheel bearings before you spend money to have it aligned. If your wheel bearing is worn considerably or at all, as it sounds then it is imposible to align the wheels properly. I am having to trouble shoot the same type problem.
BlitzKeb you said "easy to install" were you meaning the tie rods, bearing or both are easy. The wheel bearing from my understanding need to be pressed in to the hub. This I am finding doesn't come without great expence. $250 for one bearing installed including labor. I would do it my self if it didn't require a press. any suggestions.

One other point to consider. The sound and rubbing is leading me to the bearing. the swaying could be your tires. I was running falkens on my stock 93 15' rims, and during highway driving I would find the same type swaying better described as a yawing moment. Even small side to side movements of the steering wheel would send the car into an oscillation that in some instances were dangerous.
I found that a change to, whether you like them or not, Yok ES 100's got rid of the swaying completly. Why? Well I don't know. But I start with falkens and the yawing was there. went to yok's the yawing was gone, ended up with falkens again because of price, the yawing was back. I removed all four perfectly good/bad un-used tires and put yok's back on stricktly because of the yawing instability.

Now other tire brands may get rid of the yawing aswell but with the wheel sizes of the stock set up I am very limited on speed rated uniform choices. I hope this helps, get those bearings check out before you find out what it is like to drive a 200+ hp midengine tri-cycle.

P.S bearings are easy to check. just jack up your car and if there is even a microscopic movement when you pull in and out on the wheel you have wear in your bearing.

ummm i was thinking tie rods or something similar....

wheel bearings are easy to install, prolly easier that tie rod ends.

I don't know why it cost soo much....

you need a torque wrench to torque down the axle hub locknut. and a grease packer to pack grease in the new wheel bearing or pack it by hand which takes long as hell. other than that all u need is just basic tools.

I guess you have to be shown in order to know how to do it.

if that is your problem just post and I can try to go into full extent of the job. :biggrin:

lol blitzkeb.. :eek7:

i would check the wheel bearings before you spend money to have it aligned. If your wheel bearing is worn considerably or at all, as it sounds then it is imposible to align the wheels properly. I am having to trouble shoot the same type problem.
BlitzKeb you said "easy to install" were you meaning the tie rods, bearing or both are easy. The wheel bearing from my understanding need to be pressed in to the hub. This I am finding doesn't come without great expence. $250 for one bearing installed including labor. I would do it my self if it didn't require a press. any suggestions.


do you mean a bearing remover....you don't need it but it helps if you can't get the bearing off....I've never ran into that problem.

theres a pulling method you can do but you have to be careful if your reuseing the bearing. if replacing it dosent matter.

you can use soft taps from a hammer to put the innier and outter wheel bearings in.