Weird Problem with Tercel

[Ferretman]

Hey All:


Something odd started happening with my (old) 1988 FWD Toyota Tercel. As I was driving it started to get very erratic in control, and it seemed as if the back wheels were slipping back and forth. I thought perhaps I had a flat tire so I stopped and took a look, but could find nothing.

Suspecting I might have a wheel joint issue (I had one once before on a front wheel but it didn't act like this) I spun the car around in a tight circle in a nearby parking lot. If there were a wheel joint problem then one of the tires would have been angled terribly, and/or I might have heard it "thumping" inside the wheel well. There was nothing, and the wheels seemed perfectly vertical.

I decided to go ahead and take the vehicle home (a couple of miles) and the car continued to feel like the wheels were "shifting" back and forth. It was pretty bad at higher speeds...mostly okay when I was going straight but any bump on the road or turn started the "shifting" process. It was definitely hard to control the vehicle properly at speed.

I'm thinking this is something like a U-joint or maybe a wheel bearing...anybody have any ideas on this?

Steve
Perplexed in Colorado

[Ferretman]

So folks know, I'm pretty sure now what the issue is.

This morning while cleaning up fireworks from last night I saw a rod along the rear axel clearly hanging loose on the driver's side. Closer examination indicated that it seemed to bolt up along the axle somewhere, but had come loose and was simply hanging.

Looking at my Hayes book for this car I see that this is the Lateral Control Rod, part of the suspension designed to keep tire response even. This seems to be the problem; the bolt holding it in the right place seems to have fallen out or broken.

The car has been towed back to the place I had said axle replaced back in March. They HAD to have removed this to replace the old axle, and so probably they didn't get something right or used a bad bolt or something.
I expect them to fix it under warranty.

Glad this car should be on the road soon. I want to hit 300,000 miles with it if I can.

Steve