Floating sensation and car moves sideways on the highway

[the_mork]

I'm trying to figure out whats wrong with my suspension but I'm having a hard time.

When I'm on the highway sometimes my car will feel like it is floating and move sideways just a bit when I cross a seam in the pavement, this doesn't happen at very low speeds but can happen anywhere between 30 and 75 mph, it feels just like taking a curve at high speeds except I'm going straight and the wheel doesn't move. It seems like its always going left but that could just be because of the crown in the road.

I've jacked up the car and there is no side to side or up and down play in either of the front tires so I'm thinking that ball joints and tie rod ends are pretty well ruled out. I had a friend who works at a shop down the road put it up on the lift and take a look at the suspension, he said everything looked fine but that it might be struts.

Struts do seem logical to me since the car has 98k on the clock but it doesn't seem like the ride is very harsh.

Any ideas?

If it is struts what do you recommend for replacements with emphasis mostly on budget and a bit on performance?

[banishedmunk]

test your struts by pressing down hard on each sde of the car. let go then watch ast the car rebounds on its self. if it bounces around a good bit then the struts(front) shocks(rear) are shot and need replacing.

the replacements that you will need all depend on what you ntend on usng your car for.

[91tizzy]

My 94 sundance did that (also turned the wheel transitioning from on off throttle, scary little thing to drive for the year it was like that) anyway long story short I replaced all front end bushings and new struts and bearing plates with lowering springs and it was fine. If everything else checks out then it will most likely be the bearing plates for the struts imho.

[50trimmed1g]

How about the toe on your front and rear tires. I have horrible toe in on my passenger rear tire and my car steers on its own around turns??

[the_mork]

Originally Posted by banishedmunk

test your struts by pressing down hard on each sde of the car. let go then watch ast the car rebounds on its self. if it bounces around a good bit then the struts(front) shocks(rear) are shot and need replacing.

All four corners rebound about the same, there is some bounce there but it is nothing like the Lincoln I had with blown struts.

My 94 sundance did that (also turned the wheel transitioning from on off throttle, scary little thing to drive for the year it was like that) anyway long story short I replaced all front end bushings and new struts and bearing plates with lowering springs and it was fine. If everything else checks out then it will most likely be the bearing plates for the struts imho.

I hope this isn't the case, maybe it isn't that big of a deal and it sounds like your case was much worse but I don't want to replace struts, springs, and bearing plates. Did you think it could have been fixed just by replacing the bearing plates? I do just fine under the hood but I know next to nothing about suspension so I'll ask a friend to look into this for me.

How about the toe on your front and rear tires. I have horrible toe in on my passenger rear tire and my car steers on its own around turns??

It doesn't really happen in turns but this also sounds promising, when I'm having my bearing plates checked out I think I'll pay for a little bit of time on the alignment rack, or maybe I'll be told there's an easier way to check it, like I said before I don't know much about suspension at all.

the replacements that you will need all depend on what you ntend on usng your car for.

I thought I'd covered this but I'll try to be a bit more clear, I don't take my car to the track because I really don't believe convertibles without frame extensions should road race/autocross I might take it to the drag stip but I'm not going to be doing enough of that for it to really be a consideration. A stock replacement would be ok but if there is another strut within a similar price range that is durable and offers a bit more sport without breaking my teeth when I cross the railroad tracks I would be interested in it. So far I've been looking at Tokico blue struts and at $139/pair and KYB GR-2 struts at about 135/pair. I've heard KYBs are pretty much the stock replacement and the blues are a little sportier but also ride like crap. I guess I'm looking for opinions and possibly alternatives but I can't break the bank since I'm in college and every dollar I save is that much sooner that I can get other go fast parts.

[kingjust]

Originally Posted by 50trimmed1g

How about the toe on your front and rear tires. I have horrible toe in on my passenger rear tire and my car steers on its own around turns??

Honestly, your struts have nothing to do with what you are feeling. 50trimmed1g is completely right, your toe is way off either in front or back. More then likely your front. I went through the same thing where driving over the lines in the road it would seem to float or grab and steer on it's own. Mine starting doing this because I did a late night outter tie rod job with no alignment. Toe was way the f off. Get an alignment and call it a day. If it's still doing it, check your tie rods...

KJ

[the_mork]

Originally Posted by kingjust

Honestly, your struts have nothing to do with what you are feeling. 50trimmed1g is completely right, your toe is way off either in front or back. More then likely your front. I went through the same thing where driving over the lines in the road it would seem to float or grab and steer on it's own. Mine starting doing this because I did a late night outter tie rod job with no alignment. Toe was way the f off. Get an alignment and call it a day. If it's still doing it, check your tie rods...

KJ

I'll try to get it in tomorrow, until then I'm just avoiding the highway or taking the Jeep.

[50trimmed1g]

I think it could probably be a tie rod issue after re reading your post. You probably have a worn tie rod end or inner tie rod going bad. That causes play between your wheel and your steering rack and the car is steering itself over little cracks. The steering wheel might be straight, but over cracks the wheel turns by itself hence the auto steer.

[91tizzy]

Im am almost willing to put money on the bearing plates.

[kevingst]

Get an alignment then come back and post before and after specs and tell us how the problem is gone.

[the_mork]

Work is killing me and my girlfriend just got into an accident so I can't afford to have either of my cars down right now, I'll get it done but it might have to wait till next week. I'll try to post the results, anything specific you want?

[kevingst]

They should provide you with a sheet afterwards that shows the before and after toe,camber, and caster.

[the_mork]

The car seems better but I haven't had a chance to try it out extensively. He said that there is no adjustment for camber so he couldn't do anything to fix it for me.

[kevingst]

Yea, he can't adjust camber without either installing a kit or an adjustable upper ball joint. Camber looks ok though.

[SnowBird]

My car did the same thing because the body was twisted. Everytime I would hit a little bump in the road or dip the ass end of the car would float side to side even though the steering wheel didnt move. I replaced all struts and shocks. Same thing. I checked into the car and it was wrecked before, it was hit in the back while it was parked. I kicked the shit out of the driver side quarter panel out of rage and found it was all bondo. I got rid of it and got another shell.

Hopefully yours can be fixed with suspension parts. Good luck.

[the_mork]

Does anyone know what SAI stand for because that is slightly out of spec too.

I've been looking at camber kits (well just RRE) but the only one I've found is for around -2 degrees and I only need a little, anything else I could get to make things come back into line better?

[pagosa dsm]

SAL means steering axis inclination. If it is not at factory specs,you might have stut tower in at top and spindle or stut bent.