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Car "floats" above 55mph

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FalleN4ng31

15+ Year Contributor
252
12
Sep 12, 2007
Clearwater, Florida
Background: I picked up my GST a short while back, and have been babying it as I've sorted out all the messes made by her previous owner. Until this morning, I had not taken it past 55mph, due to a sheared wheel stud. I replaced the hub/bearing outright for good measure.

This morning I got it above 55 for the first time, and the car seemed to "float." Bumps and unevenness in the road were amplified tenfold. Minor corrections caused big changes, it was more like driving my folks' RV than a car. The car exhibited this behavior on both wet and dry surfaces. It felt shaky and loose, as though any movement on the wheel would send it into a ditch. I have not had the car aligned, but it does not pull if you release the wheel.

Suspension is stock, suspension travel appears and feels normal. There is no visible damage or signs of wear (Beyond normal wear and tear) of suspension components. Wheels / tires were recently balanced before I mounted them on the car, there is no vibration on decel/braking or any other behavior that would lead me to believe they are out of balance. The tires are fairly cheap tires, Kumho Ecsta LX (Not my choice, they were new and free.) Wheel / tire size is: 17x7 +40, 205/50/17.

I wouldn't think this would be caused by cheap tires, at least not at 55-60mph, but my area of expertise is not suspension or wheels / tires. Any thoughts or insight is appreciated.

Edit - I just realized I put this in drivetrain and not handling, mis-click. Sorry about that.
 
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The only time I've had a floaty sensation similar to what you described is when my hub sheared off from the bearing housing on the front driver's side. When I inspected things the hub was sheared off and held in place by a very loose axle nut that was backed off a few threads. Perhaps double check that something like this hasn't happened? Otherwise I'd look for something not connected in the suspension.
 
I'd be willing to bet it's either a very worn bushing (or a combination of many worn bushings) or your alignment is off. I had a very similar problem with my old 350z and it ended up needing an alignment and control arm bushings.

It would probably be worth checking your tie rods for play as well, this could cause similar symptoms.
 
It def sounds like bad tie rods. That floating feeling means it's almost at the point of being not controlled. Check them out ASAP.
 
I just realized I never updated this with a resolution.

There were numerous issues that had to be sorted out. All four struts were completely toast and most of the rubber had rotted away. The only parts still in good order were the mounting plates and the springs. Everything else was replaced. However, the main culprit was a failed inner tie rod. Not a catastrophic failure, but the ball joint was so worn, it just spun freely. See the videos below to see what I'm talking about.

(If a mod could move this to handling, I'd appreciate it.)

Strut:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiZ7t_kwbeA

Inner Tie rod:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZfA9CyFAN8
 
Interesting, I'm having a very similar issue. I used a boat as describing the feeling I get, primarilly on the highway but any dips/impurities in the road my car takes really rough.

I might take a look at some of the things you listed such as tie rods, ball joints, etc to see if I can find any more problems.
 
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