help. my car sways side to side
 

i've already searched for this quite a bit. nobody else seems to have the exact same problem as i do.
the back end feels like its swaying back and forth. if i turn the steering wheel side to side it feels like the back end almost comes loose. it's worse the faster i go. i was thinking wheel bearings, but there's no play in them and they don't make any noise. anyone got any suggestions?

oh yea, car is a 2000 prelude base.
suspension is as follows:

H&R race springs
Koni Sport Struts
Spoon rear strut bar
spc ball joint camber kit (front only)
yokohama avs es100 front/ falken gr b fk451 rear (plenty of tread both)

i just had an alignment done a few weeks ago.


Modified by waterboy683 at 12:03 PM 7/13/2005

Re: help. my car sways side to side (waterboy683)
 

anyone?

Re: help. my car sways side to side (waterboy683)
 

Even though your description is lacking, I will try to answer. What could cause this?
Tire pressure - too low in the rear?
Alignment - especailly rear toe out
Blown rear shock(s)
Loose sway bar mounts

Re: help. my car sways side to side (00R101)
 

tire pressure is good.
the alignment is only a month old
shocks are fine
haven't checked sway bars. will do.

anyone else?

what kind of tires are you running?

Re: (EGPrelude)
 

yokohama avs es100 front, falken gr b fk451 rear

both tires i've used in the past and had no problems with.

this swaying is much worse than what could be caused by soft sided tires.
the car almost drives itself down the highway sometimes

Re: help. my car sways side to side (waterboy683)
 

bump

Re: help. my car sways side to side (waterboy683)
 

anyone else?

Re: help. my car sways side to side (waterboy683)
 

bushings alright? are all of the bolts tight? i know that sounds stupid, but when things like that happen it is usually something simple.

Re: help. my car sways side to side (98_4drCivic)
 

a visual inspection of all the bushings and nuts/bolts shows me everything is normal, but obviously i need to physically check everything. anyone else have an idea?

get your alignment checked again at the chop u went to. if everything else is good (bolts,bushings,tires,shocks not leaking) there really not much left.
sounds like a alignment prob

Re: (slowandfurious)
 

anyone else?

Re: (waterboy683)
 

well, i would check your aligment specs, maybe there out of wack... and then just to be safe do a tear down... weaving side to side is dangerous, not only for yourself, but others.. take everything apart, and inspect the bushings, bolts/nuts/shocks/ball joints/etc and see what your aligemnt specs are, most places can print them out.. hope this helps

Re: (slowandfurious)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slowandfurious &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">get your alignment checked again at the chop u went to. if everything else is good (bolts,bushings,tires,shocks not leaking) there really not much left.
sounds like a alignment prob</TD></TR></TABLE>

agreed

even though the shocks arent old, maybe they are defective.

Re: (D-CeReaL#4)
 

Check your rear upper control arm bushings. A bad upper arm will cause this. It's a scary feeling where the back end feels like it is geettin loose even around slow corners or while changing lanes.

Re: (89civicdx)
 

My old da6 did this BADLY

and my EJ with TEIN FLEX also does this

im plauged with it

iv never heard of upper rear arm bushes doing this so ill change those
P.S Iv already changed rear trailing arm bushes

Re: (Coupe-R)
 

Have you looked at the specs of the alignment? Get your hands on the number too. Toe, Camber, Caster. Out of spec values will indicate any suspension arm damage.

Try using a different set of tires from another car, or even rotate the tires. See if the problem improves.

Try to find a relatively flat and smooth road and drive. See if the problem persist. My opinion is your spring is way too stiff for the shock. The shock could be out. Even if it is still working, it is unable to control the spring, and your tire bounces all over the place. This is more apparent at the lighter-weight back end.

Re: (gogogomoveit)
 

What you mention will cause a boucy ride

NOT the rear end swaying around like the back end comes loose

I know exactly the feeling! Both my honda's do this and no one can fix em, tried EVERYTHING mentiond except replacing upper arm and toe adjustment bushes

thats next

Re: (Coupe-R)
 

Do these cars have a sway bar in the back?

Re: (fast95eg8)
 

Yes factory sway bars, and I have driven other hondas that also Sway like the back end is not attached to the front of the car.

Im going to replace Upper control arm with an adjustable type, and maybe front control arm and lower control arm bushes

Re: help. my car sways side to side
 

Re: help. my car sways side to side
 

Hi, did you ever find out what was wrong w/your car , swaying from side to side, feels like the rear ,while driving???my car is doing the same thing....feels like disconnected sway bar, i just put new pins in the front last summer.....i have to crawl under the rear and check it out....

Re: help. my car sways side to side
 

Thread. Is 8 years old. I hope he figured it out by now.

Re: help. my car sways side to side
 

Hahahaha. Oh how I've missed your comments.

erinsue007, create your own thread or research instead of commenting on an 8 year old thread. If you create your own thread be specific and tell us what you've checked.

Re: help. my car sways side to side
 

almost positive its your rear trailing arm bushings.

if even just one is bad your cars ass will look like a dolphin going down the road