Highway driving?

[stefan]

I got my alignment done today so i went down the highway... how good should it feel? it drove straight... but it felt kinda scary at 100kph.. like 65mph. It felt like the wind could blow me right off the road... its hard to explain. It wasn't very smooth. Maybe its just me? i drive 400kms highway every weekend in a mazda B3000.. maybe i just need to get used to it? And the front of the window frames leak really bad, the wind was screaming in.

[25Horseplay]

I was just on the freeway doing 75-80 MPH and it was smooth and straight. (89L) None of my Festiva's ever felt really bad except when I had a bad tire. Car wanted to pull and shimmy then.

[packrat427]

I drove 90mph + to Colorado , no problems.
One time coming home from St.Louis , the wind was gusting 45-50 mph , when i came over a hill by Litchfield , the wind hit me so hard in the side ,it literally blew me onto the shoulder , with great force .
That was the only time I was ever got scared and almost pulled over for a while .

[GenevaDirt]

^^....that wouldn't have been you waking up on the shoulder....would it....lol.....I am not saying that to loud though....it has happened to me.
But I drive 70 plus on the way to work and I have no problems or wierd feelings like I am going to blow away....even in the heaviest crosswinds

[Pu241]

Lowering springs on the front will greatly reduce the wind induced wandering!

[packrat427]

I even had 4 people in the car .

That was a crosswind that came from a hilly area , it really felt like I was broad sided

I had it floored from the state line to Raymond , Il. and had a hard time keeping 65 mph , it was so windy .

That does not happen too often , and yes I have almost woke up in the Comedian :lol: :lol: :lol:

[stefan]

humm.. im not sure what to replace next? new control arms, tie rods, tie rod ends. Would the front sway-bar bracket bushings affect anything? the only other thing i can think of is the suspension.. i know my springs and struts are really tired.

Also i had a hard time getting up to 100 and keeping it up there?

As for the doors i dunno... it was the seals leaking i think.

[project b6t]

I have been up to about 125 in my festiva and over 110 its pretty scary but up to that i was just fine. How new are your shocks? Tires and tire pressures? even when my festy was stock with bad shocks doing 85 mph wasn't bad.

[gdawgs]

[quote="stefan"]humm.. im not sure what to replace next? new control arms, tie rods, tie rod ends. Would the front sway-bar bracket bushings affect anything? the only other thing i can think of is the suspension.. i know my springs and struts are really tired.
quote]

Yes, if the bushings have deteriorated enough so that there is slop in the stabilizer bar, it makes a HUGE difference. A guy I work with recently bought a Festiva, and on one side, the bushing was completely missing. That thing was scary to drive at 25 mph.

Jack up the car, grab the wheel(tire whee, not steering wheel) and move it around in every direction you can think of, and see if you can detect any slop. If tie rod ends are bad, you'll be able to rotate the wheel about a vertical axis if you have your hands in the 3-9 oclock positions. If the stabilizer bushings are bad, you'll be able to move the wheel front to back.

[gdawgs]

Ooops, I just noticed that you said the bracket bushings. I was actually talking about the bushings that go into the control arms. But the bracket bushings could cause problems as well. Either way, it sounds like something is worn out. Don't just go blindly replacing parts(that get expensive). Figure out what is worn, and fix the problem.

[stefan]

well the only thing up front that hasnt been replaced would be the bracket bushings. I got new control arms and that included those bushings. also got new tie rod ends and tie rods. That was all put on less than a tank of gas ago.

[freshtiva]

I had a bent torsion beam once and it was scary. Felt like the back of the car was trying to pass the front, esp after hitting a bump. Really squirrely !

[packrat427]

A bad strut will make the car have that jump sideways feeling when you hit a hole or bump too.

[Futurefesty90]

i was driving around charlotte motor speedway once and the wind was so bad a little dust twister showed up. the wind pushed me in the other lane, slowed me down, and sped me up. i wasnt going but 45mph.