Car swerves by itself

[DriverOne]

I don't know how else to write it. We all know the feeling of riding behind a semi truck - Left, right, lefRIGHT, righRIGHT, righLEFT... I have that problem all the time, semi or not. If I take a gentle turn on the highway, it's as if the car straightens itself out for a second and then continues in the turn, as if I'm playing a driving game with a keyboard. If I hit a bump, it's to the left or right for me, without the chance that I'll come off of it straight, even if I hit a spot in the highway that is across the entire lane. If I'm alone, the car pulls to the left pretty decently. If a passenger is in the car, it rides mostly straight, but still acts up. The front tires are losing tread FAST, while the rear tires almost look like I bought them yesterday. I had the car aligned a few months ago after I finished the swap.

Specs:

88LX manual (rusted frame)

Aspire swap, all new bearings, seals, rotors, calipers, drums, shoes, etc.
*Aspire swap does NOT have new sway bar bushings.

Unmodified Festiva stock springs front, new Monroe shocks for Festiva.

Unmodified Aspire stock rear springs, new Monroe shocks for Aspire.

14x6", 12lb mesh Enkei wheels

Toyo Proxes T1-R, 195 45 15.

[shadetree]

Sounds to me like your steering rack is the problem and the rear of the car has way to much suspension . It has to look way high in the rear ( cat in heat ) ?????

[gauge_half_inch]

Jack up the front and double check your tie rod ends and ball joints. If there is any play double check the jam nut isn't loose for starters, since it was aligned recently, they could have not tightened it enough.

[bhazard]

Sway bar bushings!

What's this about a rusted frame?

[FestYboy]

ball joints!!!! :p

[DriverOne]

All good ideas. I'm not likely to suspect the ball joints. They're brand new as well. I'll jack it up and check. The frame is rusted under the front floor pretty badly, but I don't think it'd cause my problem... The car sits about an inch or two higher in the back than it does in the front, and the back is quite a bit firmer than the front, but i was hoping to keep from making my Festiva look baja.

[zoom zoom]

I had that problem for awhile, after i replaced both lower control arms it went away, replacing the lca/sway bar bushings didnt help it at all. i only feel it drafting semi's now, and I was concerned that wasn't normal, until I read this post, thanks!

[htchbck]

Sway bar bushings!

What's this about a rusted frame?

Gotta agree with bhazard on both counts. Sway bar to LCA bushings, sway bar to body bushings, and in general the rusty frame sounds swetchy. Bring it down here and we'll jack it up and find out whats wrong.

[georgeb]

If all the components are serviceable, check for excessive toe-in, especially if the outside of the tires are wearing. You can check it yourself with a piece of string hooked to the rear wheel and gently touching rear half of front tire halfway up. Front half of tire should be 1/16 inch or so from string.

[WmWatt]

Grab front tire and vigorously jerk right-to-left to test for loose steering. Jump up and down on bumper to test for loose suspension.

[walth]

check your tires dustin. make sure the tires didn't have some camber issues before the fix. If the tires do, it's gonna take some time for them to adjust. When I put some donated tires on my car (better tread) they had been driven with a bad alignment...and talk about scary...changing lanes the car would divebomb the other side of the road.

[DriverOne]

Grab front tire and vigorously jerk right-to-left to test for loose steering. Jump up and down on bumper to test for loose suspension.

I grabbed the front left wheel and shook it. It rattled! Turns out that the center ring in the knuckle is the problem. It's the wrong size, and has caused the bearings to separate. Bebandit torqued the axle nut (that had spun past it's original pinch point!) and I drove the car home. MUCH IMPROVED, although that leads me to a question: Does anyone here know if measuring the space in between races with a micrometer caliper would give me the size spacer I need instead of having to replace a whole knuckle?

I had that problem for awhile, after i replaced both lower control arms it went away, replacing the lca/sway bar bushings didnt help it at all. i only feel it drafting semi's now, and I was concerned that wasn't normal, until I read this post, thanks!

I drive semis for a living, and even my big truck'll do it when I'm close enough to another truck.

Gotta agree with bhazard on both counts. Sway bar to LCA bushings, sway bar to body bushings, and in general the rusty frame sounds swetchy. Bring it down here and we'll jack it up and find out whats wrong.

We'll have to talk. How about after Madness?

If all the components are serviceable, check for excessive toe-in, especially if the outside of the tires are wearing. You can check it yourself with a piece of string hooked to the rear wheel and gently touching rear half of front tire halfway up. Front half of tire should be 1/16 inch or so from string.

I haven't tried that yet, but with the way the car rides even now, I'd say my alignment is off. Still, it's amazing what a few tiny adjustments can do to a car, especially this one!

check your tires dustin. make sure the tires didn't have some camber issues before the fix. If the tires do, it's gonna take some time for them to adjust. When I put some donated tires on my car (better tread) they had been driven with a bad alignment...and talk about scary...changing lanes the car would divebomb the other side of the road.

That sounds pretty familiar as well.

[FestYboy]

Does anyone here know if measuring the space in between races with a micrometer caliper would give me the size spacer I need instead of having to replace a whole knuckle?

a caliper won't work as you need to account for the pre-load as well so having the spacer selection tool here is paramount. If you're finding that the bearings are comming loose, inspect your hub surface for gauling and hot spots indicative of the races sliding internaly.

[DriverOne]

a caliper won't work as you need to account for the pre-load as well so having the spacer selection tool here is paramount. If you're finding that the bearings are coming loose, inspect your hub surface for gauling and hot spots indicative of the races sliding internally.

Will do. How far should I travel before testing the hub surface temp? I'm using the car for daily travel, which does not exceed 10 miles round trip. That's right, I never fill up ever! If things are looking promising, where would I find a spacer sel. tool, and what's the procedure for determining correct spacer size?

[htchbck]

How do you know the spacer is the wrong size? If the stake nut had loosened, then it would allow it to rattle a little like you said, and probably also wear the bearings abnormally. I bet if you replace the bearings and torque and stake the nut properly, I bet it'll be good to go. Unless you know the bearings were replaced recently and the spacer lost or switched, I wouldn't guess that its the wrong size.