I took my car out for a ride last evening and I need some help. I feel like the back end of the car is wiggling. More noticeable when going slow. I got out and shook the tires to make sure they were on tight. That's the type of feeling it was. Not felt in the wheel but in the seat of the pants. Didn't change any after driving a bit either.

Any ideas where to look? I was going to rotate tires to see if that makes any difference. Anything else to check while I'm at it?

Thanks.

 

Wheel bearings, side yoke "C" clip, tire failure are 3 possibilities, I'm betting on a "C" clip pop-off of the yoke from your description.

 

Possibly worn out trailing arm bushings....thats my bet

 

Thanks for the replies! How do I test? Where do I look?

 

Just do a search for trailing arm bushing replacement.....there has been lots of posts here with good pictures to help you out

 

I know it sounds obvious, but what about your tire pressure????

 

I replaced the trailing arms a few years back. I'll take a look later this evening to see if everything still looks right. I have a slow leak on the drivers rear tire. The tire looked good when I left but I didn't get too far down the road with the wiggle before I returned home to check. Had 25psi.. I pumped up to 35psi but still had the same wiggle afterwards.

Rear wheel bearing was replaced with the trail arms. Not saying it didn't go bad and if I could pull it out and inspect it I would. I've never had much luck figuring out anything using the 6 / 12 shake the wheel thing. I've always had some play in all attempts at this on all my vehicles that I tried it on. Maybe if I did it on one that actually had a problem I would know the feel / movement I'm looking for..

Have a newbe question about yokes.. Are the side yokes the part that the half shafts connect to? The comments on the C clip on the yoke popping off sounds viable. This would be something that would cause an instant wiggle which is what's happened. Not sure exactly what that means though.. If the C clip did pop off is that what is holding in the yoke? If I removed the half shafts would I be able to pull out the yoke? Are the clips inside the diff? Special tools required?

Appreciate all the ideas and help. I have to go read the book but if anyone has any links to yoke replacement or anything that would give me some clues I'd appreciate it.

 

This possibility.
It's quite common for radial tires with separated belts to do that.
The car will feel like it is moving back and forth slightly at 5mph or so. It may or may not also vibrate at higher speeds. Have someone drive by you in the car to watch or follow in another car.
Just did this on a car a month or so ago.

BTW, no matter what the manufacturer or the tire guys say, never change sides when rotating tires always front to back etc only.
They always try to tell me it doesn't matter, but I'm the one footing the bill and tell them they can do it on their cars. Nevr have had separated belt since stopping that.

 

All the likely suspects mentioned are the most likely cause (s). I have also seen very bad frames cause alot of strange wiggles in the rear end. Check the frame up over both rear wheels as well as the area that holds the rear end in place. My buddy's 67 coupe had a similar problem. It was sad what we found once we got it up in the air

 

You can cross this one of the list. The geometry of the rear suspension ensures that the yokes are loaded inwards with at least a 300lb load under all conditions when the car is on the ground.

Look elsewhere.

 

Think I found it.. Appreciate all the responses.

This is what it should look like.
http://s405.photobucket.com/albums/p...ireResizeC.jpg

This is what I got:
http://s405.photobucket.com/albums/p...ireResizeA.jpg

http://s405.photobucket.com/albums/p...ireResizeB.jpg


So rotating the tires could cause this to happen?

 

Yes

Old tires can separate belts very easily.
I had my wife drive home a 77 a few years ago, probably 35 miles while I followed her. Put it in the shop and left it for a week. Next time I looked, the tire had completely blown apart. In the sumertime here at least 95° every day. Sometimes when you rotate xcross, it won't show up for thousands of miles, then you start to get a vibration and eventually this, at least that has been my experience.

Check the manufacture date on the tire

 

Rotating the tires won't do this.....thats simply a belt separation in the tire.....it happens all the time. I once worked at a tire store and saw this all the time. Just replace the set

 

It doesn't happen all the time, because I don't rotate the tires.
Just like I tell them at the tire stores, rotate your own tires, not mine.

But you have your opinion and I have mine.

 

I don't think I ever rotated the tires on this car. I do rotate them on my other vehicles which are trucks and never seen this problem. Maybe different tires react differently when rotated. These are BF Goodrich where both my trucks have Coopers.

Replace the set??? Your treat? :-) I just ordered the one replacement.. $109

 

i dont think that rotating the tires is a problem. And yes, replace the set. It can affect the life of the LSD to have un matched tires. As the tire wears the diameter is uneven, and will put a lot of wear on the LSD.

The best thing to do is to replace the set, but if you really want to avoid doing that put the new tire on the front, move the remaining rear tire to the front as well, and move the front tires to the rear. That is not at all optimal, but it will put less strain on the LSD. Its sort of a shade tree thing to do, but we used to do it back in the day to save money.

frankly the best thing to do is get a new set of four. Especially depending on the age of the tires, more then 6 years best thing is to change them out.