kennedy759

on my 97, when I hit a bump at speed the rear end wants to step out to the left. this question was asked back in 2012 and one of the answers was the trailing arm alignment shims had fallen out. I can not find any reference to a trailing arm in the service manual, so what could cause it to step out?

dbarrym

The C3 uses trailing arms, not the C5. First suggestion would be to check your rear alignment settings and a general look over for loose bolts, leaking shocks, broken or loose swaybar links or bushings.

Are you on the throttle hard(ish) when it skips left?

barry

kennedy759

cruising on the freeway at 70-75mph on trip to carlisle. added zo6 sways and shocks, all bolts are tight, and it drove ok, then had it aligned and been bad ever since, going to take it to a better alignment service and have them check it out. just wanted a clue as to what else could be wrong.

Forcedvert

Are tires good?, mine got squirly when hitting bumps on not completely worn out tires. I got new tires and it was like a new car.

vettenuts

Mine did that all the time with the run flat tires from the factory. One of the major reasons I took them off.

Cybermind

Bad shocks would cause the symptoms you're describing but since you state you just changed them, we can rule them out. Unless they weren't new. Problems caused by bad shocks or springs or other suspension components are just amplified by a proper alignment.

When your rear steps out or hops over a bump, this means that your suspension is not doing its job of keeping your tires planted to the road surface. Springs and shocks are the first thing I'd suspect.

Bill Curlee

Bad shocks were my first thought. Second was a BAD ALIGNMENT.

If it was aligned properly and you indeed have new shocks, you will have some worn suspension parts somewhere.

What shocks did you install????

Bill

0Anthony @ LGMotorsports

Shocks could do it, worn tie rod could do it, bad alignment can do it....

Depends on how big of a bump it is. Might want to look at checking bump steer on the car.

Lastly...to some degree a leaf spring car will tend to step out over rough pavement. Coil over cars generally do not do this...again as long as everything above is correct.

First check what you have and make sure nothing is worn out/broken/or miss aligned.

SaberD

always ask for the print out from the alignment machine before you pay them and take it home.

kennedy759

fixed the problem with a new alignment, the right rear had a toe of .24, now I know a little bit more about alignments.