I'll do my best to explain this. At highway speeds typically around 65-70+ mph going in straight line car sways from side to side. It's almost like a crabbing, like a crab would move or the wind pushing the car around.

Car has 51,000 miles, stock suspension, auto trans. I've moved wheels tires from my Z06 to this car but no change in swaying.

Here's the rest of the story.
I had driven car to Fl (Amelia Is. Concourse D'Elegance) from NJ. Drive was perfect, till I reached my destination.
Auto trans went.
Had trans replaced at local Chevy Dealer with Chevy Trans that had to be shipped from Michigan. Transit time for the new trans to arrive from GM took way longer then anticipated. Had to get back to my life in NJ, flew home and had car shipped to me once the trans was replaced.

After getting it back I noticed this weird side to side swaying at highway speeds. I tried to ignore it, till my wife mentioned that the car felt like it was swaying.

Got car to Chevy dealer I know.
They had it for a few days but came up with nothing. I spoke with the tech (their Vette expert) and he said he could find nothing wrong. But, he also was not able to drive it at the speeds needed to duplicate the problem.

Next I had it at a buddy's shop, but he also was not able to get it on the highway and did not find any swaying problem.

I just took it out for a nice 2 hr drive a bunch of the drive at 75-80mph and swaying was very annoying.

This has been going on now for 2 years.
I was thinking of installing coilovers hoping they might solve this problem. But I don't want to spend the $ needlessly.

Has anyone ever experienced this and if you did what was causing it and how did you correct it?
Thanks

 

id go over the suspension components very closey first, then id suspect alignment. hope this helps! good luck

 

100%

 

Take a look at the rear upper control arm mounts and make sure they are properly attached to the frame.

 

I forgot to mention that alignment was checked 3 times by 3 different shops and it was within spec.

lionelhutz, I had hoped that the 2 shops that checked the car out had looked at the control arms, but I am thinking they may not have gone over them carefully enough & maybe they are the cause. I was watching an episode of Wheeler Dealers the other day and they had a car that was tracking somewhat erratically and the cause was the front control arms. That got me thinking about maybe that's my problem. To replace the trans the entire rear had to come apart and maybe it was not put back the way it should have been. Thanks for reminding me about that. As soon as I get the opportunity I'll get it over to another shop I know. I'll report back.

 

The upper control arm mounts are part of the frame but sometimes the welds break. Nothing to do with removing the suspension and not installing it right again.

 

lionelhutz
Thanks for the follow up. I was unaware this potential rear control arm problem would be unrelated to the trans replacement & could actually be a wear issue if in fact it is the problem.
Since the problem happened immediately after the trans replacement I believe there has to be a connection.

 

I've seen bent rims do this. Also have seen improperly mounted rims do this.

 

Same issue here. 2001 rag top. 3x aligned. New tires. Coil overs. Newly rebuilt power steering rack. Feels loose, esp at 75mph, follows every small rut. The alignments were the only thing specifically aimed at the problem, the others needed repair or replacement. My point is.....don't be too quick to fit coilovers (if that's your only reason for doing so). Didn't fix mine.

 

I'd pull the leaf spring and check it for cracks. Check sway bar and end links. Check rear shocks.

 

Leaf springs, sways, etc would not cause this. Nor would the shocks. You are looking at a control arm bushing issue or a bent tire/wheel assembly.

 

Someone mentioned tires/rims. Have tried 3 sets of rims/tires but no change.
I tend to lean towards potential suspension issues, as others said control arms, end links etc.
Will try and get it into shop when I can and will update post afterwards.
Thanks

 

I am with you on this one. My suspect would be worn shock(s) and their failure could very well be the culprit. I have a '03 with magnetic ride shocks. The shocks have such a dramatic difference (from sport to touring) in the handling. Have them checked out first and let us know. Good luck, Rob

PS a good front end shop when doing a wheel alignment check on shock condition before alignment so you can kill two birds by doing an alignment.

 

How are the roads? Is it possible that you're experiencing tramlining? Really noticeable on roads that are rutted by heavy traffic.

 

remember that these cars have rear tie rods as well as front. Mine were worn and the car would shift left to right, especially on grooved roads. Jack the rear wheels off the ground and see if the will deflect in and out at the front or rear (like mimicking rear wheel steering)