The back end of my 90 gxl likes to wag and sway side to side and forth when I go over bumps... what should I check?
Shocks are fairly new.. and there is a funny thump from the passenger side strut area, but I can't find anything visibly loose, or anythig that I can flex with my own miniscule strenth.
Opinions? (170k kilometers BTW)
Probably the DTSS bushings IMO....

 

How much tread is on your tires. To restore that tight handling and ultra-precise feel, you'll find the following helps:

Tires - 60%
Shocks - 20%
Springs - 10%
Bushings, swaybar & subframe endlinks, pillow ***** - 10%

Of course at 150K miles, the bushings & end links become more of a problem.

 

I'm Inclined to believe that your Dynamic Tracking Suspension System, In particular, those bushings to It are worn out. I had the same symptoms and with Racing Beats Upright Toe Eliminator Bushings Installed, I've restored my tight end, especially when cornering. Worlds of difference.

 

Grab your Lateral Links and push up and down on them to see if they are/are not seated in their tapered holes. I bought a used car where the dummy had installed a rear lateral link with grease/wrong nut on its rear attach point. Darn scary car to drive in a curve.

 

mine does the same thing...and it does it worse in elevation changes in the road like bumps, pot holes, and the worse of all...uneven lanes. When the lanes are uneven it sways wildly. I had a 87 TII that didnt do that...what could i easily swap over to make it quit doing this...like can i take out a huge assembly instead of individual bushings.

 

It actually sounds like there are bushings that aren't even there, there are hard clunks when going over bumps...
I'll probably jack it up tomorrow, but every other time I havn't seen anything obvious, or felt anything just by shaking stuff with my own strength.

 

Probably not what is causing your loose rear end but I thought I'd throw it out anyways: having toe-out on the rear wheels will cause the rear end to feel very loose at highway speeds and the car can almost feel unstable. It most certainly will feel unstable at 120+ (I know from a little toe-out experiment I tried!).

You can adjust the rear toe setting by loosening a locknut and turning an eccentric which is in the joint between the rear trailing arm and the subframe.

 

Is there any actual procedure for checking various links and such?? Such as "put a prybar here.... pull this way.... see if it moves this much.. etc???
I don't really know what tolerances I'm dealing with, I've never dealt with suspension.

As for the eccentric nut.. I forgot about that. What position is it supposed to be in? Any way to check/measure it, to compensate for misalignment or anything? (besides alignment check at a shop)

 

I have found neutral rear toe to be *approximately* right where the notch is cut in the eccentric. There are three or four marks on both sides of this notch. I tested with a tape measure on the tread grooves of the tires, which is a crude method of taking toe measurements but it has proven to be accurate to within 1/4" in the past, verified on a computerized four wheel alignment machine.

My car has no dtss bushings and has solid dtss eliminator bushings. For setting my rear toe, I currently have it at about 1/4-3/8" toe in and two marks forward of the notch on the eccentric. I don't like that much toe-in and will adjust it back around 0 when I'm not so lazy.

For checking your rear links, etc. just grab the top and / or sides of the rear tire and try to rock the car with it. They do this at autocross tech to make sure your bearings are not bad before they let you run the course. Then you could jack up the rear of the car and rest the rear subframe on jackstands, and repeat this excercise WHILE BESIDE, NOT UNDER THE CAR. If anything is loose, it will move with moderate hand pressure. I'm not the strongest guy here but I can find loose components by giving a wheel a good nudge.

Links I would check are the eccentric joints at the front of the trailing arms, dtss bushings at the lower front of the rear hubs, and lateral links. You will know if a bearing is bad or improperly tightened when you do the above drill, and any of these things can screw up the rear end tightness if not in good condition.

 

Actually........a hard clunk going over a bump indicates a really dead shock absorber. Been there, seen that. One dead Tokico shock(due to poor installation procedures, hot the shocks fault).

And just in case......take the rear speakers out and see if the nuts on top of the shock are secure. All four mount nuts and the large nut in the center of the shock.