Suspension stepping out

[OLJustice]

Anyone notice the rear of their cars 'stepping out' (for lack of a better phrase) on the highway when going over certain kinds of bumps/dips? It's not consistent enough for me to figure out what types of bumps cause it, but I notice that it feels like the back end of my Charger steps out to one side and then the other when going over certain imperfections in the highway.

This lateral movement is very disconcerting and downright dangerous at high speeds. Please don't confuse this with bumpsteer. I know what bumpsteer is and this is certainly not it. This is coming from the rear of the car and causes the car to 'rock' sideways briefly after hitting a bump/dip. Its not all the time and the conditions have to be right-but when it does happen.... oh boy is it scary.

[typicalmarine]

Have you upgraded any of your suspension components? I feel the stock suspension isn't compatable with the power and definitely isn't designed for performance. Other than the rear end feeling like it's kicking out the body roll caused another "pucker factor" at higher speeds. One of my first mods was a front and rear sway bar set up along with Eibach springs and dampers. Ride quality is OUTSTANDING since the change.

[Popeye's Hemi]

Anyone notice the rear of their cars 'stepping out' (for lack of a better phrase) on the highway when going over certain kinds of bumps/dips? It's not consistent enough for me to figure out what types of bumps cause it, but I notice that it feels like the back end of my Charger steps out to one side and then the other when going over certain imperfections in the highway.

This lateral movement is very disconcerting and downright dangerous at high speeds. Please don't confuse this with bumpsteer. I know what bumpsteer is and this is certainly not it. This is coming from the rear of the car and causes the car to 'rock' sideways briefly after hitting a bump/dip. Its not all the time and the conditions have to be right-but when it does happen.... oh boy is it scary.

It's called bump steer and that can be googled here and it can be corrected with Pedders and Razors Edge parts. Maybe a few others are available too.

[OLJustice]

Have you upgraded any of your suspension components? I feel the stock suspension isn't compatable with the power and definitely isn't designed for performance. Other than the rear end feeling like it's kicking out the body roll caused another "pucker factor" at higher speeds. One of my first mods was a front and rear sway bar set up along with Eibach springs and dampers. Ride quality is OUTSTANDING since the change.

My apologies for not listing my suspension mods. I have an 06 RT with SRT suspension (shocks/struts/springs) all around. I also have a front SRT Brembo brake setup so my front knuckles are SRT as well. I do not have upgraded sway bars. I should also note that its not really body roll that I am experiencing. It is an outright left or right movement of the ass-end of the car. It's a lateral movement. left to right. It happens when hitting bumps/dips while going straight, not just turning.

It's called bump steer and that can be googled here and it can be corrected with Pedders and Razors Edge parts. Maybe a few others are available too.

Bump steer comes from the front. This is the rear of the car. I have that too btw, but I'll be getting a Pedders bumpsteer kit to address that. I can deal with a little bumpsteer but what I am experiencing is downright dangerous. Especially at 70mph on NY/NJ highways - streets.

[Rob@WretchedMS]

copied from my reply in your other thread.

it's all in the bushings, 9 bushings per wheel, 4 bushings that hold the subframe to the unibody, it all leaves a bit to be desired.

Your rear cradle is most likely shifting and causing the thrust angle to change. It was a weird feeling when i first got my charger and kept getting knocked left to right. I had never been in a car that did that, I found it very disconcerting also.

I was able to reproduce it with some 'creating' alignment specs that i tried as a test by causing the rear toe to be very negative, made the rear of the very wobble happy, i mention this because it was considerably worse, but very similar to the OE wobble the car had.

[OLJustice]

copied from my reply in your other thread.

it's all in the bushings, 9 bushings per wheel, 4 bushings that hold the subframe to the unibody, it all leaves a bit to be desired.

Your rear cradle is most likely shifting and causing the thrust angle to change. It was a weird feeling when i first got my charger and kept getting knocked left to right. I had never been in a car that did that, I found it very disconcerting also.

I was able to reproduce it with some 'creating' alignment specs that i tried as a test by causing the rear toe to be very negative, made the rear of the very wobble happy, i mention this because it was considerably worse, but very similar to the OE wobble the car had.

My problem is this- if its an alignment issue and can thusly be fixed by a trip to the dealer and getting a cradle shift alignment done (my rear has extremely negative camber that needs to be fixed anyway) then that's no problem. However, if my rear bushings are truly all shot and an entire rear bushing kit is the only solution then im pretty much screwed because while I can afford the rear cradle bushings, the entire rear kit is way put of my range for anytime in the foreseeable future.

in one of our PM convos I believe you stated that when it comes to the rear its either "all or nothing" for any real fix with bushings replacement. I guess the purpose of this thread was to figure out if this dangerous handling characteristic is 'normal' for LX's or if its just me.

Posted via LXFMobile

[Rob@WretchedMS]

it's normal with the stock bushings,

I didn't say that all of your rear bushings are shot, just that they allow to much movement

[OLJustice]

So then in your opinion would it be pointless to purchase just a set of cradle bushings? Could that alone provide any significant improvement to this "side stepping" dance that the back of my car does?

[Rob@WretchedMS]

not pointless, it would help, but i'm not confident it would cure it with so much mush in the rest.

[fireman2118]

I know the feeling or should I say knew the feeling. Since I've had the sportline springs and the prodampers installed, that bouncy, floaty, mushy, left, right, questionable handling is but a distant memory.

[Cam]

Did you drop the cradle when you installed the springs or just the lower control arms.

[formerice]

First an alignment and thorough inspection of all rear bushings. When my car had 135,000 miles it started feeling the same way so I bit the bullet and replaced all the bushings with Pedders. It now handles better than new. Still the cradle bushings look like the biggest culprits. If you get it aligned and it feels the same, I'd go for the cradle bushings first. When the time comes, Rob will treat you right. A1 service.

[OLJustice]

Did you drop the cradle when you installed the springs or just the lower control arms.

The cradle wasn't dropped, the installer lowered the control arms using a big-ass pry bar.

[Hemi31]

Justice you need to get a full alignment since you changed the springs and lowered the car.........until thats done you will never know anything else and just keep spending money on things you don't need.

[OLJustice]

Justice you need to get a full alignment since you changed the springs and lowered the car.........until thats done you will never know anything else and just keep spending money on things you don't need.

Thats the thing Erik, I've gotten a full alignment since then.... about 4 times.

- once at the dealer without the cradle shift
- once at a dealer with the cradle shift
- twice at firestone

They were always able to bring the front into spec. Rear has always been messed up for some reason. I have had a 28pt Pedders inspection and they couldn't find anything wrong (bushing wise). About 2 hours ago I got my cats "serviced" and personally spent 30min under the lift checking bushings in the rear... no tears that I could find. All components (spring links, lower control arm, cradle itself) appear fine and unbent. There is however a unhealthy amount of negative camber on the tires but I'm not sure if that's related.

According to Pedders, a certain amount of 'step out' is normal for our cars. I will agree that these cars are a bit 'mushy' feeling from the factory, but the fact that it wasn't this way when I bought my RT 2 years ago is what is driving me up a wall. I've already spent at least a grand trying to find out the source of this suspension issue. I've got Hotchkis sway bars and a motor collecting dust b/c all my money is going into figuring this out. This is my DD so I can't have the ass-end of my car swinging all over the place on every bump. Especially in NYC of all places.