Q: I have a problem with the suspension on my 1990 Accord EXR. At low speeds it is not really noticeable, but at highway or freeway speed, the back end jitters around when encountering a bump or bumpy patch.
On a rough road, it almost feels like you are driving on ice. The back end kind of slides back and forth. When on the freeway, if you hit a bump, it's like a giant boot has suddenly "kicked" the back end to the left, and you have to grip the steering wheel tight. That's the best I can explain it.
I have had three inspections and they all say the struts look fine, and are not leaking etc. The car has 119,000 kilometers. I've only had it one year, so I don't know the whole history.
Do you know what the problem could be? I'm inclined to replace the rear struts, but this is quite expensive, and I don't want to do it for nothing. I'd appreciate your advice.
Brian

A: Jeremy: Sound to you like some sort of alignment problem.
Rob: This seeks of an alignment problem, but not the type that one would normally think of. These are the classic symptoms of a rear wheel alignment problem.
Jeremy: Well, the rear wheels are usually included in the process of a wheel alignment on a front-wheel drive vehicle, so this shouldn't have come up for Brian.
Rob: Absolutely. The term used to describe this is "four-wheel alignment" and in almost every instance with front wheel drive vehicles, the very first step is to get the rear wheels square to the centre line of the vehicle. This is necessary because the rear wheels are used as a reference for the front wheels.
Jeremy: This is where the term four-wheel alignment was coined in the first place.
Rob: In this instance, my bet is that this process wasn't followed. If the rear wheels are not on the centre line of the car, the vehicle will demonstrate all kinds of strange driving habits - such as the ones Brian has described.
Another problem that rears its ugly head is worn bushings at each one of the suspension pivot points and also the shock absorbers.
Jeremy: So there you have it Brian, get the car checked out by a shop that is fluent in four-wheel alignment procedure's and have the suspension and shock bushings inspected as well.
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