Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension Need Help - New SVT owner, rear suspension wobbly

--On 2000 SVT contour, 80k all stock.--
NEED some help - not sure if this is normal or not.. Can notice most on on-ramps & off-ramps while turning if there's a bump, if feels like both rear wheels come off the ground and sort of skip sideways.. kind of scary.. feels like the car's Flexing..
and on speed bumps or big bumps, the rear wobbles (feels like wheels wobbling)
I've had sport suspension setup on other cars before and never experienced this. It feels like something's wrong, like the strut.
before having that removed / replaced i want to make sure this is not how the suspension is supposed to feel..
or maybe it's normal?? since it doesn't have independent rear suspension? any help would be great. i don't know how else to detect if strut's bad, i don't see any leaking around the strut housing.

BTW this forum has been great to me, since i don't have helms manual yet i've been able to fix rear busing squeak, get to thermostat easily with FAQ instructions and posts.

How many miles are on your car? The suspension that is on the car now, is it all the original stock parts?

sorry was going to Edit as i forgot to list..

2000 Contour SVT
80k miles.
Everything bone stock.

I read up a little on clunking noise, which i do hear some, but it's more the flexing/wobbling that bothers me..

You certainly do have an IRS.

Let's start with the clunk, it may lead us to the other problem. Are your end links good? One solid piece, no obvious rubber falling out/off. Is the sway bar tight enough that you can't slide if left and right within the sway bar bushings? If not replace the bushings (stick to OEM for now, poly are nice but may squeak). Are the struts leaking?

Some degree of wheel-hop to the side (aka bump steer) if you hit a bump while turning happens even on IRS cars.

Brian Dors
99 SVT

sway bar links seem to be good, in fact i just greased the bushings this past weekend per the FAQ section.

end links seem to be good, everything seems to be solid back there..

i didn't know i had IRS, thanks for letting me know.. which makes me wonder even more that the strut is bad.. because i assumed i didn't have IRS since i didn't expect both wheels to hop like that, like it would on a truck or something...

it feels more than a little hop, more like whole rear of body is flexing opposite the direction i'm turning..

i don't see any leaking from struts on bottom.. but could i tell a leak from the top of strut?? where springs are? i don't know if that's just grime/water from driving, or leak..

thanks for your help on this.

I'd say struts. It sounds like you're just describing serioius body roll. Your struts could possibly be bad to the point where it's getting more noticable. I know mine were and I just changed them out this weekend and am very happy with my new set up.

Quick question, sort of hopping onto this thread...

Is hearing your struts normal? That quick, kind of compressed-air "ffft" sound when you hit bumps? As the handling on my 90K SVT has deteriorated over the past year, I've suspected struts.

I'm having the mostly the same problem you have been discribing right now. Car drives fine at lower speeds and then when I take a corner at highers speeds(40-60mph) the whole back end whobbles. It actually only does it when I turn right, and never when I turned left. This is what led me to believe it was the back left wheel that was the problem, and sure enough that was the case.
I jacked the wheel up and spun the tire around. You could tell just by doing that that the wheel was completely bent.
I say check your wheels before you start tweeking with the suspension.

cool, thanks. i'll check that. that might be the case i didn't think about that.
thanks for all your help and replies everyone.

Sounds just like when my struts were blown.