Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting rear wheel drive

my car drives like it is rear wheel drive wants to kick out every turn..... i have a 99 contour svt h&r springs koni yellows have had the suspension for 2 years never had a prob till now... the car has had a 4 wheel alignment and new tires all around and still does it no clue whats goin on?

One of your rear brakes may be binding, locking up.

Great guess. That would be mine...

Check out your breaks.

If it is ONLY on turns, maybe (though you would likely smell the siezed caliper, and would also feel the warped (likely) rotor caused from the heat.

If it does this while travelling forwards (seems to want to wander, and feels "loose" in the rear, you might check your rear control arm, or swaybar.


Ray

Check tire pressure, if there is less in the back, it might get touchy (oversteer) Add more pressure to the rear tires a couple psi at a time. Or just start with the pressures you used before. New tires may act different.

Check your front swaybar. If the endlinks or bushings are broken you'll get mucho oversteer.

yeah alot of people i know that own shops around here say it prob. is the bushings in the control arms....is this a common problem in contours?

If your front control arm bushings are shot, they can me the car handle poorly. My '95 has a better design, so it wasn't as noticable, but it was still bad when they were worn. Get new control arms put in if they are shot. This gets you new ball joints and bushings. Search the suspension forum for all the details. Note: your car has the 2-bolt, not the 4-bolt. They're the much cheaper ones. Should be $50 each.