Rear Suspension Loose

I just bought my daughter a 2003 LX, haven't even got the title switched over. Seemed like a good car, a bit of rust and a few scrapes, 127K, $2K. However, the woman had no plates, so my test drive was shorter than I wanted and didn't get over probably 30-35.

Bringing the car home I noticed that the rear seems quite loose. At first I thought it was the tires, which are pretty worn but not bald. However, the more I drove it it is clear that something wasn't right, I think in the rear.

When turning, not sure if the direction matters, it feels like the rear will suddenly step out. It's like it takes a set and then jumps. Quick, slight, back and forth wiggle of the wheel when driving straight at about 40, making the nose go back and forth but not the rear do nothing.

The car has no plates yet, so I can't do much test driving, but I wanted to see what folks thought. Nothing obviously loose under the rear and the trailing arms look newer (a friend has a Protege and had bad trailing arms).

Any ideas?

Took it for a drive around the neighborhood and, briefly, out on the main road. In the neighborhood, felt pretty good. Some noise from the suspension, clunks and such, and an occasional chirping sound, mostly over bumps, but turns, everything, felt pretty good.

On the short stretch of main road (~45MPH) when weaving a bit, there was a definite looseness in both directions. Each change of direction the car seemed to change, settle, then change again. Hard to explain. Going to have to get it in the garage and up on stands and start poking around.

OK, based on this thread, where the OP describes his car as being "wobbly" (that's how this feels), I'm thinking rear wheel bearing.

Seem right to anyone? Beuler? :-D

Went to Firestone to get tires and while it was on the lift, we observed a lot of movement in the LR tire. The bushings between the lower control arm and the spindle are shot. Good news is they said the front end and RR is tight.

Not finding much on rear control arm bushings on here, is this a rare occurrence or am I using the wrong terms? What I'm calling the control arm goes from the center of the car out to the bottom of the spindle. Looks like two tubes.

I guess they're called lateral links. Looking at what it'll take to fix.

Lateral link bushings. Just do both sides of all 4 of them so you don't have to do more 3 weeks from now. And then go get a 3yr alignment somewhere like NTB for 140 and then all alignments are free. Sure beats paying for a 1 time alignment.

The play was actually between the lateral link bolt and the knuckle. Bought both LH links (couldn't find bushings anywhere) and the bolt, had a shop install them. RH was still tight and the links looked newer.

Done for about $350, only $117 in labor. Good as new now. I'm a little concerned that the knuckle hole was worn, but the shop said it was OK. Drives great, hopefully it lasts.

Oh, so the long bolt that goes thru both lateral links and the spindle wallowed out the hole in the spindle and that was where the play was?

Yep. The bolt was worn but the mechanic said the knuckle was fine. I got to see how the new bolt fit in the knuckle and it was a little loose. I've been told that it shouldn't be, but it drives fine. Hoping it doesn't loosen up over time.