Cleveland8

I have an '04 AT with about 63K miles. Only minor issues to date. However, starting about 6 months ago and progressively getting worse is the looseness of the back end. If I am accelerating over bumpy roads, the rear wheels make a slamming sound. This is not hard acceleration! When driving on the highway over bumps, the car tends to feel very loose and easily thrown off course. I drive over crappy roads as I live in Cleveland. Right now I still have winter set of wheels/snow tires on. I asked the dealership to check it out last oil change, but of course they said they didn't notice anything. Any ideas as to the issue?

HiTMaNN

When was your last alignment? By the way my winter tires performance in regular temps was under sup par so that may be it.

DOMINION

You might need new shocks and springs. I did when I had my '04 AT with 75K. BTW do you have sport suspension 18" or non-sport 16"?
-Gil

Cleveland8

I have the sport package / 18" wheels. I would not have thought shocks/springs would need replacing this soon. Is there a way to inspect them or test them? Thanks for your help.

Bootleg

i know this will sound stupid but have you checked your lugs nuts? if you have a loose wheel that could easily cause what you're describing. i know from experience. i'm the worlds worst about leaving an auto-x after changing my wheels and forgetting to properly torque the lugs nuts. that could be a simple and easy fix and it's worth checking.

like dominion said, it could be a bad shock. have you noticed any oil on or around your rear shocks? thats generally a clear indication that one is blown. is the back end more bouncy than you remember it being from stock? that generally happens when the shocks are blown as well.

it could also just be the winter tires. they have really soft sidewalls which can make the car handle like **** and act totally different than summer or even all season tires.

Cleveland8

Thanks for the ideas. I switch out the tires myself from summer to winter and I use a torque wrench. I'll check them though this weekend as its time for the summer wheels. That will also allow me to 1) check the shocks for the oil leaking out and 2) see if it is really just driving with the snow tires. It still holds curves very well and is rock solid on smooth payment under a tight radius, but the back end will dance with any bumps; especially if accelerating.

Bootleg

mine will dance under acceleration. that's all part of having a RWD car. the bumps will unsettle the back of the car that's trying to get as much traction as possible. hence the dancing.