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| Car "wanders" with load in the back hatch; Only takes 100lbs | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 29 2015, 11:55 PM (1,367 Views) | |
| cwatkin | Sep 29 2015, 11:55 PM Post #1 |
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My 1994 hatch seems to "wander" when I have a load in the back. This starts at 100 lbs but gets worse with more weight. I had 200lbs of feed yesterday and have to be really careful. Is this a weight distribution issue or signs of a suspension problem? Conor |
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| MR1 Kingsbury | Sep 30 2015, 04:26 AM Post #2 |
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Exp. builder/rebuilder
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I would suspect suspension issue. If you have lots of miles and years on your rear springs they will act a little wonky. Strut replacement is warranted here. Haven't done this to my metro but it was pretty simple on the hyundai, after I got the interior stuff out of the way. |
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| rmcelwee | Sep 30 2015, 02:07 PM Post #3 |
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Check my page on the DIY alignment. It might be what you need... |
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| cwatkin | Sep 30 2015, 05:07 PM Post #4 |
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I will look into this. I know the weight limit isn't the high on these things. I did have it aligned but not with a load in the back. I understand you should align a car loaded the way you intend to use it. Maybe the best bet is to just use the truck when I need more than 40-50 lbs in the back. Conor |
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| Car Nut | Sep 30 2015, 08:46 PM Post #5 |
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Somethings wrong. I've carried 400 plus lbs of top soil in the back of mine before, with no issues. Yes it squatted down, but still drove fine. 40-50 lbs shouldn't effect anything. |
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| Bluebomb | Sep 30 2015, 10:35 PM Post #6 |
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I have had 4 adults one child and a medium tool box all total around 850 pounds and my 92 had no problems. |
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| Old Man | Oct 1 2015, 12:13 AM Post #7 |
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A car that "wanders" needs to be told what direction to go. It gets told that by getting an alignment. |
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| cwatkin | Oct 6 2015, 11:26 AM Post #8 |
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OK, I got my sign of what might be causing this and will give an update. One of the rear tires appears to have suffered some type of structural failure. The vibration on the highway got so bad yesterday that the car felt like it was about to come apart. I went as slow as was safely possible until the next exit and drove home slow on the backroads and it drove pretty OK at slow speeds. When I got home I noticed that the tire was no longer round and that there was a very odd wear pattern because of this. I have a different tire on now and am about to head out on a job so will update on if this is solved. I suspect this was the problem all along. Conor |
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| PTA2PTB | Oct 6 2015, 11:33 AM Post #9 |
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I'm totally awesome! I swear.
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Geo Glenn used to have one just like that. Throw a few rebuilt engines in the back, and it would wander all over the country. |
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| cwatkin | Oct 7 2015, 11:13 AM Post #10 |
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I put a new tire on the back and drove it about 100 miles for some jobs yesterday. It seemed to ride better than before but there wasn't a load in the back. I have several CRT monitors needing disposal and will be hauling them in the back of the Metro to the recyclers to see what happens. If it isn't fixed, I plan to replace quite a few components as I know their time is coming. I will then replace ALL the tires with a better grade and keep these as spares for use on my other Metro until they are worn out. Conor Edited by cwatkin, Oct 7 2015, 11:39 AM.
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| cwatkin | Oct 7 2015, 05:55 PM Post #11 |
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Two monitors and some other junk to recycle didn't cause any issues. I may haul some heavier items just as a test to see what happens. I am thinking it might have just been that tire. Conor |
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| t3ragtop | Oct 7 2015, 06:49 PM Post #12 |
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker
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conor, take a real close look at the toe arm links on the back suspension. when you load them up they can flex enough that it randomly changes the rear toe and the thrust line of the suspension. it feels like the rear end is swinging around like the ass end of a fireman's ladder truck. the oem design, flat stamped links with rubber mounts can get pretty squirrely when the bushings' inner crush tubes rust weld themselves to the studs. then when the car gets loaded down and the links and knuckles articulate it tears the rubber bushings loose. that crap was the reason i started building and using the tube/ heim joint type lateral links on my cars. i drive the cars hard and corner them like batman. the rear end of a metro will wander like that when you start to pull side force gs, too.
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| Car Nut | Oct 7 2015, 08:01 PM Post #13 |
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It sounds like what you had was a "slipped belt" on your tire. When that happens you'll get a very bad vibration at speed & when you go real slow, sometimes you can actually see & feel the car going side to side, if the bad tire is mounted on the rear. Next thing you see is the tire shredding apart & you upside down in a ditch. Maybe even dead, if you rolled enough times. Ever heard of the Firestone 500 tire issue? Probably too many years ago. Fast forward a few years. Ford Explorer having lots of roll overs. Tires were coming apart. Ford contended people were running them low on air pressure & that caused it. |
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| cwatkin | Oct 7 2015, 08:36 PM Post #14 |
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I am thinking about doing a pretty major suspension redo. Control arms, all 4 struts, lateral links, etc. I noticed some pretty good wear on the insides of the front tires when looking the car over today. The control arms aren't that old but the boots are disintegrated and I figure they are done for too. I think the struts are probably original and I am nearing 180k mileage. What typically causes the insides of the tires to wear more? I will probably get all new tires after this is done. Conor |
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| ZXTjato | Oct 16 2015, 10:32 PM Post #15 |
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bass heads
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I think I felt this when I filled the back of the car with tile a little while ago. and I did not balance the load it was all loaded in the back back mostly behind the shocks so that added to its flexy ride, was pretty funny to drive tho I was driving down the high way all loaded up and 4th gear I would floor it then let off and floor it then let off and floor it let off, it was just a noise maker, changing throttle did NOTHING but make noise I was laughing so hard
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Welcome to the all new Geo Metro Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit.






the rear end of a metro will wander like that when you start to pull side force gs, too.
I was driving down the high way all loaded up and 4th gear I would floor it then let off and floor it then let off and floor it let off, it was just a noise maker, changing throttle did NOTHING but make noise
7:32 PM Jul 10