I had a similar problem until I rebuilt the left, rear hub on my car. In
my case, the inner bearing had begun to spin on the spindle (stub axle),
and the inner race had eaten into the distance-spacer. This allowed the
wheel to drift in and out upon acceloration/deceloration. This in turn
made the rear squirm back and forth, much as you describe. I would suggest
that you grab your rear wheels at the top edge and vigorously push
side-to-side (towards the car) and see if you get motions like a loose
bearing, or a slight clunk-clunk
Cheers.
On Fri, 15 Dec 2000, Riggs, R Kevin wrote:
>
> Folks,
>
> Bob, the owner of a '75 TR6 in Fredericksburgh, VA, talks about his car
> oversteering and the back of the car feeling like it wants to steer as well.
>
> I haven't noticed my car oversteering, but I have noticed an odd quirk when
> I accelerate through, and out of a sharp corner. After driving straight out
> of a hard right turn, for example, when I make my next up-shift, the car
> wants to dart to the right as I push in the clutch, and I have to make a
> quick correction to the left to keep the car headed straight. (I'm using
> right as an example -- the behavior is symmetric for right and left turns.)
> This doesn't happen on slow corners or fast sweeping corners -- only when I
> accelerate all the way through the corner and continue accelerating hard out
> of it.
>
> This has always happened, even after I rebuilt the entire suspension (all
> new bushings, springs, bearings, u-joints, shocks, etc.). I used the rubber
> bushing set from TRF, and my theory is that the rear trailing-arm bushings
> are compressing on the outside wheel, tending to turn the car in the
> opposite direction of the turn. As I accelerate out of the corner, the
> compressed bushings are not allowed to relax, and I unconsciously steer the
> car in the same direction as the corner to compensate for the deformed rear
> geometry. Then, when I push in the clutch for my up-shift, the rear end
> springs back into place, steers itself straight again, revealing the latent
> overcompensation in the front steering that had, up to that point, been
> counteracting the deformed rear geometry. As I scramble to grab the next
> gear with my right hand, I make a steering adjustment with my left hand, and
> we're finally on our merry way, heading straight down the road.
>
> But, for this theory to hold true, I would expect all of you using stock
> rubber bushings to experience the same thing. Do any of you? Although I
> used the stock rubber bushings (and wish I'd used something harder instead),
> I have the rallye springs (I didn't have the trouble with the wrong
> ride-height so many others have reported -- my ride height is stock, or
> perhaps a half-inch lower if anything), a slightly larger-diameter front
> sway bar (forget the dimensions, but I didn't go far from stock), and 205-70
> Firestone tires.
>
> An alternative theory is that the splines in my half-shafts are not sliding
> well, until the load is taken off of them when I shift, and this is somehow
> affecting the rear geometry.
>
> I'd love to hear of your similar experiences or your theories of what's
> wrong with my car (stick to the suspension, though, as I don't need comments
> on the oxidized paint, awful running, torn interior, leaky breaks, grinding
> clutch, and smoking wires ;-).
>
> And Bob, in answer to your question:
>
> > I'd like to hear from anyone with "official" and personal information
> about the
> > car's normal handling characteristics and what improvements are gained
> > from converting to tube shocks and installing a rear sway bar.
>
> I can't comment from personal experience, but I'd expecting converting to
> tube shocks would essentially just cost you money without adding significant
> value to your car, and I'd expect a rear sway bar to make the car oversteer
> quite a bit more. The stock rear lever shocks, though prone to rapid wear
> in my experience, dampen the springs as effectively as anything else on the
> market.
>
> Kevin Riggs
> Huntsville, AL
> '72 TR6
>
James A. Ruffner
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