Help needed unstable impreza sport
 

Having probs with my 2001 classic shape sport. When driving along in a straight line and hit a bump in the road, pothole even a cats eye the rear of the car feels like it wobbles, and a couple of times I would be driving along and the back of the car steers its self and you are having to put input in to the steering to correct it. It is not the rear tyres breaking traction it actually feels as if the car is being steered by the rear wheels. The worst one was this morning taking my daughter to school same again on a straight part of road at 30mph the rear of the car started to fish tail and it was that bad that my 11 yr old daughter even felt it. When I got home I put the rear of the car on to axle stands and let the rear suspension hang and checked for any play in the wheel bearings and checked all the bushes for excessive play with a prybar and it all seems to be fine just the normal flexing from rubber bushes. Would be great if some of you guys had any ideas to the cause of the problem or even to find out if any of you have had this type of problem before.

Thanks in advance......Paul

what size wheels?

I have found similar issues on a few Impreza's one was worn Bushes. and the other one of the Bolt's on the lateral link arm's had stripped the thread and would always work loose enough to allow the rear lateral arms to move side to side.

I would get it checked ASAP.

It's got the standard 16'' wheels on it.

where did u put the axle stands? can you jack it up on the diff and do the test again on the lateral arms and trailing arms,if the axle stands were on the trailing arms it wouldnt be fully unloaded, just a idea.

I put a 4''x4'' fence post from one side of the car to the other on the stands and let the sills sit on the post so the complete rear suspension was hanging free

Sounds like a bush or steering joint has failed, but knackered shockers can cause the same problem.Get it checked out before you end up in a ditch.

Look at each shocker for signs of leaking & try the bounce test on each corner. Push down hard on each corner & if the car moves up & down more than one & a half times the shocker is knackered.

Shock and springs are fine will try changing the bushes as they might be soft. Are these the bushes I need http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Imp...16152321498184

Have you changed/replaced tyres, I got 2 new ones on front, thinking the back ones were fine until I spun on a bend at around 20mph in the wet. Not a major spin but straight back for 2 more tyres on the back and all sorted. Only when I returned did the guy in Kwik Fit told me you should always replace all four tyres at once

Have you checked that you havent got low tyre pressure?

Also - MOST importantly - DONT DRIVE your child in the car - could be a death trap until you establish what is wrong!!!