Help! Suspension?

[Dylon1122]

Ahhh help! My 91 legacy wagon is being weird. So I think I finally came to a conclusion... it feels like my back passenger wheel is an egg. Sometimes it gets bad like I can’t go over 25 mph, and then it won’t happen... Well until yesterday, now it’s real bad. I’m pretty sure it’s the struts, because nothing is broken, and I rotated tires, and same thing happened. Can someone help!!!?

[doublechaz]

If you moved that tire to a different corner and the problem followed the tire, then you have a tread problem or a balance problem with that wheel/tire or a bent wheel. The tread thing can be serious. Jack the car so the tire is just barely off the ground. Rotate it and see if it gets closer and farther from the ground even by a tiny amount. Everything else being equal that would show a tire not being round.

While rotating the tire if the metal part moves side to side or in and out you may have a bent wheel or a really bad wheel bearing.

 

If you moved that tire to a different corner and the problem stayed at the original corner then strut is a possibility. It could also be a bushing allowing the alignment to go out. But I would start with the strut.

 

If you sorta throw your weight down on the bumper and hop off real quick the car should go down and up and stop. If it does more oscillations than down and up the strut is done.

 

If you jack it up securely with that wheel off the ground and you can wiggle the wheel with big force then there is something wrong with the bushings or wheel bearing. Hold the tire at 3:00 and 9:00. Push in with one hand and pull out with the other hand. Then do the opposite. The wheel shouldn't move. You have to do this with the brakes not applied, so be sure to secure the car in other ways. Do the same holding at 12:00 and 6:00. Also, spin the wheel and listen for grinding and scraping noises.