I have a 2000 t/a. It rides pretty smooth under normal conditions, but when at WOT you feel the front end get a little.... Squirly? it just feels loose. However, you really feel it when you let off, when the weight come down on the front, it get really squirly. Any ideas, suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated.

Also, Ive checked the sway bar links and bushings, all seems fine. the only thing Ive noticed is that my tie rod end has a little(1/16) of play. this wouldn't cause this though, would it? I was also planning on going to the track this Friday, but don't want to run with it like this, so please, any help?

 

change the TRE and any part with ANY slack, get a complete alignment including checking ( and if you have adjustable LCA's adjusting) rear thrust line
Johnny

 

Would such little play have that big of an effect though? I mean, its a cheap part, but I am just focused on getting the swaying taken care of first.

 

Think about it like a triangle it might not seem like. That much but the lil bit of slack will grow in other ares because of it

 

It depends on the mods you have.. if you have a stock suspension setup then you probably lack damping. WOT causes the weight to transfer to the back. Also causes the rear axle to resist the drive shaft spinning, so it wants to rotate the axle counter clockwise. When the suspension comes back from the state, it probably oscillates a bit before it settles. Thus the squirly behavior..

You definitely want to fix any tie rod or bushing play. Though you might still have the issue if your dampers aren't up to the job.

So what do you currently have for a setup and what do you want to do with your car?

 

Stock suspension. Do you mean what I plan on as far as suspesion upgrades or engine, etc? Also, I'm not too sure what dampening is, what would cause that?

 

What modifications do you have on your car?

 

seems like the toe is out of spec. is it only effected by throttle input, or does it get squirrely when you are hard on the brakes too? front end dive would compress the suspension and make a toe-in situation much more noticable. i think this is what it might be since you said its when you let off. so the nose settles back down.
if i had some time with MSpaint i would show you what i mean...

 

I put the car up on the lift today, and its seems to me like the only thing to be wrong is the lower control arm bushing. I'm going to replace it anyways, but would the solution?

 

what was wrong with it?
have you checked to see if the alignment is in spec?

 

Shocks. Bilsteins will help a lot, Konis are best.

 

The bushing on the lower control arm is shot, I can move the arm around by hand, its not easy, but it can be done. Is this normal? And i have a buddy, who seems to be stuck on the idea that it is my sway bar links. Then again, he loves sway bar links, we replaced them on his car yesterday, and his girlfriends car a while back. I understand that newer, stiffer bushings might help a little, but I really don't think its the links. Any input? And yes, I had an alignment done.

 

ANY slack ( you stated TRE and Control Arm Bushings have slack) will cause
misalignment, any slack and/or misalignment will cause/allow the car be be Squirly.
Replace all parts with slack AND realign
Johnny

 

agreed. that slack is probably causing those unwanted "on the fly" alignment changes.

 

Toe movement will give you this feeling. Your alignment is set at ride height. These cars have a little bump steer in them right from the factory so any time the ride height changes you will induce a little variation in toes which cause bump steer. It will happen under acceleration and also during hard braking (or letting off the gas after a full throttle run). This is exaggerated if there are any worn parts allowing additional toe movement. 1/16" doesn't sound like much but it's huge when it comes to a toe setting. If you can get 1/16" of movement at rest, it could be 1/8" under load. I would definitely replace any components that you suspect and then go have some fun and see if it feels better...

 

Start with the parts people recommend above first. If you still have the issue, maybe think of shocks or other parts to help you launch straight.

 

Hmm, I didn't see any ride height changes mentioned...

 

Because ride height in the front doesn't change when you go WOT or slam on the brakes...

 

I have been wrong before and may be again.
I beg to differ with the above statment, every car I have seen go WOT has raised the front a given amount and dipped the front when HARD braking .
I will stand at attition IF I need be corrected.
Johnny

 

Do you have stock shocks, and if so, how many miles on them? If you have bagged-out high mileage stock shocks, your front end is going to lift at WOT and will be unstable over surface variations, producing the symptoms you describe. It's squirrely and you can't control the car.