Hi there, I was hoping someone has seen this, and perhaps can point me in the right direction. I have an 05 G, I bought her a few months back. Up until approximately a week ago, the suspension has seemed relatively tight (at least for stock.) Recently I have begun to notice a rather excessive body roll and oversteer. I have also noticed on the highway that if a car hits a bump, the suspension almost seems unstable, and tries to pull either left or right. The best way to describe this symptom is driving in very windy conditions where an effort is required to keep the car in one lane.

Thanks in advance

 

What sort of miles are on it? Did you buy it new?

I am just going off of what my service advisor let slip here but apparently there is a probelm with the tires wearing out too fast and if you do not have them rotated at the spcified intervals you could end up with some of the described probelms.

 

Interesting, the car had 21k on it when I bought it, but it drove flawlessly (othewise I wouldn't have bought the thing ) The tires have been rotated few days ago, but that didnt seem to help. Did the service advisor imply that getting a new set of tires would resolve it?

 

Yeah he jokingly said if I did not get the 7500 mile service, which included tire rotation, that I would be back in at 25k miles buying tires from him.

First, I believe in dealer srvice but the last place i will be tire shopping is at the dealer. I wont bore you with the details but that statement alone had turned around to bite them in the **** the nex day as the tech failed to complete the service as prescribed.

I know the 350 have alightment / camber problems and if I am not mistaking the G sedan and coupe might share in this issue as well.

Knock on wood my G has not demonstrated any of these characteistics.

 

this is an example of the SVH diag chart the techs would use.

 

Thanks for the info. I got an appointment set up for Monday, I'll post the outcome shortly thereafter.

 

Did you get an alignment?

 

Got one the same time I had the tires rotated.

 

I'm thinking there a ineffective (disconnected/broken) parts in the front sway bar assembly. That would explain the roll but also the oversteer (since the front/back stiffness ratio was altered) but also the sudden change you've noticed.

Let us know what you find out.

Frank

 

Wanted to add something to the description of the problem. I'm noticing the car leaning into turns, this is especially evident when changing lanes. Its almost to the point where I'm hesitant to pass someone because as I shift lanes, the car feels like it just wants to continue turning, and immediate correction is required to keep it in the lane. I almost hit a guardrail yesterday when trying to change lanes. Something has got to be wrong since this is not the behavior I should expect out of this car, especially at only 65mph. I just hope the dealer does more than just blame the tires

 

Update: Dropped the car off at the dealer shop this morning. Around 2pm got a call, was told they couldnt replicate the problem. They did however state IF there is an issue, the two of the more worn tires are the likely culprit. The service advisor has also mentioned road "crowning?" which apparently can cause symptoms similar to what I had described. I quickly dismissed that explanation. Sad thing is, the beat up 04 loaner drove just fine. At this point I'm inclined to go ahead buy the two new tires. Since I'm relatively certain I won't see an improvement, I'll likely be taking the car back to the dealership shortly thereafter. Any suggestions to what my next possible step should be?

 

Last week got 4 new tires and noticed a definite improvement. Something still doesn't feel quite right when taking turns, but oddly enough the tires did seems to address the majority of the problems I was having.
I just find it hard to belive the problems with tires would manifest themselves almost overnight as opposed to something which would happen gradually.

 

1) Go to a reputable shop to do a proper alignment
2) check the tire threads to see if there is any uneven wearing
3) Go to a different dealer to get them check on the suspension components
4) Buy new tires

IMO you should try the following steps, don't just go ahead and waste your money on new tires when it might be real suspension problems...

Since you only found the problem after you had an alignment and tire rotation, I suspect that either you have feathering or uneven wear with your tires or they just can't do a proper alignment, or they accidentally knocked off a small weight inside the rim when they rotate it .. (which will cost significant instability)

Good luck

 

Did you check tire pressure? that'll send you into a guardrail no prob....