Car is unstable on the highway??
 

Guys, my car feels like it is swaying side to side, i blamed it on the wind, but it has'nt stopped, usually around 70-+ mph it gets scary, i have lakewood 50/50 shocks in the rear, and monroe's in the front which might need replacing, but dunno, also my skinnies up front are at the right psi, and my back tires are 235/60 firehawks which are brand new? i might put some springs on soon, and maybe i'll find the problem then.....but all i know is racing someon is out of the question out of fear of flipping over or something, any suggestions? could it be the new tires on the back breaking in a wear pattern?

alignment ?

Is your steering wheel tight or does it have a lot of play in it?

I see you have lakewood lca on what about upper arms? Do you still have sway bar. If all that is good check those boxes.

I had that kinda feeling when I first got my GT..it had the stock suspension and was a little un-nerving at about 80 or 90 MPH..

I had Tokico non-adjustable shocks and Eibach prokit springs installed and the stability was greatly improved....It felt less bouncy and "swooshy" (if you will :D ),a much more confident feel.....Of course the set-up and feel and trying to go for would probably not be the best for the track but,that's something thats more up to you and what you want to do with the car...-Milt

Those are classic symptoms of a worn steering rack & pinion. When I got my car it wouyld get "sucked" into the grooves heavy trucks leave in asphalt paving - it would just steer into it with no steering wheel movement. Replaced the steering rack and now it's solid again - no wandering.

My rack and pinion has started to leak. I noticed that right about the same time, the steering on the highway became a bit twitchy with more play in the wheel. I can also feel something is loose through the steering wheel whenever I hit small bumps. My alignment went out almost overnight.

91 coupe, 163K

Well, when I bought my GT , it had on some old worn tires (a brand that I never buy) and it would do the same exact thing (especially in sections of the road that had been scraped for relayering asphalt and had the long grooves or lines in the road). I got new tires and that totally solved the problem.

Exellent opinions guys, I do have the front sway removed, rear is intact, upper control arms are stock, lowers are lakewood.
I think it could be the steering as well, but today upon further inspection, i heard a bad wheel bearing in the driver side front tire, (clicking) it does'nt have a whole lot of play, but i know it doesnt take much, also i know alighnment is need since it pulls slightly to the right but not bad, i know the front swaybar removal affect stability, but i used to cruise down the highway at 80 mph with one hand on the wheel, and eating something in the other, now it is, like said above "swooshy"

Thanx for the great help, i guess i'll price the steering rack, is it hard to install?
any more suggestions welcome, but you guys pretty much summed it up.
What about ball joints?

are the skinnys radial tires?are they new? you said the rear tires are new- some new tires have a deep tread and or soft tread and will squrm at highway speed makin it very unsable did you have the problem before the new rear tires?

Hmmm. How many beers did you drink directly b4 the last time you drove it??? :D

No No:) i dont put my baby in jepoardy like that, unless i have a few brews at the track, but then i only live down the street.:D

canukracer, i heard that question first from my dad, i really dont remember if it did it before, but yes they are deep tread, and pretty soft, but not like my dragradials were of course. and yes the skinnies are radials that are made for a veedub, straight from discount tire.
I am going in for an alignment maybe friday, i'll see what that does.......
The steering wheel does have more play in it im pretty sure.

That's a good question, my car does the same thing. It just started getting sloppy over time. I had the same wind blowing the car around feeling, but there was no wind. I had weld racing wheels with front runners up front, no sway bar in the front. I replaced the front steering rack, got some 16" ponys, put the front sway bar back on replaced the upper and lower control arms in the rear, had the torque boxes welded up and put the torque box kit in also, my shocks and struts have less than 7000mi on them, and the problem still persists. Just a few weeks ago I was driving on the highway and something broke on a down shift to pass some slow people. It felt like a flat tire, and my steering wheel is cocked 1/4 turn to the right. I pulled over and all my tires were fine. So I brought it to a shop and they said it was my upper control arms. They were shot, which is wierd because they were only a few months old. I replaced them with UPR adjustables, and it is still there. I am going to get a UPR K-member kit with coil overs this payday, if that doesn't fix it then I give up. Any Ideas?

Oh, I forgot I got my car aligned about 3000mi ago too.

I had the same problem with mine so I put a four cylinder sway bar on it and it went away. I mean it was scary.

Thanx again for the replies, i jacked it up, and i do have play in my driver side tire which has a bad bearing, also a friend of mine that works for ford, told me i should replace the tie rods?

on that same tire i have a weird clearance problem with the brake pad, the little shield on the pad rubs the inner rim a slight bit? that tells me something is out of line somewhere, im gonna start with the bearing, then tie rods, then struts, then have it alignhed.
it scares me to hear anything about a 'torque box', being im leaving hard with slicks at the track......but it does feel like a frontend issue......i'll keep posted.

You should take a good look at your upper torque boxes if your leaving hard on slicks. Easy to do with a flashlight.