ive had this problem since i bought my 88 gt and have assumed its the bushings causing this. i don't want to go replacing all the bushings though and that not be the problem. basically what it does is when you floor it or are close to floored the back end will start moving around causing the car to be all over the road. it does it mostly at the top of gears and when you let of the gas. anyone had this problem before or know whats causing it?

I would say sounds like your bushings and rear tierods are shot . I would replace it all together.

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what he said

it could be bushings or motor mounts. my 88 did this and it had bad mounts on the motor and trans.
I would look over the car first. start the motor and rev it by hand to see if the motor moves back and forth if not look at the trailing agm bushings the 88 does not have tierods.
no need to replace hard parts just mounts or bushings or both.
also look at the struts.
D

[This message has been edited by whodeanie (edited 12-26-2010).]

I thought that was the goal! I wish all my cars would kick the back end around....


Sounds like worn bushings. Have you jacked up the car to see if it is the bearings? Wiggle the wheel with no weight on it.

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88 GT "The Stray" 4.9L
86 GT 2.8L 4 speed
07 Solstice GXP 2.0L turbo
08 GMC Sierra 3500 Duramax Dually.
05 Tahoe on 20's (Kid hauler)

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: i'm sure i could fly a plane no problem.

Also, since you have an '88, check the torque on the outer pivot bolt for the links... that's the long bolt that goes through the hub carrier and bolt links. That bolt being loose can cause the symptoms you describe.

Thanks everyone. I have revved the engine and tried to shake the engine before without it moving. I have also tried moving the wheels how the back moves and couldn't get that to move eaither. I replaced the sway bar link bushings over the summer and i think it made it a little bit better but not much.

I've had that problem. It started when I converted the rear suspension over to poly. The long bolt going through the bottom of the rear nuckle kept loosening up, allowing the rear wheels to toe in and out when throttle was applied, and released. I wound up torquing the long bolt down good, then putting a second nut on the remaining thread to jam the first nut. It's been 3 years with no issues now. The polyeurathane bushings helped to unscrew the nut, causing the issue.

Best way is to take it to a alignment shop. The bushings are not the things that hold the engine. They are the things that hold the rear arms to the frame.

If you have an automatic try this. Have a friend sit in the car and with his foot firmly on the brake, have him apply some forward power. They try some reverse power. Does the rear tires move around a bit? If so you have either bushings or tie rod issues in the rear.

Try this also - 2nd or 3rd gear going straight with the engine at higher revs. Try going from on the gas to off the gas and back on again. Do you have to make a correction with your steering wheel? Again most likely something in the back end is loose. Try that test slower first time. The correction you have to make might really shock you.

Although not on an 88 but an 86 i had a strange problem going into left hand corners the car would "wiggle" to the out side of the corner and scaring the driver come to find out that the right rear lower ball joint was wore out causing the toe to change along with the camber.. small change but huge handling effect.

quote Originally posted by hobodude34: Although not on an 88 but an 86 i had a strange problem going into left hand corners the car would "wiggle" to the out side of the corner and scaring the driver come to find out that the right rear lower ball joint was wore out causing the toe to change along with the camber.. small change but huge handling effect.

No ball joints on the rear of an 88.

Go through and retorque every rear suspension bolt. (there aren't many).
Also retorque the cradle to frame bolts, front and rear, as well as the axle nuts.
You can do a visual inspection of the bushings at that time.

If you still have the problem, check the alignment. But make sure everything is tight first and not causing the alignment to change from something shifting.

I've had the problem caused by an axle nut that wouldn't hold it's torque. After replacing it, it worked fine. (I believe they're supposed to be replaced any time you take them off.)

To be clear, any adjustment made to alignment before replacing worn bushings or loose hardware will be negligible. Go over everything first, then have it aligned.

[This message has been edited by L67 (edited 12-26-2010).]

quote Originally posted by Will: Also, since you have an '88, check the torque on the outer pivot bolt for the links... that's the long bolt that goes through the hub carrier and bolt links. That bolt being loose can cause the symptoms you describe.

What he said. If you have poly bushings in the rear, I'll almost GUARANTEE that this is your problem.

quote Originally posted by Will: Also, since you have an '88, check the torque on the outer pivot bolt for the links... that's the long bolt that goes through the hub carrier and bolt links. That bolt being loose can cause the symptoms you describe.

Yet another vote for this. The long bolt in the bottom of the "knuckle".
My 88 has poly in the rear. It started getting squirrely. On and off the gas would have the car wanting to change lanes.
After it was tightened the wiggle went away.

Another detail to check on the 88 lower links, the OEM bushing have a big side and little side. Sometimes they get re-assembled wrong and the small side's metal shell will waller out a divot in the knuckle causing the bushing to move around under load.

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yellow 88 GT, not stock
white 88 notchie, 4 banger

quote Originally posted by Will: Also, since you have an '88, check the torque on the outer pivot bolt for the links... that's the long bolt that goes through the hub carrier and bolt links. That bolt being loose can cause the symptoms you describe.

Agreed... this should be the first thing checked on an 88 that is squirrely in back. I double nut the long bolt on all my 88's to help keep them tight.

the only poly bushings on the rear are the sway bar link bushings. i have the back in the air right now so ill re tighten everything and see if theirs any difference next time i drive it.

quote Originally posted by fieroguru: Agreed... this should be the first thing checked on an 88 that is squirrely in back. I double nut the long bolt on all my 88's to help keep them tight.

The really annoying part of dealing with that bolt is that you can't just tighten it because you'll split the inner sleeves of rubber and polyurethane bushings. I have rod ends on my lateral links, so I was able to put 80 ftlbs on it and haven't had trouble.

quote Originally posted by Will: The really annoying part of dealing with that bolt is that you can't just tighten it because you'll split the inner sleeves of rubber and polyurethane bushings. I have rod ends on my lateral links, so I was able to put 80 ftlbs on it and haven't had trouble.

When I upgrade to rod ends, I am planning to machine a radius on the edge of the uprights so the rod end would be "cupped" in position to lessen the chance of movement.

In a sense there is no easy fix for this. I have looked at this off and on for more than a few years now. It is a common problem on the rear of the 88's. The only solution I could offer is to machine steel inserts and one would need to send their rear castings to me so I can counter bore them to accept these steel inserts. This has to be done on a large drill press with s special fixture to hold the casting.

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Rodney Dickman

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quote Originally posted by Rodney: In a sense there is no easy fix for this. I have looked at this off and on for more than a few years now. It is a common problem on the rear of the 88's. The only solution I could offer is to machine steel inserts and one would need to send their rear castings to me so I can counter bore them to accept these steel inserts. This has to be done on a large drill press with s special fixture to hold the casting.

Are you talking about changing to two separate bolts instead of one long bolt?

With the stock bushing inner sleeves or inner sleeves from polyurethane bushings, the fasteners holding the bushings to the knuckle *MUST* have a self-locking feature. This is required because the inner sleeves will crush when the bolt is tightened enough to prevent backing out. Since the bolt can't be brought to the appropriate torque, the system relies on prevailing torque from a self-locking nut to keep from backing off.
As I mentioned above, I replaced the lateral links on my '88 with rod-ends. This is not expensive and the only custom parts required were the shoulder spacers that match the width of the rod-ends to the width of the bushing sleeves. Because they are only in the lateral links and I still have rubber trailing arm bushings, there was no effect on ride quality.

http://www.realfierotech.co...topic.php?f=3&t=2573

[This message has been edited by Will (edited 12-28-2010).]

quote Originally posted by fieroguru: When I upgrade to rod ends, I am planning to machine a radius on the edge of the uprights so the rod end would be "cupped" in position to lessen the chance of movement.

I turned some "shoulder spacers", to which I alluded above, which, when used with rod-end boots, space the thickness of the assembly out to the length of the center sleeve for the stock bushings.
I think it would be simpler to slightly counterbore the upright to produce a pocket into which the spacer would seat, locating it positively.