Top of rear tires lean in at the top and the rear is all over the road

20

Asked by BITE_MOJO Jan 01, 2018 at 06:32 PM about the 2005 Chevrolet Malibu FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

'05' Malibu has the rear tires leaning in at the
top and rear sways left and right on lightly
snow covered roads while only going 25-35
MPH. It does not do this on dry or wet roads.
There is no bounce to suggest that it's the
shocks and after jacking it up there is no
play or rattle from the wheel bearing, not
does it make any noise while driving down
the road.
It is obvious that the problem is in the rear
(not tie rods, roters, or anything else that is
front end related), I just can't figure out
WHAT the problem is.
Any help regarding rear end issues of this
car would be greatly appreciated.

5 Answers

20

Thanks for your replies, both shocks and alignment is what I was leaning towards, but wanted to hear it from other folks before heading that way. I'll report as soon as those are done to let others know if that works, one way or the other.

1 people found this helpful.
60

not to be rude, but tom is WRONG, shocks do not sag, they merely slow down the movement of suspension travel. You could REMOVE the shocks and not change the ride height of a vehicle (struts are a different story as the spring is mounted on the strut (shock)). You also want the better tread tires on the front since you steer and stop with those tires... the rears are just there to hold the car up. Your car's specs for rear camber is -.8 degrees, which means the top of the rear tires lean in almost one degree from the factory. They do this for "stability" reasons... as you make a left turn, the weight of the car leans to the right, making the tire "stand up straight" as the body rolls. This however, when driving straight, makes the tires lean in and ride more weight on the inner side of the tire, thus wearing it out faster. Also on an independent rear suspension (not a truck solid rear axle) if there is extra weight in the back of the vehicle, this will add to the problem as the tires will lean in at the top even more. Rotating your tires often helps spread this wear out over all 4 tires and will make them last longer. We suggest rotate every other oil change and rotate and balance every 4 oil changes. Over time SPRINGS will sag/wear/settle, which will add to this excessive camber as well. New springs and a good alignment can fix this. An alignment shop can change the rear camber, but you will have to ask them to set it to zero -- don't know if they will do it or not -- I would keep asking different shops till you find one that will. Please also be aware that during a panic maneuver (such as swerving to miss something at highway speed) with zero rear camber will make it easier to roll the car over sideways (but not any worse than a solid rear axle such as a truck) , as compared to some negative camber (tires lean in at the top), but I am not sure just how much of a difference it would actually make. I would avoid making "panic" maneuvers just as a usual driving habit anyway.

6 people found this helpful.
59,825

Are saying shocks never wear out? They for sure do. When bad they cause bounce, sway, and if leaked they cannot rebound. If there is a leaf, spring or strut those will be doing all the work then, until all are bad.

2 people found this helpful.
59,825

Words mean different things to nail bitters evidently. Most understand sag means bad shocks or springs, basically the suspension parts. Weight not distributed correct causes the rest of the systems to fail premature, All those parts need addressed.

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