Suspension problem on '98 Neon

Two weeks ago, I posted a message about a problem I'm having with my '98
Neon leaning in turns, a problem which has led to the car being almost
uncontrollable in turns in interstate driving. In that post, I suspected
that there might be a problem in the rear suspension -- namely, a weak
left rear spring -- that was causing the leaning.

That Saturday, I took it to a shop where I had some unrelated work done
on the car, and described the problem to the shop manager. He had one of
his mechanics take the car on a test drive, but the mechanic could find
little wrong with it. They did suggest replacing the strut dampers ,
which I did (cost: $300 including labor), but the strut replacement
didn't fix the problem.

So this last Thursday, I took it back and told them that the problem was
still there. This time, the manager and the mechanic who worked on my
car before both went out on a test drive, and this time they both felt
the things I was describing. They then put the car on a levelled wheel
alignment rack, measured the ground clearance between the rack and the
car's chassis at several points, and compared the measurements to a
chart containg the OEM specs for the Neon's ride height. They found the
car's ride height to be within manufaturer's specifications.

The manager said all of the fasteners in the rear suspension were
tightened to spec. There was nothing wrong with the strut dampers (of
course not, their being less than two weeks old), and the alignment
geometry was OK (having been aligned twice in two months). Tire pressure
and apparent condition were OK, apparently ruling out the tires. And
since the ride height was within spec, the manager thought that the rear
springs were OK, too.

He said that there was little that he could do. He knows that a problem
exists, but all the diagnostics seem to say otherwise. He said that
something needed to be done to "stiffen the suspension", something to
keep the car from rolling excessively. He was somewhat reluctant to do a
spring replacement, saying (IIRC) that the job would require redoing
some of the work that was done when the strut dampers were replaced.

I then mentioned that the car could be retrofitted with a rear sway bar
(my Neon has a front sway bar only). The manager then did a Web search
for a Neon sway bar kit, finding an Eibach performance sway bar kit that
listed for nearly $300. (I later found that an OEM sway bar kit costs
half as much; the reason the Eibach kit costs so much is that it has
urethane bushings and the bars are thicker than OEM spec.) He mentioned
that he could order the parts himself (with a slight markup, of course)
or that I could order the parts myself and he could install them,
quoting $100 for labor in that case.

Balking at the apparent cost, even if I ordered the parts, I again asked
about the spring replacement. He said that he wants to try adding the
sway bar first; if that doesn't work, then he'd install new springs. (If
that failed, he recommended having the tires checked.) He even suggested
that I could install the rear sway bar only (something I don't like
because I heard that it could adversely affect the car's handling [1]).

I told him I'd think about it for a few days, then call and let him know
my decision.

For the past couple of days, I thought about the suspension problem, and
a few things struck me as being odd:

1) The car has had this rolling problem for nearly two months now (I
first noticed it in mid-September, and it has been getting steadily
worse since). If the car had been handling fine as recently as two
months ago *without* the rear sway bar, how would adding one *now* fix
the problem? My thought: if it handled fine then without a rear sway
bar, then I seriously doubt that adding one would help.

2) I don't think that the ride height measurements are a valid indicator
of the condition of the springs -- the measurements were taken with the
car in a static, unloaded condition, while the problem is occurring
under load in dynamic conditions. Could it be possible that the rear
springs are in fact weakened to the point where they could cause a
problem in dynamic conditions, but not weak enough to affect the car's
static ride height?

3) Why did the manager suggest resolving the problem in that order? He
suggested:

-- Adding the rear sway bar first
-- Replacing the springs second
-- Inspecting/replacing the tires third

when IIRC it'd be the other way around (tires first, then springs, then
sway bar) -- going from simplest to most complex?

Given these questions, I'm more inclined to have the springs replaced
rather than adding sway bars. I'd have to hop to it, though -- I'd like
to visit my folks this Thanksgiving, and my work schedule doesn't allow
me much time to get the problem fixed.

What do you guys think?

 

at this point i would do neither and find another shop and have the rims
checked to see if they are bent anywere and then the ball joints shold be
checked for play now you state it happens in corners. did the brakes and
rotors check out ??did the rotors get replaced before this happened? why
does it seem to be from the rear??

 

mic canic wrote in rec.autos.makers.chrysler:

This is the third shop I've gone to to try and have this problem fixed.
The other two couldn't find any problem whatsoever. I'd take it to a
Dodge or Chrysler shop, but they'd charge $90 just to look at the
problem and would probably charge me an arm and a leg on labor.

This would likely have been caught during either of the last two service
visits. Nothing was mentioned of bent rims.

Ball joints -- in the front -- were checked two months ago, and the left
front tie rod was replaced to cure a creaking noise in the front
suspension. None of the other ball joints were faulty.

before this happened?

How would the brakes be relevant to this problem when I'm not using the
brakes going through corners? They seem to be working fine.

Because when the car rolls, it also pitches towards the rear of the car,
particularly the left rear corner -- the sensation is that of the right
front corner rising while the left rear corner sinks. That suggests to
me that one or both of the rear springs may be weakening.