Feeling of lateral movement while driving?

[Gareth Randall]

My 2003 Escape gives me a sensation that the car is moving laterally when under acceleration at freeway speeds. I don’t mean that it’s actually drifting side-to-side, but I get a seat-of-the-pants feeling that there’s a small but noticeable amount of side-to-side movement from the chassis, especially when taking curves at freeway speed.

I guess this would most likely be down to worn suspension bushings?

Topic

[Dave Tidman]

could also be tires. Try rotating front to back and see if the sensation changes…

[Its me]

A seat of the pants feeling like you describe is a textbook symptom of unbalanced rear tires.

[jason]

OR LOW PSI

[Gareth Randall]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I finally got it up on the jackstands to take a proper look, and the front right lower control arm is in need of replacement – the ball joint is on its last legs and the bushings are shot. I think I may have found my problem 🙂

[Author]

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