Alignment Madness

[90Lesabre]

Whats up with the later 90's lesabres?? I've been having big time problems with my wife's 99. I've owned both an 89 and a 90 and never had these kinds of problems. Anyways, we had her car aligned 2 months ago for a pull to the right. A week ago, i noticed a bad pull to the right again and also the right rear wheel was tilted out sort of and the inner tread was wearing badly. So we took it to a different shop. They did an alingment and said all 4 corners were off pretty good. So i drove it home and it steers nice and straight now with no pull at all. The right rear still looks like its at a wierd angle. The left rear to a lesser extent.

So the car drives straight now but whenever i hit a bump, the back end kicks out and kinda skitters to the side. Any abrupt bump makes it totally lose its composure. At highway speeds its actually scary, such as when hitting bridge expansion joints or other bumps. The ride of this car was never that great and now it feels unsafe. The ride and steering just feel unnatural. The struts are a year and a half old and this was the 3rd or 4th alingment we've had done to it. We've had the car 2 1\2 years. I'm out of ideas and out of money. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks!

P.S. why does this thing ride so bad?? Its got the standard suspension, just like my 89 and 90 did. The suspension on the 99 looks the same as my old ones except the front springs are coiled tighter on the 99. But the ride is so unsettled and ungainly. My 89 and 90 were the best riding cars i've ever owned.

[CaliforniaT]

have you had the actual suspension looked at? Sway bars, ball joints, tie rod ends, strut mounts, that sort of thing?

It sounds like a sway bar to me and I would also go get my money back from the alignment shops.

[T]

Sounds like there is somthing wrong that the shops are missing, or of their own doing. The Suspensions is basically the same as the older H-bodies.

[LeSabrefire]

What kind of tires do you run, what size, and how much PSI inflation? Also, if you have Monroe struts, they are the worst I've ever used, not enough control and wear out quickly.

[90Lesabre]

The strut mounts were replaced at the time of strut replacment. Yes, they're Monroe sensatracs. Never had a problem with them before on other cars. As for other suspension components, they look ok at first glance. The sway bar bushings seem ok. No loosness in the steering. I'm not very familiar with what to look for. The shop i just had the most recent alignment done at is going to look at it again next tuesday. Like i said, it steers straight but it gets all squirley on bumps. They said they'll look for other causes after they recheck the alignment. He said all the numbers were right on.

[tony t-man]

See if they could check everything out while your there with them. I know alot of shops for insurance purposes will not allow that, but this is an ongoing thing and you want to make sure everything is covered.
Also tell them you want a printout of the specs before the alignment and after, just to make sure all the readings are correct. The computer will give you what the specs should be and what they actually are. And if they tell you they can't, that's bulls..t, because I used to give the customer's printouts all the time.

Good Luck
Tony

[90Lesabre]

Its gotta be the way the rear wheels are oriented. Whever the rear hits a bump, the rear end sorta hops to the side for a second. I'll take a pic of the car from the rear so you can see the tilt of the wheels. Perhaps my rear springs are sagging?