correct
Even if the car gets aligned correctly, if there is slop in the bushings, when you actually drive, the alignment changes and the car wanders or ghost walks.
Slop in the suspension bushings, lets the wheels wobble out of alignment, and this makes the tracking loose.
I just changed my front lower control arms due to blown bushings. Its amazing how much easier it is to hold a line now. I can even let go of the wheel and it keeps tracking.
small road irregularities no longer force my steering to change direction, and I dont have to grip the steering wheel as hard, to keep the car pointed where I want to be going.
there are some typical urban myths about how to make a car handle better, goes like this
1. change the springs, stiffer, and or shorter
2. get stiffer shocks in the rear
3. get a stiffer sway bar
What I think is more on track towards a goal of making the car drive as when new
1. Leave the springs alone. There is nothing wrong with them. Dont lower the car, dont make it jarring to ride in.
2. Get 4 brand new shocks. I like the stock ones. Others like the stiff ones. whatever you do, get all 4, not just 2.. I mean, make a commitment to the whole car, so it works together
3. Install Whiteline campber adjuster, and Replace front and rear control arm bushings (or the whole arm if you dont do your own work) until the car is tight, does not jiggle side to side front nor rear, and tracks even with hands off the steering wheel.
4. Get a lifetime alignment.
5. Any time you change anything, sway bar, spring, shock, suspension arms, or even every time you change oil and rotate tires, recheck the alignment.
sway bars shove the car sideways. That is not going to help if there is slop in the suspension linkage bushings. Shoving the car sideways, fully loaded, underinflated, on slick surfaces is dangerous.
thats why traildogck, who imo is a guru here and you should listen to what he says, said a swaybar would increase the handling dangers of worn bushings
in my experience, sloppy bushings created sideways hop in the rear, sideways jiggle both front and rear, and made holding a line more effort than it should be. Now with new control arm bushings, the car is much more fun and relaxing to drive. It moves more as one unibody unit, instead of a bunch of independent parts bouncing and jiggling around.
shocking but true,
good bushes are more important than how stiff your bar is
I drove around with my car weighted for about 4 days...now with 200lbs in the car...all on back...I wanted the WL RSB back there...I have become accustomed to whipping her a bit harder in corners...so with the weight...the stock bar was struggling to give me the same flat feel.
Really appreciate your posts
Did you add 4 psi to your rear tires to help reduce side roll?
If the tires are squished, more in the back than in the front, bad things can happen in a turn, in ways that stiffer bars accentuate.
btw,
how much did the alignment change when you took the 200 lbs of weight out?
post your alignments, and teach me what you see please