08 Sedan squirrelly suspension help

[bbrocious]

Folks, I have a 2008 Yaris Sedan with about 27,000 miles. It is an automatic. When I drive it down the road at highway speeds (50+) and hit a pot hole the car gets squirrelly, as if it has come loose from the road, almost like a fishtailing except it doesn't fishtail, the car rocks back and forth, side to side.

This car has no aftermarket anything. It is 100% stock. Could this be a shock absorber issue? Or a stablizer bar issue? If it is a stablizer bar issue, is there something I could look for that would help me determine the source of the problem?

Thanx for your thoughts.
Bob

[mrbond]

Get a sway bar. These things help an unbelievable amount in many different areas. After I put my 23mm sway bar from microimageonline.com, the car felt way more stable going over bumps and going into turns. It's a damn good investment, seeing as how it's only $165. I say go for it!
Ah, and welcome to the forums!

[Tamago]

what are your tire pressures? have you had the car aligned? how much tread left on your tires?

to check if your struts are blown, bounce the car up and down on front and rear and see if the car keeps bouncing.

[YarisSedan]

Thats normal for our cars. We dont have a rear stabilizer bar from the factory. Go take any fwd car on the road and remove the rear stabilizer and drive it around at high speeds it will react the same way.

[Loren]

Tamago is on the right path to proper troubleshooting.

Tire pressures first. Then shocks.

If you've driven the car for 28k miles and this is a CHANGE in the way the car behaves, it's very possible that the rear shocks are going bad. If you just bought the car with 28k miles on it... some of what Mr Bond said is true. The cars have some pretty sloppy body roll designed into them, and it can be annoying driving in cross-winds and such. A swaybar will help with that. But, a swaybar won't fix worn out shocks or low tire pressures.

[supmet]

Originally Posted by bbrocious

the car rocks back and forth, side to side.

I agree about checking the tire pressure, but the side to side roll is almost completely eliminated by the sway bar as mr.bond said(either TRD or ultra racing). I had the same problem with the roll on the freeway, and the sway bar helps a ton. I would be very surprised if your shock/struts are shot after 28k miles unless you jump your car or take it off roading on a regular basis. I have an 07 automatic sedan with 70k miles and the struts are just starting to get a little soft, and I haven't had to align it - it still holds straight for 5-10 seconds if I let go of the wheel even on the freeway.

[aeipee13]

go get an alignment after you check tire pressure. if you curb your tires/wheels when parking it could mess with your alignment. big bumps and pot holes could cause problems too. Also if your tires are worn you could get weird wiggle but with your mileage that shouldn't be a problem.

[cali yaris]

7 responses in 3+ hours. Go YarisWorld.

[Bob Dog]

Hit a pot hole? Its a high probability that the wheel that hit the pot hole is out of balance or maybe bent. A wheel that is out of balance can make a car behave very badly. Wheel balancing is very cheap most places and worth a try before you do anything more costly. Putting your wheel on a balance machine will also let you know if its bent or not. The front end could be out of line. A front end alignment is not quite so cheap but not too bad. A stabilizer bar is useful and I'm very happy with mine, but it notwill do anything to not correct a damage related problem.