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Hi, Im new here.

Basically, i have a jerking problem with my car. I have a 2001 honda civic ex sedan that jerks whenever the rear tires run over a bump. this happens both at highway speeds and street speeds.

I have done extensive research on this topic, but i cant really find anything related to my problem, except perhaps struts, rear suspension, and other vague explanations.

Let me go more in detail:

1.Car goes over a speed bump. Front end drives over it nicely. Rear end drives over it and bounces up and down a lot, very under-damped.

2. Driving in street, let go of steering wheel, car steers to the right, ever so slightly, but to the right.

3. Driving on freeway. Hit a bump or changing lanes; car hits bump or freeway lane bump, then jerks to one side, (not sure if it jerks to one particular side always).

I have two Questions:

Why do you think this is happening?

What do you propose the solution is?

any help is much appreciated

 
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1. My car does the same thing. Car is very jumpy in the rear when it goes over a speed bump. And I think it's normal for our stock suspension to do that.

2. Solution is to get your car aligned.

3. That's called body roll. Physics.

 
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thank you for your input!

I understand the body roll you mentioned, but this is a pretty violent jerk we are talking about. The car actually swerves a lot and its really annoying.

I know our 7th gen comes with the mcpherson strut design, but my friend has a 2000 honda civic vp (double wishbone strut) and his doesnt swerve at all.

I mean i know its normal for you to feel cracks and imperfections as you hit them, but my car gets deflected by these cracks or pot holes in the road.

i dont think an alignment would out the impact would it?

 
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Only the front has MacPherson type strut. The rear has struts, but they are not MacPherson design.

Anyway.....
Tires, suspension, or alignment. Cannot discern from where I sit.



A worn out shock can let the tire lose contact with the road. This can make the rear of the car "dance" to one side after striking a bump.

If you already know the rear shocks are weak, start there and fix that problem first. Then see what it drives like.

 
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shocks. then alignment
added alignment from your post in november due to the pushing

 
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So I have finally gotten around to fixing the "jerking around" problem.

I switched out all 4 stock struts with Ultima brand struts (100 each pair and i bought 2x pairs, a pair for the front and a pair for the rear)

it turns out that 2 struts were busted. the back right and the front left struts were leaking and never expanded back to its full length

After the switch, my tires had a realllllyyyy un even toe, so i definately needed an alignment.

After the alignment, the car feels beautiful. Seriously. The road noise is still there(might be my next project to reduce it), but this 2001 honda civic feels like a 2000 honda civic! (again, minus the road noise problem)

the only thing is that while the tires have an even, parallel toe and camber, the car still pulls to the left if i let go off the steering wheel. but only when i let go. Also, i feel that this problem occurs when i hit a decent sized pot hole or bump on the left side, but when i hit a bump on the right side, the problem kinda gets fixed......until i hit another bump on the left. Should I take it back to the place where i got it aligned. I have limited warranty on it.

Anyways, the main point is that my car feels much better after switching out all struts. 2 were broken, and you cant really tell unless you see lots of oil/grease debris or you take it out and check to see if it expands after compression.

I replaced all 4 of them with Ultima brand struts, approx. $50 plus tax on ebay.

I researched Ultima as well and it turns out that they are actually the company that manufactures monroe struts. Both are made in china, except the "Monroe" struts are stamped with the monroe company.
Exactly the same struts

Thanks for everybodies feed back and advice, I really appreciate it.

Also, does anybody know the part number for the upper strut mount bearing? I might need to replace mine.

thanks guys!

 
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The front mount bearing for the 01 are plastic 51726-S5A-004
If you want the metal bearings get it from the 02 03
51726-S5A-701

I would change the mounts as well while your at it.

51920-S5A-751 MOUNT, R. FR. SHOCK ABSORBER 1 $41.45
51925-S5A-751 MOUNT, L. FR. SHOCK ABSORBER 1 $41.45

I bought them from here
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com

 
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Swap the 2 front tires side to side. Drive it. See if the pull now goes to the right.

 
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Thank you for the link Bravo,

I'm in the process of purchasing these. Once I receive and install them, I'll let you guys know how the car feels.

 
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I was suspecting tires too, after long driving with busted shocks