# Car Trouble - Why does my back-end fishtail when I hit bumps? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-trouble-why-does-my-back-end-fishtail-when-i-hit-bumps/451872 "2008-06-05T13:33:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-trouble-why-does-my-back-end-fishtail-when-i-hit-bumps/451872/1 "2008-06-05T13:33:25Z")
Recently, my 2002 Chevy Malibu was towed a fairly lengthy distance. After I got her back (yes, it is a she… her name is **Malibu Stacy** ), I noticed a strange problem. Anytime I hit a bump with my back tires (notably the rear passenger side one), the back end of my car feels like it’s losing control and fishtailing a bit. It’s always a quick sudden swervy feel from the back end. When I hit a bump evenly with both wheels, it doesn’t usually happen. Usually only when one tire hits a bump. This obviously makes the car feel very unsafe to drive, however, we are completely broke at the moment and aren’t able to get it into the shop right away. Any ideas of what might cause this type of issue? Is it a loose/broken strut or shock? Something else? Obviously I’ll need to get it checked out by a professional to find out exactly what’s wrong, but I’m hoping someone here might have a clue. Lastly, any idea of what this might cost to fix if it’s something that sounds familiar? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-trouble-why-does-my-back-end-fishtail-when-i-hit-bumps/451872/2 "2008-06-05T13:55:56Z")
You got a mutli link rear suspension, so you have to get it to a shop. Something is broken on the side that fishtails. This sounds incredibly obvious. Probably not a broken shock, but an arm or stabilizer bar issue. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-trouble-why-does-my-back-end-fishtail-when-i-hit-bumps/451872/3 "2008-06-05T14:10:25Z")
And for chrissake, drive carefully on your way to the shop. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-trouble-why-does-my-back-end-fishtail-when-i-hit-bumps/451872/4 "2008-06-05T14:27:02Z")
This is a very serious problem. Get it to the shop ASAP. This happened to my wife. I don’t remember what the problem was, but I could tell from driving it that it was immediately dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-trouble-why-does-my-back-end-fishtail-when-i-hit-bumps/451872/5 "2008-06-05T15:04:16Z")
My first guess is a broken stabilizer bar link, but I wouldn’t rule anything out. If it is a stabilizer link, it may be less than $100 to fix. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-trouble-why-does-my-back-end-fishtail-when-i-hit-bumps/451872/6 "2008-06-05T17:17:59Z")
Did you tow the car yourself, or was it towed by a professional (and hopefully licensed/bonded) wrecker? If the latter, I’d imagine the tower could be liable for the repair costs. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-trouble-why-does-my-back-end-fishtail-when-i-hit-bumps/451872/7 "2008-06-05T19:52:30Z")
[QUOTE=WarmNPrickly] This is a very serious problem. Get it to the shop ASAP. This happened to my wife. I don’t remember what the problem was, but I could tell from driving it that it was immediately dangerous. [/QUOTE] If your wife’s tail is broken and goes out, that would be a serious problem. Driving it probably was dangerous, cowboy. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-trouble-why-does-my-back-end-fishtail-when-i-hit-bumps/451872/8 "2008-06-06T14:29:34Z")
Well… Took it to the shop this morning and have already gotten the call that it’s finished. The problem? Just needed some new back tires. I’m shocked, honestly, that the issue I was having could just be caused by bad tires. But apparently the problem is corrected and I’m only out $175. Thanks for all the help, Dopers! ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-trouble-why-does-my-back-end-fishtail-when-i-hit-bumps/451872/9 "2008-06-07T02:42:31Z")
[QUOTE=HelloNinja] Well… Took it to the shop this morning and have already gotten the call that it’s finished. The problem? Just needed some new back tires. I’m shocked, honestly, that the issue I was having could just be caused by bad tires. But apparently the problem is corrected and I’m only out $175. Thanks for all the help, Dopers! [/QUOTE] Tires have an amazing amount of influence on the handling and performance of a vehicle. I found this out the hard way when I had mis-matched tires on my 4x4 Jeep. The front tires would chirp on the pavement when cornering and when I threw it in 4x4 mode the transmission would growl, squeal, shudder and get hot. And this in the dirt, not pavement. But when I bought new, matching tires, it performed like a dream and all of the problems disappeared. I was amazed. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-trouble-why-does-my-back-end-fishtail-when-i-hit-bumps/451872/10 "2008-06-07T02:52:46Z")
[QUOTE=Student Driver] Did you tow the car yourself, or was it towed by a professional (and hopefully licensed/bonded) wrecker? If the latter, I’d imagine the tower could be liable for the repair costs. [/QUOTE] Good luck proving that, though. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-trouble-why-does-my-back-end-fishtail-when-i-hit-bumps/451872/11 "2008-06-07T02:53:47Z")
Ahh, I see that tires are the culprit. I wonder if your rears were badly out of alignment?