GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Lately, it seems like my 09 Vibe (200,000 kms on odo) is doing this weird subtle "wallowing" in moderate winds while driving on the highway. It's like the back end feels "loose", as if it's not quite connected to the road, and the car wants to do these long S-curves in the lane. At first, since I was driving on a cleared semi-snowy road, I thought the rear tires were sliding on ice a little bit, but it's happened a few times since then, and it's definitely being caused by moderate winds. Thing is, though, I never had this issue before--it'd sway a little in high winds, like any other car, but the winds causing this particular problem now are always moderate (light winds, thankfully, don't seem to have any effect). Of course the problem is quite pronounced now in high winds, even more than in moderate winds. And it's always only at highway speeds--not urban road speeds.

Is there something mechanically that could be occurring that would allow the car to sway more in the rear end than it used to? It's definitely swaying in the rear, not the front.

I'd go to a shop that does suspension and brake work and have them check out shocks and struts, and suspension bushings and joints. The rear end has traditional shock absorbers and two rubber axle carrier bushings. Get the front checked as well.

Is your Vibe 2 wheel or AWD? Try turning stability control off or on and see if it changes anything. Shake, move, and pry on all pivot points on rear suspension. Check rear brakes and rear tire sidewalls for damage. Until you start looking and checking, you are not going to know whats good or bad. There are so many things that can cause your issue. Could be a bent axle or bad shocks or broken sway bar or broken sway bar mount or etc....

And check that the tires are properly inflated. The air pressure in the tires can go down when it gets cold.

I had the same problem 2 years ago. Ended up being a bad driver side lower control arm. I also had worn stabilizer bushings and struts. Replaced them all and problem solved. You Tube has great vids for checking worn suspension parts