Sway at highway speeds on icy or snowy roads

[Spworf]

Hi all, my 2009 Aveo seems to have a pronounced sway in the rear end on slippery roads. I commute 50 miles to work, mostly at highway speeds and it makes it a bit of an adventure in these Northern Michigan winters. I have added 160 pounds of weight to the rear and it didn't stop the problem. All my search turned up was "the Aveo sways in the winter"? Is there nothing that can be done? My wife is terrified to drive my car...

Other than that, I love this little puddle jumper... once I replaced the factory stereo, but that is for another post...

[Thymeclock]

Hi all, my 2009 Aveo seems to have a pronounced sway in the rear end on slippery roads. I commute 50 miles to work, mostly at highway speeds and it makes it a bit of an adventure in these Northern Michigan winters. I have added 160 pounds of weight to the rear and it didn't stop the problem. All my search turned up was "the Aveo sways in the winter"? Is there nothing that can be done? My wife is terrified to drive my car...

Other than that, I love this little puddle jumper... once I replaced the factory stereo, but that is for another post...

I too have an '09, but I wouldn't say it fishtails any more than other lightweight front-wheel drive cars.

What type of tires do you have, and how worn are they? I would suspect that the combination of tire choice and bad weather conditions is the primary cause of what you are describing.

[Spworf]

I too have an '09, but I wouldn't say it fishtails any more than other lightweight front-wheel drive cars.

What type of tires do you have, and how worn are they? I would suspect that the combination of tire choice and bad weather conditions is the primary cause of what you are describing.

I have good all season tires and I had them looked at before winter. Also had an alignment done. This is NOT fish tailing. It is the weight shifting from one side to the other, I have never felt anything like it. Well, maybe when driving my motorcycle across the Macinac Bridge, but I knew what was causing that.

[Daox]

Sounds like an odd issue. Nobody else has reported this problem that I'm aware of. Are your tires wearing evenly back there? It doesn't have this problem in the summer? Have you checked your tire pressure? Low tire pressure makes the rear end sway quite a bit.

[gclark8]

Mine did this (yaws) from new. A new pair of good quality rear shocks fixed it. Use the original top mounting rubbers. Be careful not to over tighten the top nut, the shaft must be able to flex a little in the mount or it will flex the shaft at the seal and loose its gas. One of my new ones did this. Rear end is fine now!

[Pooh Man]

I have had this problem while driving over the thin layer of ice created by wet tire tracks and a quickly plummeting temperature that created "black ice". Iwas not the only one to experience it that day-a couple guys at work noticed the same thing. My tires are about 8 months old, no unusual rear suspension problems. Advise her to slow down to what the conditions of the road dictate, and as I noticed that day - drive off center to straddle the black ice tracks. Hope it helps.

[petrified.rabbit]

mine did it too, i got used to how it did it, it was only between 40-50mph.. but lowering and a rear sway bar helped a lot. now it is only noticeable on snow covered roads.

[RicochetRandy]

I don't mean to sound preachy, and I realize I might even get some backlash from this, but driving with all seasons in winter is a really terrible idea. I'm not saying winter tires will magically solve your problem, but all season tires really aren't all season when you're as far north as we are. Sure they can handle the cold temps, the rubber might even stay soft, but they're not built for ice and snow!
Besides, they're not even expensive for our cars. A good new set runs me about $200.

Try them - you'll like them!

[exodus0784]

If you're tail is wagging, you're going too fast for the conditions and your equipment. Go buy a set of cheap winterforces. Don't drive so fast that you wiggle.

Don't be one of these chumps:

[petrified.rabbit]

i had (always have) winter tires, even with studded snow tires i had the wiggle, but you are right it is road conditions and speed, short wheel base cars have more pitch radius (spin?) feel than long wheel base cars, its a stability issue. Lowering your car makes it more stable and the sway bar stiffened the rear end (good in this aspect, bad in some others).

if you either let off the gas a little, to coast the car the wiggle will go away. Like i said mine only did it in 40-50mph range, i'm sure stock height would continue to sway at higher and maybe even lower speed.