Ok so I took my Z off-roading the other day (of course by accident). It went sideways through a strip of mud on the side of the road for probably a good 60 feet. I was able to drive right out of it and looked the car over. No damage that I could see but everything is covered in mud. I have tire pressure in all my tires - no flats. When I drove away though my ride was extremely bouncy, but its a consistent bounce, very fast , but it does not pull to one side or the other, the steering wheel does not shake, the car just bounces all the way down the road very rapidly. I'm wondering if any of you can give me an idea of where to start looking as I am not sure what would produce these results. Mind you, I did not hit anything like a curb or anything when i went offroad, it was a pretty smooth slide through the mud, maybe just some rough terain under the mud, but nothing I could feel during the slide. Let me know what your guys thoughts are -Thanks in advance!

 

mud in the wheel causing them to be off balance maybe? It happens on my blazer when I take it off roading then get on the highway

 

i would love if it was something that simple.. I was thinking i bent a rim or something worse like some steering component. The thing is, I drove it all the way home, and the mud was obviously still wet, so I would think it would have worked its way out, but I'll try and clean it up all the way and take it around the block again. I just dont want to drive it far until I know what is wrong.

 

If you drive slowly is it a slow rumble that speeds up as you speed up? Or does the bounce start when you hit a bump and just keep going? If 1 then you may have bent a wheel or at least knocked off some wheel weights. If 2 then you blew a shock. Of course clumps of mud on anything rotating down there will cause a vibration.

 

hey,

Vandy was right, i had about 5 pounds of mud and sticks and gravel stuck in just about every place you could put it... got it all out and now it drives fine.. thanks guys for the input!

 

I would still take your car to a tire shop and have them check your wheels for balance and to see if they are bent. I had a similar experience and it wasn't until I wnet toi get new tires that I foiund out that I had a bent rim.

 

thanks for the advice tlewis, it is in the shop right now getting its new tranny (warranty woot!) and I mentioned to them what happened and asked them to take a look. Hopefully it is all good..