Hello Everyone,

My '85 300D has been fishtailing like crazy. It's been this way since I bought it a few weeks ago. If I go over potholes, rough patches of road, manhole covers, basically any kind of bump, and the rear of the car starts to slide out to the side of the road.

I've been able to deal with it by going slowly over bumpy areas and avoiding bumps as much as possible, but it's really not good. Sometimes you can't help but hit them and I need to be able to control the car. It seems to happen at speeds above 40mph...not too noticeable below that.

When I'm going over bumps there is a loud knocking sound coming from the rear. Sounds like something is knocking back and forth.

I also have 3-4 inches of play in the steering wheel that I've been tightening using the adjustment bolt on the steering box. The front end tie rods and control arms are in decent shape.

The fishtailing combined with loose steering is a problem I need to address ASAP.

I think the problem may be related to the suspension. The front passengers side spring is dead and bows inward. The front driver side is also dead. There is no spring when I push down on the front end. It's riding very low up front.

On the other hand, if I push down on the rear of the car it really bounces around.

I'm thinking I may need new shocks and springs all around. But perhaps something else is going on....???

Has anyone experienced this before?

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'85 Euro 300D - 258k 4 spd manual
'85 300TD Wagon - 180k - SOLD
Always looking