Rear driver tire fish tailing after new strut installation

07 Honda crv, 200,000+ miles, back struts bad for several months. Replaced back driver’s side first, now the tire fish tails at various mph. Checked and made sure everything was nice and tight. Puzzled as to what it may be. My pawpaw, the great car guru passed away 3 weeks ago. Normally he was my go to for all auto issues. The obvious answer is a mechanic, very low on funds atm. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Just replaced ONE strut? You may have just found out why replacing struts in PAIRS is always recommended.

Did you use “quick struts” which include the spring, the mount and the strut completely assembled? If so, magnify my previous concerns by a factor of 10. Never replace only one “quick strut” alone. Always in pairs!

4 Likes

This is not safe . Do you not have a family member or friend that will make you a personal loan to have the other side replaced ?

1 Like

I have the other strut and is being replaced today. Just wanted to make sure it’s not a problem independent from the struts themselves, in other words, I screwed something up when replacing the back drivers strut. I’m hopeful it will be resolved with the reparation of the opposite strut.

You simply cannot come to a judgement on the effectiveness of a job like this while you are literally halfway through it. Put the other strut on the vehicle and then test it… You cannot test halfway through any mechanical repair.

One tire cannot fish-tail. The whole vehicle goes with the tire.

What condition are the rear tires in?

1 Like

The tail can wag the dog in this case.

I could also be out of alignment and that would cause this. I have done my own suspension work and the drive to to alignment shop afterwards is nerve wracking to say the least. I confirm that the tires are all pointed in the same direction and straight ahead but you still need a real alignment at a shop.

Have the car properly aligned after you have BOTH struts changed. You will have wasted an alignment if you did this after just one.