i was out working on the 86 iroc the other day, i noticed when you shake the rear of the car, it seems to sway and have a little play, i know of some cars that do that but not as bad..is it fairly normal for ours? it's rear drum, independent 10bolt back there.. not the best i know

 

is the panhard bar missing or broken, or have blow out bushings? thats what holes the axle in the car side to side, and without it in good working order, the back of the car will be squirmy and the axle will move side ot side

 

rear controll arms bushings shot

 

the panhard bushings are shot or the vehicle has been lowered or raised too much and rear geometry of panhard is out of whack... allowing side to side movement

 

There's not much actually holds the rear axle to the car. There's torque arm (which wiggles in the tranny mount), panhard bar, rear shocks, sway bar end links, and the lower control arms. LCA's are flexible if factory, not very strong and thus alot of folks box them or buy solid mounts. End links are designed to move, shocks don't have a very good top mount, panhard bar only centers left to right. It's kinda the nature of the beast (until you replace those things with tougher less flexing parts.

 

alright. yeah its not to horrible, im just trying to get it street ready now. minor odds and ends here and there.

 

year later! yeah its the panhard, its been torn apart all year, back togethers and panhard is the last thing! thank all