I have to post this as I am so happy that my 2001 Focus wagon is
finally  fixed after 35000 miles and three or four different alignment
shops, shock replacement and other. The left rear tire on my wagon had
worn real bad, making lots of noise.

I  went to Twin City Tire here in Bloomington, MN and talked to sales
about my issues and the need of some new tires. I told  them of my
problem  with the car jumping sideways when hitting bumps and they had
me talk to their alignment guy.  I asked him about the alignment and
he assured me he could fix my Focus, eliminate all jumping sideways
etc. I was unsure but  took the chance, he was so confident. In any
case, I had 4 new tires installed and Ray aligned the car also.

The bottom line is:  The car handles like a dream, it has NEVER
handled as nice, it's fun to drive, it's smooth and does NOT jump
sideways anymore. It has done that since new and even Ford tried to
fix it, even replaced the shocks which did not help.

So,  the real reason the car jumps sideways when hitting bumps is that
the rear alignment is not correct.  Ray said my left side toein was
1/4 in off.