Help- rough ride, Car rides really rough Options

[Teblhasa]

I am having a strange problem with my car. Whenever I hit a bump/pothole/crack in the road, depending how fast I hit it (usually over 20mph), the car skips to the side instead of bouncing over it. It also have a very rough ride and I swear I can feel even the pebbles on the road. I got new BF Goodrich tires last year to factory spec and my mechanic couldn't find any problems with the car. He suggested the ride was rough because its a small car, which is a bunch of bull. The ride is slowly getting worse and I don't know what to do, and I might end up having to sell the car because I cannot bear to ride in it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I am guessing its the struts, even though my mechanic swears they are fine and so is the alignment. If its the struts, are there any good but cheap brands of struts out there?

[97GTinKC]

,,,and use an accurate tire gauge, the digital ones seem to be pretty accurate and are now around $10. I have 2 of those and a $39 Milton dial gauge, all read the same. (and NEVER drop the Milton-its history if you do)
The struts aren't all that hard, but you will need to buy or rent a strut spring compressor. and the sway bar link is usually no problem if you soak it with penetrating oil the day b4. and get a GOOD metric hex key to fit in the end of the stud to hold it from turning.
As far as which ones, I have used Monroe replacements with good luck many times on various cars. KYB or Koni are both good brands, both are more performance oriented, If its softer ride you're after, I'd stick with stock replacements. And costwise, the house brands most of these regular parts stores carry are the exact same strut as their name brand, with less warranty. should find the same part no inside both boxes, only difference is the house brand warranty is from the parts store, while the name brand is good nationwide at any dealer. Worth the difference if you move a lot.