Death Wobble Poll

I think I would be looking at the brake adjustment and the quaility of the flex hoses. Are the brake flex hoses new or used? I have seen plenty of old flex hoses collaspe internally and restrict the fluid to one wheel cylinder. Are the brake drums true( out of round)? Brake shoes installed correctly( primary/secondary)? what about drum diameter? anything over .080 oversize is really not usable unless you have oversize shoes and the arc adjusted properly.
It has been suggested so again, I also think you should make sure the rear end and front end are square to each other.
I would also like to hear the results of a tire and wheel change.

 

One more vote for the panhard bar. I didn't notice what you have for radius rods or their mounts, but a Model A is somewhat notorious (when stock) for setting up this scenario when the radius rod becomes loose in its mount. A slight impact like a low speed bump can move the whole front end around enough to set up the wobble. A panhard bar or steering damper is an improvement to the stock setup, and either one will mask the wobble, but a good tight stock front end will not need it -- as long as it remains good and tight. Even when it is good, tight, fresh, etcetera, a panhard bar will provide some handling improvement through reduction of side-to-side weight transfer of the vehicle above the transverse leaf spring shackles.
Fearless

 

have you had your drums balanced? bearing races replaced? did you hone the kingpin into new bushings? wheels balanced? and wheel nuts properly tightened(turn the nut while spinning the wheel, when it feels snug back it off one notch) also check your rear wheel bearings as well and the driveshaft!

did you set your toe OUT, you want it about 1/2" closer on the back side of the tires. what that does is, when you hit a bump knocking the wheel backward, the other wheel remains straight.

 

Sorry but that is just plainly wrong. 1/2" toe-out will have the car wandering all over the place not to mention scrubbing the tyres out in quick time.

 

damn youre right. wow i feel retarded. its been a while!


wait a minute, i checked a few things because i remember seeing them. speedway catalog says toe out, and socal says toe in......?????????? im not saying a parts catalog is the one to go to but why are these companys giving to different things?

 

if i see a place in the road that looks bad, i put my foot on the brake and go slow over the bad place, and it doesnt wobble

 

as far as the brakes and hoses go, all brand new,havent ckd to see if the front and back are square to each other...

 

Since touching the brakes is enough to stop the wobble spark from igniting, I was wondering if swapping the lower shock mounts from right to left, increasing the shock angle closer to 35 degrees might stop the wobble spark from igniting.
I also vote for a panhard bar and read **** Spardo's advice

 

Actually I remembered it from the other post where he changed up from the Cowl steering. I went back to that post and looked.
It has a late 40's cross steer box laid on its side with the bracket flat inward and braced with a gusset.
I'm thinking due to the configuration that the box/mount/frame has some flex movement...and it doesn't take much to create death wobble.
It might be solid as a church, but it can still flex due to the distances and forces involved.
Compared to some of the fixes suggested its cheap and easy to add a clamp tube to the snout and it takes the flex effect right out of the equation.
Gotta start somewhere...not much use just talking about what MIGHT be wrong!

It's most likely a combo anyway...but remove enough of the issues and it will get itself under control.
The box would be my first "fix" before spending actual money.

 

me too...

 

I can only give you advice based on my own experience but I chased exactly the same problem on my truck for months. I checked and/or replaced everything on the front end which helped but it still did it now and then.
Bit the bullet and fitted a VW steering damper (same as so-cal ones but without the inflated price tag) and it was completely cured.
Is it a band aid? maybe but I don't really care as it worked and I can enjoy driving the old girl.

 

You have alot of suggestions here. What I would do is get on a known road that causes the problem for sure and follow a few buddies in a truck. Have one of course drive and one sit in the back and watch closely when it happens. Might be able to see it very easily whats really going on as it is happing.

 

Poor balancing.

 

Tires fixed my ride while they didn't effect the problem on another guys ride as informed down below. The steering dampner didn't effect my situation at all. On or off I had the same problem. I ended up without one. Who the hell knows. I am like you, I don't care what fixes it!! After chasing it for months I stuck with what worked too. What a PITA!! I think it could be a unique proble to each set up. The poll doesn't show any real winner as the cause. Seems everyone has their own issues. It starts with not having worn parts. You can't have anything with slop in it or freedom of movement.

 

Any number of things can give you the death wobble. I'm leaning towards bent wheel myself.

 

i agree about talking about it is not doing to fix it i just did the poll to see who would be close to the fix when i fix it, i will fix the issue the right way...

 

thanks for everyone input, i will find the problem and fix it, that you can bet on...i just the poll would be fun to do, to see how close or right on someone could be when it get fixed...

 

dont forget to post what was the cause and how you fixed the problem.

 

you got me thinking,but i dont know...what effect you the shock angle have on this issue, if i went from the 20*to almost 35*bu stwitching shock lower mounts as stated above....

 

If touching the brakes stops it I would be looking at the king pin bushings or the wishbone mounts. if there is a little slop causing the wobble it would make sense that hitting the brakes would torque the spindle enough to "tighten" everything up. Or I could be totally wrong. could also be something with the wheel bearing.

 

bearings are tight, and king pins are 0.400

 

with jeep wranglers that death wobbled what was done was do a road force ballance. also not enough caster can cause that too.

 

WTF? 0.400? clearance? or size? pretty sure a ford king pin is 0.814" if you have 0.400" clearance its screwed.

 

sorry about that,
the clearence between the top of the axle boss to the under side of the upper arm of the spindle is .004''each side...
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Yes but what about the DIAMETER of the kingpin bushings? Thats what I was getting at. They may be honed too loose.

 

Steering problems are best fixed properly at a good front end shop.They are good at what they do,and save ou time,money,and guess work.Steering is too important to play with.Go get it fixed,then you can tell everyone what the cure was.

 

put a steering dampener in.

 

sorry... they where done to a hand press fit....

 

Put some slicks on it and just wheelie the damn thing! Tough to diagnose a problem like this by poll, or over the internet. Sure someone will guess the problem correctly but how many things you gonna try before the problem is solved? Good Luck!

 

Isn't 8 pages enough drama? When you gonna fix it