I drive my 61 Falcon everywhere in all conditions, so a major concern for me after reliability and adequate power is comfort. The car is great, although a bit loud, anywhere below 65, but once you get around 70, and especially above that point, lots of vibrations, rattles, and roars show up. Some of this, due to the not-particularly-aerodynamic design, is probably unavoidable, but I suspect a lot of it is. The basics are obvious: new weather stripping, window brush strips, firewall plugs, and some dynamat would undoubtedly do wonders to bring back a factory-type level of comfort. What else can I do? What have you done? I know its tough to guess without riding in the car, but Im thinking about things like alignments, bushings, wheel balancing, etc. One particular vibration that is causing me concern seems to start in the steering wheel, then move back to my ****, and then back to the steering wheel. I was always taught that if you can feel it in your hands, its the front suspension, and if you can feel it in your ****, its the rear, but what if it moves?? Thanks, Dave
Yeah I mean, it just sounds like any other old car I've driven in. Thats part of the game. Of course if your wheel shakes so bad that its a safety problem, definitely fix it. But old cars have rattles and noises, I think thats why I lovem.
So lets see, a guy on the shoeleather express, a guy with a grungy ‘29, and a guy who is into hot rods and drag racing all posted with snark in a thread captioned “Customs”. Well, at least you’re keeping me up at the top for somebody who might know something about it. I realize it’s an old car and isn’t gonna be a Camry, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with minimizing it. Character is one thing, but I don’t see the point in beating myself unnecessarily just so you guys won’t question my manhood. I’d like my wife to enjoy riding in the car too, so I don’t have to drive some late model around when I’m traveling with her. -Dave
Hi, I just put insulation from lobucrod.com in my 1964 Ranchero daily driver and also a new carpet kit. What a difference ! I can hear the XM on the freeway ! Still have vibration, noise, etc. most probably from the hotrod 302 and the 4:1 gearing. But it sure is better. Not sure it is better enough for my wife, but oh well. Jan in Ojai, CA
!st thing, are the wheels and tires hugely over sized? get the wheels and tires spun balanced by someone reputable, then maybe drive shaft,brake drums, insulation does make a differance. wind roar is tough on older body styles. Ago <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
Did you look up our profiles? haha. I didn't mean to come off as the goofball I proudly am, just stating the fact that old cars make noise. What condition is your interior in? I had a '55 Chevy a few years ago that I drove everywhere with two stock bench seats and nothing else. After making some door/kick panels, and throwing some carpet in it, it wasnt too bad. Still made noise at speed though. Gotta remember back when our cars were new the most the average guy would push out of them would be around highway speed limits, and from what I know that was 45-55mph, not 70. Shouldnt have sold that damn car.
If you don't mind striping the interior I would spray the entire inside with Lizard skin, both the sound deadening and the insulating. It works wonders and covers every square inch.
Good well balanced radial tires help a lot. Look at steering rag joint see if it needs replacing. Exhaust fastened to frame without rubber isolators will cause vibes.
Don't know about where you're from but California had a 65 MPH back in the day and 70 was pretty common. Early Falcon's don't have rag joints. Steering shaft is part of the box itself. Sounds like a wheel balance issue to me.
Body mounts, spring bushings, shocks, U-joints, new rag joint, ******/engine mounts. Thats a good weekend's work and less then $200 I'm guessing. Maybe check wheel bearings too and brakes for any dragging. Some vibration is most likely body but what you describe sounds mechanical. If something starts to vibrate at speed check stuff that gets worse with momentum. Take your tires for ballancing and check for mudclods in the wheels. Also a good thing to do is drive your rig and have somebody follow you and thumbs up when it starts. Maybe they can see something. Do you have to fight the wheel when its going on?
Good to know. Ragjoints going bab usual just get sloppy and you can feel them at slow speeds. So if its steering then box rebuild or saginaw upgrade time it soulds like. What other cars have that same system?
my 65 Dart goes down the road with out any vibrations....if you have vibrations you need to find the source...just cause it's an old car doesn't mean it has to drive like one. All the suggestions are good one...and a good stereo helps too.
As some others have said, I'd also check all the tires for balance and proper inflation. I've even had radials that appear to be ok, but a broken belt in one of them made the steering wheel 'wobble'. Have you rebuilt the front suspension? I think all of the components are easy to find. As far as the vibration that seems to be from the rear -- I'd check the U-joints, also. A bad rear U-joint has been the cause of vibration in my cars a few different times. Malcolm
65-6 Mustang, Fairlane etc. Not to mention MANY 30's to 60's Fords. Some year Corvairs as well, I'm sure there are others
Dave, a couple things come to mind.... when is the last time you checked your drive shaft? Adding to Malcoms u-joint idea, I had a weight dissappear and gave me all sorts of headaches trying to track it down. A rebalance (and new u-joints while I was at it) made a huge difference. That could be part of the mystery shake. Also, I had an old OT vehicle which I went through and changed every bearing and seal on the axles/spindles and what a difference that made. it was like driving a new vehicle!
Sorry about the snarky remark, just in one of those moods this afternoon. As to a migrating vibration, I agree that you should check the simplist things first( front end components, u-joints, wheel balance at all 4 corners ). If the car is a stick check for bad bearing in the trans, Low oil in both the trans,and diff. at speed that can cause a vibration too! In an automatic check the flex plate to convertor bolts. Sorry and good luck!
I've got a '62 Ranch. At first it was like driving without a windshield. I think it's pretty fun hauling *** on the freeway and getting blasted with dry leaves and rust chunks. Its like being at the helm of a mighty tornado. Nothing says "old school" like showing up to a rod run with dirty tears streaming from your blood shot eyes and a rusty smile. Seriously, I found lots of rusty spots which were the source of my air and dust. Many of the firewall plugs were gone, seals around heater core hoses and other parts like throttle/clutch pedal were missing. Window felt and runners were absent and the inner door plastic seals were brittle and torn. I've spent some serious time filling the gaps, rebuilding rusty spots and then sealing it all up with undercoating. I purchased a weatherstripping kit from Dearborn cl***ics. I'm pretty happy with it except for the quarter window seals. They arent wide enough to fill the gap at the door (lower portion of the seal). I'll try a different brand in hopes to get a factory seal. My hope is that once I have installed my insulation, carpet, inner door panel plastic, door pannels, kick pannels and all the other rad stuff...I should have a fairly civilized and dry interior. Some of my rattles were comming from my tailgate. Inside the tailgate are two rods which operate the catches. They are supose to be insulated with a felt-like pad. My pads were gone (probably being used as pillows by a local rat family). So I made some new ones. I also made some new rubber pads for the exterior of the tail gate to tighten everything up. One more thing to keep in mind is that I found many fender bolts were loose. Make sure everything is screwed down tight. Luck be a lady tonight!
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