I have a friend who just bought a car and it has side steering (only 1 tierod)at times his front end starts wobbling like crazy. What would help the most ,a panhard bar or a steering stabilizer,or both?
I have never experienced death wobble in my car. But if I did, I'd definately set up a panhard bar. I've considered doing it anyway. On an unknown car, I'd check Caster. I know I set mine at 8 degrees, and have had no issues.
Do you have a picture of this front front end? Also there are a **** load of threads on this exact problem.
Check toe in and tire pressure and as was said before check the camber. I know people who've added a steering stabilizer but that's kind of a band-aid.
Aw shucks! Was gonna refer you to the famous/infamous "deth wobbel" thread from a while back ... but apparently it's been deleted. It was highly entertaining!
You're right,and in Studebaker hot rod trucks too. I had a tire with a bad cord that gave me fits for a ride. Hey Gary,I was thinking of asking you for a ride in that tasty roadster of yours,but that "land shark" in your avatar pic looks like he'd eat me alive?! Does your buddy have bias plies on that coupe?
...and worn parts, extreme angle on drag link (not the cause, but lends to the problem) play in steering, (steering worm and sector are cam-ground for tightness at the dead center) excessive positive caster, dry front wheel bearings/loose front wheel bearing adjustment, loose or flimsy bracketing where wishbones connect (both ends! Even a sloppy spring hanger can 'support' wobble, usually in conjunction with out-of-balance tires) Tire balance is two-fold. First, the static balance: (heavy side) Usually improperly corrected with bubble balancer, or 'spin balance' on car. (Still shakes at 20-25 MPH, sometimes right at 55) Dynamic balance: Done on a tire machine, corrects gyroscopic tendency of wheel/tire to gyrate in one direction at speed; corrective weights are calculated to smooth out the rotating unbalance at all speeds. The 'band Aid moniker' given to steering stabilizers is correct. If a steering stab corrects the symptoms, the problem is still there...just lurking until the stabilizer gets weary of absorbing the shock of vibration.
Death wobble is "Usually" caused by wrong caster followed by worn parts. Try to check these items first. Caster should be between 7 to 10 degrees leaned back
here a good thread with lot's of information and trouble shooting on wobble. What kind of tires has it got? Try another known set of good front tires first thing and see if that is the issue. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...6&highlight=speedway+tie+rod+wobble&showall=1
Had it happen when I put the bigger tires on the front of the hot rod and liked to scared me to death. I put a so-cal steering stablizer on it and no more problems. Just sayin......
Deleted? That really ****s! How are you supposed to learn about cars if they keep deleting the educational threads?
Yes and No. Just fixed my sons Cherokee . Balanced And aliened wheels to no Advil. Then all shocks and steering stabilizer changed, and checked for worn front end parts. Still had the D.W. Finally changed all the the four front traction bar busings to hard poly and welded washers where the center bolts go through to tighten up the slop . No more DW. Point is there are many things that can cause it.
X2. My OT/DD is a built Cherokee, and I build those too. It is a multi-faceted problem with many contributory causes, not just one. My experiencee has shown me that all leading-link front suuspension systems are predisposed to this.
I don't know if the tires are bias or radials. This doesn't happen all the time. Yesterday he drove it about 60 miles on all kinds of roads and it only happened once .I think he said it was when he was making a sharp turn at about 20-25 mph
I had that happen on my 38 chevy coupe many years ago. Went through the whole front end, new drag link, tie rods, rebuilt steering, new shocks, aligned twice. finally put new tires on the front and cured it.
You have all the correct answers here and many experts on your side. Still a mystery car. pics please.
My ten cents worth is all of the above plus Firestones are by far the worst tyre I have ever used and made bad kahma on my ride! I would also be looking if original stub axles are used and incorrectly "adjusted" steering arms are used, ackerman geometry may be compromised or non existant, with my experience with ch***is cars with transverse suspenssion is steering dampeners and dead perches mask an underpinning problem!
Funny this is brought up again....I was driving my Plymouth Saturday on about an 80 mile one way trip and as soon as I got on the main road at about 35 to 45 MPH it would shake like a sumbuck so bad I even pulled over once to check everything. I stopped and got gas on down the road and checked my tire pressure on the front and one side was at 32 and the other was 17......put 32 in the one with 17 and it never did it again......
I'm in the alignment business and deal with death wobbles every day. However, on my 28 RP I chased it un-successfully for months. Did all the normal fixes with no success. Finally on a tip from an "old timer" (I'm 59 )I toed it OUT a little and that simple adjustment fixed it, 95%. Now I use that trick on some the f250's and Jeeps that come into the shop with the dreaded DW.
Ha Ha, good catch. Maybe spacemen are causing the D.W. and giving his friend a headache. A lot of things can cause shakes and shimmies , you just need to keep hunting.
For those inclined to add a steering damper (aka steering stabilizer), the 1960 -1978 VW Beetle damper is basically what Socal sells (with tie-rod clamps added by Socal). This has an eyelet on one end (the fat end) and an angled stud on the other end. The equivalent is Moog SSD58, NAPA 113425021, Sachs/Boge 226439, Gabriel (Autozone) 14004. The dimensions are 13.2 to 19.4 inches. There is also the VW Transporter (type 2 or Bus) damper which I have never heard of anyone using but it looks good and has eyelets both ends and a dust shield. Boge 224899, NAPA 211425021. Dimensions per NAPA are 11-1/2 to 16-3/4 inches, and 3/8" eyelets.
Here you go. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=470139&highlight=deth Search "deth" and you will find several more offshoots after this one.
I tries a steering dampner. It was like having *** with her ******* still on. Really slowed the steering down when it was returning to center and you lost that light free feeling it had. Oh and it didn't solve my tires being out of round horribly problem.
My experience, which may help someone -- - I got my latest coupe on the road a couple weeks ago. Bad death wobble (low speed shake side to side if I hit the right bump). Caster was at 5 degrees and I had "eyeballed" the toe. All parts were tight. So I put a steering damper on and the wobble disappeared. Then I decided to check the front toe. I used a tape and measured from tread to tread, front and back of the tires: 1-1/4 inch toe in !!!!!!! I adjusted it to 1/8 inch toe in, took the damper off and went for a ride. No wobble at all. So those who say the damper is a band-aid and masks the real problem were, in my case, correct. Check everything, caster, toe, tire balance, loose parts, etc. I put the damper back on, 'cause I had it and it did not hurt my steering reponse.... And by the way although I have side steer (Mustang box) I have no bump steer so that wan't an issue....
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