I've got a model A with 35 ford spoke wheels. At higher speeds 65-70 I get a high speed vibration from my passenger side front wheel. I don't have fenders so I can see it start/happen. The passenger side starts bouncing and that starts the drivers side bouncing. When I slow down just slightly it stops. I just looked and the balancing weights are still on the wheels. Any ideas ?
Lots of them. Wheel out of round, wheel out of true, tire not round, tire imporperly balanced, spokes busted lose, brake drum out of balance, engine out of balance. Bad wheels bearings, broken spring leaf, bad king pins, loose bushings in front suspension. All of the above. Start with the simple stuff first.
Hi Hotrodnomader, It could be that the wheels are out of balance despite having wieghts on them. Give the wheels a shake and make sure the axle bearings are adjusted nice.These old rims are often bent. Sometimes there are broken welds at the spokes. You need a good wheel shop to check and balance them again. The tires can be out of round or mounted wrong. Jack it up and spin them by hand and see how they look. Happy motoring.
The reason you generally see the passenger side start first is that the wheel on that side is the least controlled by the steering linkage. The drivers side wheel has more holding it in place because the draglink is right there, whereas the passenger side has all this additional tie rod that has more room for movement. I know I sound like a broken record, but I really like a SoCal stabilizer on every straight axle front end. It used to be that some rodders poopoo'd them as a "bandaid" but now that people are using them more and more you don't hear that criticism so much these days. I gaurantee that if you put one on you will see a dramatic difference and relax a lot more going down the road. Best $ 40 you will spend. You might also take your car to one of the places that spins the whole front wheel and brake drum assembly. They will take it up to speed and be able to see what is going on. They took mine up to about 120 mph and it made a huge difference in the handling at speed. BTW, did you use the adapter rings to properly locate those 35 wires on the later drums? If you didn't that could be a source of your trouble. Lots of places sell them, including Speedway. Don
The sholders of the bolts to "bolt-on steering arms" to early ford spindles must seat right/flush/flat/tight to the grease shield & backing plate inside. You may have to grind the spindle on the inside around the two bottom bolt holes. This may not be your problem, but it's common.
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