I built my 27 roadster about 25 years ago, and for the first 17 years I drove it everywhere.........to work, on trips to Turkey Run on the interstate, etc. It went right down the road at all speeds and never gave me an issue. When I redid the car about 8 years ago, I added a So Cal steering stabilizer just because I wanted to see how they worked. Immediately, I could feel the difference. the car was more solid and crossing things like RR tracks were no longer any different from going down smooth pavement. Now, I have to interject here that I am terrible about maintaining any of my cars. I basically drive them, change the oil occasionally, and that is about it. That is one fault I have to admit to.........I like building them more than fixing them. This year that laziness bit me. I have always driven my 27 the 225 miles to Turkey Run every year, but this year we had an extra trailer and tow vehicle because my Son Don blew the engine in his T bucket two days before we were to leave, so my Sons talked me into putting the car on that trailer and enjoying the comfort of his Suburban going there. That move probably saved me. We unloaded the cars in Daytona and Wednesday night we decided to take them to dinner. I was in front of Dan's rpu, going about 35 mph on A1A, and as I crossed one of the brick intersecting streets, my front end went crazy.........DEATH WOBBLE like I have never seen ! My 27 has never had any DW, even before I added the stabilizer, so that was really odd. I pulled over and checked out the front end, and all looked ok, but we decided to go back to the hotel and put it up on a floor jack. On the way back to the hotel I had two more instances of DW. When we put it up on the jack we found we could move my front tires in and out, evidently the king pins were REALLY worn. Then Don looked at my car and said "Here is your problem, the steering stabilizer is broken !" The clamp that holds it to the tie rod had cracked and the clamp was just sliding back and forth on the tie rod, it was not exerting any effort at all on the front end. Next day, we left both cars at the hotel and went to the show as spectators, I found a vendor selling the So Cal stabilizers, and I bought 2 of them. I just wanted to get through the weekend and be able to drive the car, so I put TWO of them on the car, one on each side, just to be safe. That worked and I was able to drive the car for the rest of the weekend with no more DW. I also bought a set of reamers at the show and am going to completely tear down the front end, put in new kingpins, and replace any worn parts. Evidently, my front end has been worn for a long time, and the only thing keeping it from shaking was the stabilizer. It scared me to think that only a couple of weeks before I was playing games with a new Camaro at a red light, and if the front end had gone nuts then it would not have been good. The only reason I am posting this (long) thread it to say I will now be better about maintaining my cars, and also that the stabilizers have more control on the front end than I even thought. I hope this thread doesn't turn into the usual "bandaid" thread, just posting my own personal experience. Don
I added a stabilizer to the F1 this time around and that along with a careful rebuild of everything else has definitely made a difference. It's a Pete & Jakes unit, which is nearly identical to the SoCal part. (both based on VW stabilizers) Adding two of them does seem like overkill though. (but glad you got things sorted)
Don, after reading your write up I may just put one on my NEW front end. PA. roads are very rough! LOL.
Wow. Just think how long your kingpins have been worn!!! Appreciate posting. A good reminder to everyone!
Wow, hard to figure at the time. But, sure was good that one engine failure likely saved you from serious results if you had driven your ride to show from home. Your story of lack of true maintenance is a common one. have a ride that is always ready to go whenever you need it. just fires right up, with no problems along the way. so busy working on & spending $ on projects no thought about the running reliable one. I am guilty.
I have had a So Cal stabilizer on my RPU for a good 15 years. I've driven a lot of vehicles with buggy sprung dropped axles, and really doubted all the hype on stabilizers, until I tried this one. They work, but, damn, Don, you got me thinking about getting a new one now! Thanks for the heads up.
I restored an A/GS Willys PU back in the 80's that had a Corvair steering box. With 12 degrees of caster (it was built back in the 60's) and a blown 392 sitting on top of it, it was asking a lot out of the steering gear. On launch, it would have some "Wheel Woogy" through low gear. We installed a stabilizer and ran it for about 5 more seasons, never encountered the problem again.
Onlt problem I have w/the VW style stabalizer is the limit of travel ,I kinda like being able to do a U-turn on a 2-lane road... dave
But....... if you had not put the stabilizer on, you would have known something was wrong with your front end when your king pins started to get warn. Not when they were at the point of being dangerous. So the stabilizer covered up warn parts until the stabilizer broke. I do not see any value in adding a stabilizer, if all it does is cover up warn or bad front end parts. Just my 2 cents worth (not that you asked).
I'm just as bad about maintenance, or at least I was. When I moved out here to "cattle country" I learned that this dusty environment will eat a set of king pins in a year if you don't grease 'em regularly. My '55 F100 has a dropped axle. I struggled a bunch with the wobbles even though everything was new and it has an "industrial strength" steering stabilizer. I replaced and/or upgraded everything. Then I found that my new kingpins had worn out in a little over a year of driving out here and driving back and forth to L.A. during my move. I don't know if they were poor materials or what. I grease 'em regularly now. I also found that a lot of little things contribute to DW; any slop-any where, caster above 7 degrees, and toe in/out. I drives OK now but for a while I was always holding my breath whenever I drove it. In a perfect world these front ends shouldn't shimmy (or Death Wobble) even without a stabilizer if everything's working right.
Don, very good post! I wrote about this last year at this time and had the same response. "Bandaid this and not traditional that - if it was right you don't need a bandaid." Well, everything was new and tight, but I put one on anyway and never looked back. Very pleased with the results! Steering stabilizer and rear anti-sway bar was two of the best things I did in making the car handle. I used the V-dub one from Autozone and made my own brackets.
I agree they might not be for everyone, but, considering I run on bias ply tires, with 100 year old front end technology, at speeds these suspensions were never designed to run at, on roads that are not well maintained very well any more, it is nice to get all the help you can get. The one thing I have learned through this is to not be so lazy and periodically get the car up on the jack and check for worn or loose parts. When I redid my clutch a few months ago, I found bolts that I could remove with my fingers, and my slave cylinder was hanging by one bolt, one had fallen out altogether ! The "check washer fluid level" light has been on in my daily driver for a couple of weeks. Like I said, I am not the best at maintaining my cars ! I think the phrase "drive it till the wheels fall off" should be my motto. Don
Here in New Zealand we have what is called a warrent of fitness that is an independent check of your car as to its fitness to be driven on the road I think what we have here is a clear case of justification for this. How long where the kingpins like this? We all get so close to our cars that often we dont notice small gradual changes or faults developing this is why an independent check is good.
"If it don't squeak, rattle and drip .....it's a Street rod!" quote on the HAMB Well then both of my 32's qualify as true hot rods because both do all three. It's the rattle that concerns me the most and putting the S. Cal. Stabilizer on both of them after Gary at Cornhusker recommended it has helped a lot. Yes the front end will still rattle after a bump or something uneven on the road at higher speeds but the stabilizer settles it down real soon. Two things I also recommend: are quality black moly grease and moly oil too. Any grease or oil fitting gets moly. The other thing I do early in the early morning or late evenings when relaxing in the speed shop instead of just sitting there drinking coffee is walking around the cars and checking every bolt, screw or nut my eyes come in contact with. I spot loose things all the time! Like the air cleaners!! Don't misunderstand me we still sit around enjoying a nice drink but we do inspections too. These old school hot rods shake - rattle & roll especially with the deplorable roads in this country so you better be looking things over carefully not just starring at the car! 32 Spitfire High Noon Speed Shop http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/take-me-home-counrty-roads.996237/
I don't understand why you have that problem..With stock spindle stops there should be just enough travel...And the stops should be used...
Do you have a forward tie rod in front of the axle? Or maybe a side steer drag link on a T-bucket Dave? That will sometimes limit the travel to the length of the damper. The limiter should be the spindle stop, NOT the steering damper. It won't do that on a rear tie rod cross steer.
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