Steering Damper on early Ford front end

Anyone running a steering stabilizer on their car? Im running a dropped axle, split wishbones and F1 steering and got a nasty wobble today in the front end. Every thing seems to be fine with my front end but it was a little scary. Do you guys think the stabilizer would help?Thanks,Louie

 

I had to mount one on my Model A Roadster. Havent had a wobble since then.

I really recommend them. Works wonderfull.

You can find cheap ones in old Volkwagens, and even Audi at the s****yard

 

I had a wobble in my 32pu when I would hit a bump and apply brakes, or sometimes go over railroad tracks at low speeds. I installed a dampiner and have never had it happen again. I would put one on if I was you. I got mine from so cal spd shop, works fine.--tv

 

I put a So-Cal damper on my av8 highboy. I had the wobble, but it's gone now. I think their damper is a modified verison of the VW unit.

 

I am also running a SoCal unit on my 32. I had wobble and now it is gone.

 

The part number on the Socal unit is the same as the number on units sold for VWs.
But the extra cost is to cover the cool Socal sticker.

 

Don't get me wrong, but is using a steering damper on an early Ford front end just "hidding" some possible "weak links??"

Tie rod ends worn? Loose king pins? Out of balance wheel/tire combinations?

 

Uncle Ian, So what is that VW part number? I had the same problem today when I hit some RR tracks at slow speed.I want to put one on. How do they look? I've never noticed them before. Thanks

 

I have the So-Cal unit on my roadster,,,,,won it at a GG's event!HRP

 

Steering dampers just cure the problem not the cause of the problem.

I had front end 'wobble'. Cured it by tightening the wheel nuts !!

 

Whats wrong with curing the problem?

It worked on millions of volkswagens. And even on modern Audi's

Get me right here, of course you should have your frontend up to spec, And your wheels balanced and tightened. etc

But my model A had everything brand new and adjusted, and etup as intructed. But still i had much wobble if i hit something hard on the road at high speeed.

I guess yu gus dont headache pills either..
They only cure the problem right

 

i had wicked wobble on the 36.i used a steering dampener.it fixed the problem but it was harder to steer,and was ugly as hell.then i found out it was a caster issue.i set my axle to the correct caster and it steers great.no wobble.

 

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But my model A had everything brand new and adjusted, and etup as intructed. But still i had much wobble if i hit something hard on the road at high speeed.


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Have you ever thought that a suspension setup that was designed for horse drawn carts 200+ years ago might not be able to cope with "hitting something hard on the road at high speed" ??

A beam, single leaf spring and steering box is never going to handle or feel like a modern IFS with a rack....Deal with it...

 

Whoa, didn't mean to "stir the pot!"

I asked if steering dampers (on early Ford front ends) was just "masking" possible other problems.

If you compare the number of early Fords (stock or hot rods) that DON'T use them to the VERY few I have seen WITH them; I had to ask.

 

I've come around. I was always taught that a damper was cover up for a fixable problem, usually tire balance. The first thing I did when I got my roadster was to cut off the damper. An ugly 4x4 type. I've had different properly balanced tires and I still get it on rare occasions.

Are we talking VW bug, square back, Jetta, Golf, P***ant? With a model and a year range, we can get a number.

 

The ones Socal sells are from an aircooled beetle. Ask for one from a '67, you'll get the right one.
I used one from a '70s VW bus on my '41. It's heavier duty than the Beetle unit and it mounts just like a regular shock with eye's on both ends. It worked really well. No noticable increase in steering effort either.

Chris

 

Sure you havent got bump steer from wrong steering arm angle. I have to agree with 4ever4 your just hiding the problem and not solving it. Dont get me wrong they do have their place but with a well set up front end and correct tyre balancing and tyre pressure you shouldnt need them.

 

Nope not running one on mine. Got the f-1 box,everything is squared and straight. I have real long Hairpins on my car and it drives fine. Around 80 MPH i get a little wobble from the Bias ply tires.........

S****s
2 pics to follow......

 

# 2.........

 

i have to agree that the steering stabilizer shouldn't be used to cover up defects , but even if everything up front is in good shape , they do help with the driveability , especially with bias ply tires... i have driven a car with a So-cal ch***is with bias ply tires with and without their steering stabilizer , and it did make a difference

 

Having given some thought to this subject, here is a list (and maybe not all) of things that could/can contribute to front end "wobble."

1. Geometry changes;
a. incorrect ackerman (the line from the center line of the king pins, across the centers of the tie rod ends, to the center of the rear axle; often caused by changes to wheel base.

b. incorrect camber; (the center line of the king pin to the contact patch of the tire ) Changes in wheel/tire diam. is one cause. The next is sever "offset" wheels. (moves the tire contact outside the king pin center line, and probably the biggest cause of wobble, especially with bias tires. (on small changes to steering direction the tire tries to "seek" the contact point)

c. Improper castor (usually not enough)

2. Loose (worn) parts. Can run the gamit from worn king pins/bushings. Worn tie rod ends. Worn steering box. Loose wheel lug nuts; there's more. (if you can grab a front tire, with someone holding the steering wheel steady, and get side to side movement SOMETHING is worn or lose!)

3. Poor front end alignment. Toe-in and toe-out not set properly. (if the rear axle isn't located properly, IT can cause problems too)

4. Poor quality tires. Out of round or have "side set"; means the tread does run not true. Cheap bias tires are bad for this problem. Yeah bias tires are "neat", but radials are safer!

5. Out of balance tire/wheel combinations.

These are just "wobble" problems that came to mind while reading this thread; there are others too.

 

I've got one on my '32 2dr and it makes the steering feel snug. It just feels better than it did without it.

Frank

 

got a socal on the way.......mine only did it slowing down after a p*** at approx. 110......all my parts are new...just like the man said, henry wasn't thinking at speeds over 40 mph

 

I know this is an old thread, but my '32 was OK until it got about 25,000 miles on her. Then it started the heebie-jeebies at 48-53 mph, especially upon decelerating and braking. I checked and double checked everything. Everything was still like new!

I re-squared the rear end of the car, took a couple of degrees of excess downward pinion angle out, re-tightened all the suspension bolts and nuts (several were loose), changed a few 4-bar bushings, checked the king pins, tie rod ends, shackles, spring mounts and shocks (I did find one shock with a little dampness around the seal and changed them) , 6*-7* caster, 1/16"-1/8" toe, panhard bar was OK, balanced the wheels and rotors as an ***embly, changed the steering box and steering joints and even had the wheels straightened. All to no avail!

It would only go away if I put a new set of tires on it (radials of course) and after about 10,000 miles it would be back. I've come to this conclusion... if you have a dropped axle with '40 Ford spindles and disc brakes, you physically can't get a narrow enough wheel to meet the critera for the correct scrub line. It's simply impossible!

The king pin inclination never meets the center of the tire patch at the contact surface. Since nobody runs the correct offset wheel, the front end goes into a "hunt" to find the correct scrub line, especially upon deceleration when increased weight, traction and braking is applied to the front end.

I think this is probably most people's wobble, but what do I know... I'm just a painter! Personally, I'm gonna cover it up with a steering dampener.

 

I always run one with a dropped axle. Back in the day we got them from the VW bugs. Now from SoCal. It works!
You can just see it in this picture of my roadster frame attached from the tie rod to the wishbone.

Here is one from my coupe!

 

New guy joins a few days ago and drags up a 10 year old thread? There are hundreds of thousands of early Ford straight axle equipped cars running around without problems, does that tell you anything?

 

I have built a bunch of 40's with dropped axles,etc and split bones-have never had an issue yet or tried a steering damper. Only time I had one develop a shimmy at low speed it was the toe in. My time may be coming.

 

Thought steering dampers were traditional, found this one on an "A" recently.

 

Every time this subject comes up we get the same arguments that "a correctly set up front end doesn't need a bandaid." I drove my 27 for years without one and it went right down the road, so it is set up correctly. But I installed a SoCal stabilizer when I redid the car and it made it even better than it was before.

Both of my Sons cars are running one, so is my rpu project, and you can be damn sure my Bantam drag car is going to get one ! I want it to handle as well as it can at the speeds I hope to run, and will put anything on there to insure that happening.

It's very simple, if you don't want one don't run one, but don't look down on others who might chose to use something that can enhance their driving experience and safety. I will never build another car without one.

Don

 

Sorry Harv, all's I'm sayin' is, "I don't have all the answers", nor time and energy to re-invent the wheel. I just want to drive a safe car at any speed and not end up in a crash somewhere. I think there's probably a few other guys out there who feel the same way, like maybe So-Cal for one. I got on here looking for answers... haven't found any yet.