Play causing front end shake? *UPDATED 8-23-12*

Re: Play causing front end shake? *UPDATED 8-20-12*

"I responded since our poster seems at the end of his rope. One thing that has always baffled me is the number of old worn out Model A's
that never seemed to have a problem! LOL

Take care, Rich"

Yes, that's my car at the moment. I have a very worn out front end to use as a temporary while I restore my original front end. If I jack up the front axle I can move the tires a couple inches by grabbing the top and bottom. I've never had a hint of shake. I haven't even checked the toe-in, but it must be right on by the tire wear and how well it handles.
 
Re: Play causing front end shake? *UPDATED 8-20-12*

Tom Wesenberg said:
"I responded since our poster seems at the end of his rope. One thing that has always baffled me is the number of old worn out Model A's
that never seemed to have a problem! LOL

Take care, Rich"

Yes, that's my car at the moment. I have a very worn out front end to use as a temporary while I restore my original front end. If I jack up the front axle I can move the tires a couple inches by grabbing the top and bottom. I've never had a hint of shake. I haven't even checked the toe-in, but it must be right on by the tire wear and how well it handles.
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Some guys have all the luck!! :p
 
Ok, we are gong to attempt to set the toe-in today to see if that corrects the shimmy problem. I'm looking through my Restorer book (which is very old) and it says the car should have a toe-in of 3/16in to 1/4in. Just wanted to see if anyone wanted to verify that those are still the same measurements people still use today? I will report back tonight if we are able to get anything. I see the tie rod has left and right handed threads so you can adjust it without taking the tie rod off, I'm just worried about getting it loosened up to get it to turn. We will see.
 
When roads started improving it was found that 3/16-1/4" was too much.. It should be reduced to 1/16 - 1/32" .. It needs to also be set with the vehicles weight on the tires,, measure the back side, roll the vehicle forward and measure the front ..
 
OK, the toe-in is set. Found some play in the passenger side of the tie rod. Put new guts in, plays gone. I still have horrible shake when I run over the man hole cover with the passenger side front tire. I'm out of ideas guys and gals. Anyone got any more suggestions?
 
Back in the 50,s my "A" would shimmy when I hit a pot hole.It turned out that the LH spindle arm was slightly loose in the spindle.Tightening the nut solved the problem.
 
Boy, there has to be something loose that just isn't being seen.. Start checking the 'other' stuff like spring perch arms and steering arms,, sometimes you get a little more out of them.. Even check the spring shackles as well as re-checking the radius arms/ball..
 
I'm not a seasoned Model A man. Learning stuff every day. Just had mine about a month. It had a ton of play in the wheel and the death wobbles. I spent a good while shaking stuff, jacking it up, greasing and looking for it. On this car it was a sneaky loose pittman arm. The captured bolt behind the arm was bent from overtightening and while everything "looked" good the arm had play in it on the "right bump". There was one down the street that would do it every time.

After I fixed this issue the wobbles were cured and the play in the wheel was gone. Good luck in your search for a cure.
 
After going through the front end tie rods, drag link and even replacing king pins, the cure for the persistent wobble on my truck was replacing the rubber radius ball bushing with original style caps.

There is also the curved radius ball washer #04691 available from vendors if needed.
 
1931 flamingo said:
Spray paint the offending man hole cover with BRIGHT paint and avoid it......................

Paul in CT
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I wish life were that simple Paul lol. I'm thinking of borrowing 2 tires off my coupe for a test on the front of the Leatherback to see if it makes any difference. I switched tires from back to front on the leatherback, but those tires are old and a bit dry rotted, so going to try good tires and see.
 
My buddy's 34 coupe had a bad case of the death wobble that was cause by under inflated tires. I would have never believed it if I wasn't there to see it, weird.
 
Brentwood Bob said:
Check to see if spindle arm is bent. Bob
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Spindle arms are fine. I will point out that the toe in was set to 1/4" and I know they say it doesn't need to be that much anymore, but I wanted to verify that that wouldn't be causing the shimmy would it since it was what it used to be?
 
Not read all the threads but assume all the obvious has been done & checked & put rigtht but problem is still there,?? My cure having done all above & still there on a fresh resto with 1500 miles on it & was not there to start with , Pulled the steering box, found a bent steering coloum shaft, Only replaced the shaft & its never wobbled again, Bet someone tried to press a new worm on at some stage & bent the shaft,
 
Without reading all the posts over again,, it sure seems like something is being over-looked,, or,, maybe I should say under-looked.. I think I remember that you are not using shocks.. If you think everything is tight and as it should be then maybe good shocks should be installed and the toe set to 1/16-1/32" .. I'd also suggest a fresh set of eyes looking at this monster,, you never know what someone may see..
 
If all else fails have the caster checked on an alignment machine, caster too positive(over 5 degrees) can cause this. If it is, something, possibly the axle is bent. Positve caster is the most common cause of the Death Wobble in modern trucks.
 
After reading this, I decided to check the Pitman Arm, ball on my coupe. I miked it and got .860 across the short/worn side. From 1.000 to .860 is .140 (.125=1/8) No wonder it's hard to steer near the locks!
Terry
 
Patrick L. said:
Without reading all the posts over again,, it sure seems like something is being over-looked,, or,, maybe I should say under-looked.. I think I remember that you are not using shocks.. If you think everything is tight and as it should be then maybe good shocks should be installed and the toe set to 1/16-1/32" .. I'd also suggest a fresh set of eyes looking at this monster,, you never know what someone may see..
Click to expand...

Yes, it is a lot to read :-) We did install shocks on the front and it made no difference. I put the rims/tires from my good car (the coupe) on the leatherback to verify it wasn't the tires and it made no difference. The toe-in is set to 1/4" which I know they say is not needed to be in that much anymore, but I wouldn't think that would cause an issue would it?
 
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