28 A, Bad shake... guidance please...

mustangbrandon

mustangbrandon

Member
Hey there,

I just acquired a 1928 Roadster from my Uncle. He has had it since about 1970 and I have 8mm movies of me riding in the rumble seat (throwing candy in a parade. About 1975, around 4 years old. While it's not perfect, it's staying in the family. Cosmetically it needs work but it's solid as can be and you could eat off the bottom. Got some tinkering on it to do, but runs like a top.

But, for no apparent reason (that I can detect) it will start shaking fairly violently in the front end. Slow speeds it seems, as you can get it going decent and it won't do it. But when it does, you yank the wheel and it stops. So... Trying to determine where to start looking. I know this is vague in description but really the best I can explain it. King pins? Just worn linkage? I know that nothing has been done to the front end in the time my Uncle owned it, possibly before but he definitely didn't replace anything. This is my first Model A so I don't really know where to start looking and would rather have a direction in mind to start before I just take the whole front apart. Thanks for any help! And, while I love my hot rods, this one is staying like it should...
 

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It is called the death wobble. You will need to replace the steering knuckles/balls and rebuild the tie/drag link/pitman arms. Then it will go away after an alignment.

Mike
 
It could also be that your radius ball cap nuts are loose. But more likely than not something in or the whole suspension is worn.
 
Jack it up and see what is loose; tie rod ends, drag link, kingpins, wishbone, steering box/pitman arm etc. Be sure the alignment is right, caster and toe-in can affect a shimmy if not right. There is no reason to have front end trouble in an A if things are as they should be. :)
 
I struggled with this for along time with my ’28 roadster. With a lot of help from this forum I found that the radius ball socket was a poorly made repro. When I replaced it the problem went away. Thanks again to this forum.

Robert
 
How much play is in the steering at the steering wheel? (Car on the ground) Correcting an incorrect Toe In setting has been known to eliminate the shimmy aka. "The Death Wobble". Check the simple stuff first. You might get lucky.
 
I sort of do the opposite and don't jack it up but leave it on the ground to check for looseness.
Have your wife or sweetie sit in the drivers seat and turn the steering wheel back and forth to somewhere around 10:00 and 2:00 bumping it up firmly against resistance while you are under the car looking at the connections on the ends of the tie rods, drag link, ball on the end of the wish bone, steering box to frame rail bolts etc... looking for any looseness. This may take a while so be prepared to take her out to dinner afterwards. Tighten up anything loose that you find. Then move on to jacking it up and check for looseness in your wheel bearings and king pins.
After that check to see that your toe in is correct.

If someone has replaced the original steel set up on the wish bone ball with the rubber one replace it with the original set up. If you find that the ball on the end of the wishbone is overly worn add the spacer to the top of the ball that is available from the vendors or weld it up and file it back to round.
 
Thanks everyone for the ideas. Lucky for me I have a lift so I can get under it while wifey get board turning the wheel :) It's ok though, I got her a 56 T bird so she's into it too... I'll report back what I find...

Thanks!!

Brandon
 
Flathead said:
Jack it up and see what is loose; tie rod ends, drag link, kingpins, wishbone, steering box/pitman arm etc. Be sure the alignment is right, caster and toe-in can affect a shimmy if not right. There is no reason to have front end trouble in an A if things are as they should be. :)
Click to expand...

Forgot to reply back but I did what you said. And immediately found out it was the wheel bearings... Me thinks my Uncle didn't wrench on it since he got it in 1968 or whatever... Gooder than new now. Thanks for the advice!
 
Hello, nice looking roadster, glad you found the problem, lot of times I think the kingpins get neglected as you need a press and reamer or hone to change.
 
I've always been very intrigued by the death wobble considering I don't have it and never felt it before. Silly me likes the puzzle it provides. I do remember reading somewhere in a model "A" book a while back, that one of the major causes of the death wobble is because the castor being incorrect - not enough castor, and to much castor makes it harder to pull out of a turn, never self centering from the turn.

Can anyone with experience with the infamous death wobble can confirm or deny this?

Regards
Bill
 
BillCNC said:
I've always been very intrigued by the death wobble considering I don't have it and never felt it before. Silly me likes the puzzle it provides. I do remember reading somewhere in a model "A" book a while back, that one of the major causes of the death wobble is because the castor being incorrect - not enough castor, and to much castor makes it harder to pull out of a turn, never self centering from the turn.

Can anyone with experience with the infamous death wobble can confirm or deny this?

Regards
Bill
Click to expand...

Not easy to adjust the camber on a Model A.
 
I found out that all my stuff was good UNTIL I re adjusted the steering box.
Way too much play on the steering wheel. Seems good now, no more shimmey yet,
and I have tried to get it to do it.

And yes, wheel bearings can do it as well as all suggestions posted here.
 
katy said:
I detest that term. Never heard it until the internet. I always knew the shaking as a shimmy, and still call it that.
Click to expand...

I always associated the term with motorcycle's, bicycles and skateboards. For myself after 40-years of time passing, my elbows, knees knuckles can still prove it to this day.

Regards
Bill
 
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