Death wobble

I put a Monroe stabilizer kit on my "T" hot rod with a Speedway solid axle. It came with enough parts to provide a number of installation alternative and.....it was made in Michigan!!!

In my case it was the harmonics and only happened twice, but that was enough to scare the "pee wadden" out of me!! Just say "no" to death wobbles!!

Dick.
 
zippi said:
I just put new Monroe shocks on a few months ago. The ball on the wishbone near the center of the frame I assume you are talking about?
Click to expand...

Yes, the front wish bones are joined together (integral) with a ball. If you haven't checked the ball's condition, it might be worn badly and in need of refurbishment. But, worn out condition may make proper adjustment/tightening...not possible.
 
RKS.PA said:
I put a Monroe stabilizer kit on my "T" hot rod with a Speedway solid axle. It came with enough parts to provide a number of installation alternative and.....it was made in Michigan!!!

In my case it was the harmonics and only happened twice, but that was enough to scare the "pee wadden" out of me!! Just say "no" to death wobbles!!

Dick.
Click to expand...

Hey Dick,
That's funny (or not)! As a kid, I put a '50 ford convertible together from pieces/parts. You know that kids are fearless, eh :).
Without shocks and with a front end that , when bounced the front wheels ,with bald tires, would look like a duck waddleing....

Well, without license, me or the ford, I would take that black (primer)beauty around the country side ...to check out/impress farm girls.

At times, that sucker would actually hop off the road in the front...it death wobbled so bad...going into another lane on a two lane road...yup..pee waddle :eek: !
 
A lot of tire shops don't check for run out or wobble on the tire/wheel. Technically you can balance a square tire. Make sure they look at the spinning tire to visually check that it's concentric.
 
Hi, I have a stock 48 passenger car that I would like to put a damper on, do you happen to remember the part number ? Thanks, Rick
 
Hi, I have a 48 car I would like to put one on, do you happen to remember the part number and does it come with mounting kit. Thanks, Rick
 
If you think the death wobble will thrill you try it on a Harley. It is not a good experience. A friend got killed on his 40 years ago because of that and I never forgot it.
 
flathead48 said:
Hi, I have a 48 car I would like to put one on, do you happen to remember the part number and does it come with mounting kit. Thanks, Rick
Click to expand...

I don't remember part numbers, just went to the parts store and looked at them until I found what I wanted. I had to improvise on the tie rod clamps because they were for a lot fatter tie rod than mine. I welded a bracket across the web of my axle so you can't see any of it from the front. You can do a bolt on bracket too, kinda ugly imo.
 
RKS.PA said:
I put a Monroe stabilizer kit on my "T" hot rod with a Speedway solid axle. It came with enough parts to provide a number of installation alternative and.....it was made in Michigan!!!

In my case it was the harmonics and only happened twice, but that was enough to scare the "pee wadden" out of me!! Just say "no" to death wobbles!!

Dick.
Click to expand...

I'm not running PS so I'd think that a stabilizer would just make the steering a little harder. What's your thoughts about that?
 
zippi said:
I'm not running PS so I'd think that a stabilizer would just make the steering a little harder. What's your thoughts about that?
Click to expand...

No difference in the resistance to normal steering, the damper works on higher frequencies.
 
Had both front tires re-balanced today. Both tires were out of balance. The drives side required a little extra weight to get it to balance. The passengers side rim was slightly bent but it balanced fine. The fellow at the tire shop said they see a lot of bent rims from all the pot holes in this town. I rotated the front tires and set the air pressure to 27 psi in all 4 tires. We are headed to a cruise-in this weekend that is about 25 miles away. We'll see if I get the "Death Wobble" again this coming weekend. This could be a long process to figure out just what could be wrong. What would be the luck in getting it resolved on the first try :rolleyes:
 
Marv said:
If you think the death wobble will thrill you try it on a Harley. It is not a good experience. A friend got killed on his 40 years ago because of that and I never forgot it.
Click to expand...

Hey Marv,
Been there, done that, although on a '48 Indian Chief, not a Harley ! Spent long time recuperation :)
 
Jacked my 37 up and crawled under to check the wishbone ball. One bolt was loose and the other one wasn't all that tight. Is this just a pocket where the two meet and rest inside the ball? If I unscrew both bolts and drop the ball down is it replaceable? How can I tell if it even needs to be replaced.
 
zippi said:
Jacked my 37 up and crawled under to check the wishbone ball. One bolt was loose and the other one wasn't all that tight. Is this just a pocket where the two meet and rest inside the ball? If I unscrew both bolts and drop the ball down is it replaceable? How can I tell if it even needs to be replaced.
Click to expand...

Finding all kinda problems now are we!! :) It's just the rubber ball on the end of the wishbone. There should be almost no movement, but it may be a little hard to tell, it's a lot of mass to move around. That ball mount is one area that leads to the wobble as is tire balance and bent rims. Might not cure it all, but should help.
 
It would be more out of place in a ditch. Think about that. Anyway most of the people today have no idea what a classic hot rod would look like. If you can't buy it in a can, they don't have any reason to own it. JMHO
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top