I killed my Death Wobble

ETAModel

ETAModel

Senior Member
When my friend bought the 30 Fordor in 2019 the seller told us he'd packed the bearings.
Now the Fordor is mine and I decided to look at the brakes and bearings. I pulled the front hubs and the brakes look in almost new condition. I started to measure them but you'll have to take my word they're in great shape.

When I pulled the cotter pins the castle nuts were only hand tight. I've seen this before in the shop my brother worked in, usually caused by failure to pre-load the bearings. I packed the bearings, even though they really didn't need it. The inner and outer race looked good, no gouges or blemishes and nice and tight.

I tightened the hubs as my brother taught me, tighten until it's hard to turn, then turn it about 20 times until it gets easier, then tighten again. Turn it more until it loosens or you need to back off the castle nut until it turns easier. Then a new cotter pin and your done.

I took her for a test drive, and noticed the wobble at 20 mph is gone. To say I'm happy is a huge understatement. The rest of the front end looks in good shape, but front ends aren't my strong suit.

I'm just thrilled the dreaded DEATH WOBBLE is gone.
If your A suffers from the Wobble check your front bearings.
 
Chuck Sea/Tac said:
That’s good news. It is better to be a touch loose rather than a touch tight.
Click to expand...

Very true and the same applies to the engine bearings. There are plenty of cars running around out there with bearings that are a little too loose. There are NO cars running around with bearings that are too tight.
 
But don't you think that hand tight is too loose? I tighten it up to seat the bearings, then back it off until it turns easy. IMO the bearings weren't seated. If I'm doing l wrong please let me know.
 
Now check your toe in setting. 1/16 toe in + or - 1/32.
Check for a loose pitman arm at the steering sector. Tighten really good.
Check for movement of the steering arms as the steering wheel is turned (wheels on the ground)
Check for play in the spindle bolt bushings. (wheels off the ground, grab wheel at 12 and 6 o'clock and shake)
Check for play at each steering ball, two on the left, one on the right, one on the pitman arm.
Check the large ball at the back of the radius rods under the clutch housing/rear of the engine.
 
Agreed! A scooch on the loose side. Room for expansion and all that. I tighten with a wrench and back off till loose. Then I tighten with my fingers. I learned what happens when they too tight going up the NY state Thruway many years ago. It wasn't pretty or cheap!
Terry
 
Rob Doe said:
Now check your toe in setting. 1/16 toe in + or - 1/32.
Check for a loose pitman arm at the steering sector. Tighten really good.
Check for movement of the steering arms as the steering wheel is turned (wheels on the ground)
Check for play in the spindle bolt bushings. (wheels off the ground, grab wheel at 12 and 6 o'clock and shake)
Check for play at each steering ball, two on the left, one on the right, one on the pitman arm.
Check the large ball at the back of the radius rods under the clutch housing/rear of the engine.
Click to expand...

I haven't checked the toe, that's next on the list.
I checked the Pittman arm, but I'll check it again.
There's no movement at all in the spindle bolt bushings, the tires won't move an inch.

The others I haven't checked yet.
Thanks for the info
 
Rob Doe said:
Now check your toe in setting. 1/16 toe in + or - 1/32.
Check for a loose pitman arm at the steering sector. Tighten really good.
Check for movement of the steering arms as the steering wheel is turned (wheels on the ground)
Check for play in the spindle bolt bushings. (wheels off the ground, grab wheel at 12 and 6 o'clock and shake)
Check for play at each steering ball, two on the left, one on the right, one on the pitman arm.
Check the large ball at the back of the radius rods under the clutch housing/rear of the engine.
Click to expand...

I found play in my king pins by jacking up the axle, then levering the wheel up with a board.
 
Bruce of MN said:
I found play in my king pins by jacking up the axle, then levering the wheel up with a board.
Click to expand...

Yep, I should have listed the above check too. There should be very little vertical play in the spindle to axle too. The spindle may be worn into the top where the bearing rides. I had to add extra shims on one of my spindles. Too much vertical play lets the spindle rest on the bottom instead of the bottom of the upper bearing.

Look for Tom Endy's articles. They are likely here on this forum, but I found them by keying his name into google: Tom Endy's Tech Articles | Santa Anita A's The article is called:

King Pin Geometry!
by Tom Endy
 
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Your brother has taught you well. Tighten to seat the bearings, then back off and tighten again until some drag is felt, then back off one position on the castle nut. Use a new cotter key. After you are done, check for any looseness. The wheels should spin free but there should be no slop.
 
On solid axel cars loose wheel bearings is one of the main reason for front end shimmy.

Condition of tires, balance, and also wheel alignment would also have an effect.

Now you could also have a whole lot of other little issues that in total will contribute to a shimmy.
 
Don't forget about the radius ball at the base of the bell housing, if loose can cause the old death wobble or shimmy while braking
 
I'm sure the front end isn't perfect. But the 20mph wobble that would shake your guts out has stopped, just from tightening the front hubs. Like the Johnny Cash song... one piece at a time...
 
If you only had a slight wobble at 20MPH you didn't have the "death wobble". I've had it years ago where it would literally turn the steering wheel out of my hands, especially if I went over railroad tracks. :eek::eek::eek:


Paul in CT
 
I had a 31 coupe from the age of 14-22yrs. There was a half turn play in the steering. I drove the car to school and about 10,000 miles that way. My buddy and I even drove it from Illinois to Estes Park, Colorado that way after graduating high school. We learned to tweak the steering wheel against the off bank of the road and such. When it wobbled, sometimes a hard turn would stop it, but othertimes you just had to stop. There's no way around it, the All Mighty had to watching over us.
 
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