Help...Violent Front End Shimmy
Casey Brown
mounts (all three). Well I got the mounts replaced and the engine
reintalled, and was able to drive it for the first time today. At about 35
mph, the front end started to shimmy, by 45mph it started shaking
violently.I would say the steering wheel was oscillating back and forth a
full 6 inches!! After getting it back home and changing my drawers, I jacked
the front end up and checked it out. Everything seemed fairly tight,
certainly nothing was loose enough to cause that level of shaking.
Am I looking at a steering dampner problem? Its the only thing I can think
of. I've had Bugs with compleatly shot tie rods and link/king pins before
and never experienced this before. Any help the think tank can offer will
be, as always, appreciated.
Casey Brown
--
1956 Project Bug
http://www.geocities.com/vee_wee_nut
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JUSA14
juan 74 beetle
ANT The Monarch of Menace
>it....
Loose wheel bearings too.
-ANT
Tim Klopfenstein
Believe it or not, improperly inflated tires can cause the front to shimmy. If
one is high and one is low it makes a big difference.
Timk11
71 bus
70 bug
Joe Schlatter
The possiblities are endless -- let me suggest a few.
1. Tires need balancing.
2. Someone pulled the wheels and installed them without properly
tightening the wheel bearings.
3. Bad tie rods.
4. The axle beam is held to the front of the pan by four bolts that go
into threaded holes in the head of the pan. I bought a 57 once with a
bad front end shimmy and discovered that the threads were stripped out
on two of the mounts where the axle beam fastened into the pan, thus,
the axle beam was secured to the pan by only two bolts and one side of
the axle beam was free to move around.
5. Look closely at the axle beam, especially at the two vertical parts
that attach to the horizontal tubes. Look at the welds -- you may have
an axle beam separating from itself.
6. Badly worn worm gear in the steering gear, though that should not
shimmy as violently as you describe.
7. Bad steering damper is not likely to cause a violent shimmy but
replace it anyway.
Put the car up on jack stands, completely off the ground. Place the
stands so the axle beam is free, crawl under it with a good light, and
inspect everything from where the axle beam attaches to the pan all the
way to the tires -- push, pull, and bang on parts and you may find it.
I suspect you have multiple front end problems because the broken
transmission mounting bolts are a sure sign that this car was subjected
to some serious abuse. Broken trans bolts and bad front end may be just
the beginning. Good luck with it.
--
Regards,
Joe Schlatter
Respond to: j...@schlatter.org
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VolksFiend
..Gareth
ANT The Monarch of Menace
>
>..Gareth
>
Of course you'd remember that, being one yurself!
-ANT
Howard Rose
>Believe it or not, improperly inflated tires can cause the front to shimmy. If
>one is high and one is low it makes a big difference.
Also, check the tyres are properly balanced.
--
Howard Rose
1966 VW Beetle - http://www.vw1300.com
Email - how...@NOSPAMvw1300.com (you know what to remove!)
Casey Brown
fathers shimmy. Feels like the front end is going to rip off the car at
40-45mph, starts shaking between 30-35mph. My brother was following me ,and
said he could see the tires turning in and out radically, he thought I would
lose a wheel.
This car has been seriously abused (read-Off Road). I am going to pull the
tank, and lift the front end off the ground and look for broken beam, tie
rods ect. per Joe Schlatter's advice. I was just in denial, and was looking
for a easy out. Oh well, I only paid $75.00 for it and have spent another
$150.00 so far for parts (muffler, tranny mounts, throttle cable, ect,
ect.). I ran into a previous owner of the car at our local tire shop. He
built a 1600 single port for it 2 years ago. He also gave me a brief history
of the owners since then (I live in a very small town). Anyway suffice it to
say the last 2 years have been hell on the car.
Casey Brown
--
1956 Project Bug
http://www.geocities.com/vee_wee_nut
"Casey Brown" <cas...@bentonrea.com> wrote in message
news:3a3d7...@goliath.newsfeeds.com...
Joe Schlatter
Right you are -- it's the small stuff that'll get you every time.
That's why, when you call tech support numbers for household appliances
the first thing they as is: "Is it plugged in?"