Any one running a steering stabilizer. I get some pretty bad shimmy in the frontend. It happens at slow speeds. I don't know what causes this but I'm hoping I can solve it soon. I did set caster at about 7 degress so I should be good with that.
steering stabilizer question
- Thread starter yoyo1
- Start date
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Bonehead
Skull Master
Welcome to the site. As far as a stabilizer goes, I have seen a few on hot rods, but you shouldnt need one. Stabilizers are generally reserved for 4x4s.
The extra heavy front ends and big tires are usually the reason. What type of vehicle are we talking about here? How old are the kingpins, ball joints etc? Other issues are allignment and the ballance of the tires.
castor is 6-7 degrees, toe in should be 1/8 th to 3/16ths.
My .2
The extra heavy front ends and big tires are usually the reason. What type of vehicle are we talking about here? How old are the kingpins, ball joints etc? Other issues are allignment and the ballance of the tires.
castor is 6-7 degrees, toe in should be 1/8 th to 3/16ths.
My .2
Inked Monkey
Tarzan's tatted best friend
Agreed. I've had plenty of 4x4's and you don't really even need them on those. If you take them off and get a shimmy, then something else is wrong with your frontend. I'd check the other suspension parts before trying to put a stabilizer on.
35Mastr
Mastr Blastr
Yoyo1,If I remember correctly this is most likley the Model a that you built with your students.If its at slow speeds and not under any hard braking I would say it is in the front tires.They most likley are out of balance.I would have them done on a high speed balencer with road force.Road force actually sets the bead to the rim and finds any abnoirmalities in the tire.Not to mention high spots or shifted belts and or cords.Try rebalinceing them and then let us know.
luckyfasteddie
Banned
- Joined
- May 12, 2007
- Messages
- 219
There is a great thread on the HAMB ,search ,why does my front end shake by t/acoupe,ans # 15 covers it very well.LFE I know Speedway is in business to sell their stuff,this is what they say about steering dampers,"There hasn't been an early Ford-style front end hot rod leave our shop in 30 years without a steering damper .
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Thanks for the info guys. The kingpins and rod ends are all new and everything seems to be tight so I'll try re-balancing the tires. I didn't know if this was a common problem. It sounds like I should be able to fix it without the stabilizer.
Thanks
Thanks
donsrods
Well-known member
I have to agree with the guys..........a stabilizer is a last resort/bandaid kind of thing. My family car is starting to do the same thing at low speeds, and I'm pretty convinced it is time for new tires. As soon as you get up a little speed it stops.
Don
Don
FlatBroke
Hostage Negotiator
Yoyo1,
I used to be a tire guy for a very long time and have a few questions for ya...
Are all 4 tires byas ply or radial?
All 4 tires HAVE to be the same or you will get an unimaginable shake that your average guy just can not figure out.
Does the frontend pull to one side or the other?
Is there any chance at all that there is anything inside the tire?
All are serious questions and depending on the answers, will give you "Fix" answers or more questions.
I used to be a tire guy for a very long time and have a few questions for ya...
Are all 4 tires byas ply or radial?
All 4 tires HAVE to be the same or you will get an unimaginable shake that your average guy just can not figure out.
Does the frontend pull to one side or the other?
Is there any chance at all that there is anything inside the tire?
All are serious questions and depending on the answers, will give you "Fix" answers or more questions.
Sorry it has taken so long to get back to this. I don't know a lot about tires but I think all 4 are byas ply. It says polyester on the tire and they all have tubs in them. The front end doesn't pull at all. It drives nice and straight at high speeds. I have re-balanced the front tires and it seems to have made a difference but I haven't driven it a lot to know for sure. Here is a pic of the front end if that helps.
Thanks
Thanks
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donsrods
Well-known member
Tires are a HUGE influence on how a car rides and tracks. More than I imagined. Just had a blowout on the front of my '84 Ford, so I put 4 new tires on it. What a difference in ride. I had a vibration I was fearing to be a u joint going out.....it is now gone.
If your tires are not brand new, that could be the source of your problem. Sitting flattens them out. Even the brand new tires I installed on my T and the ones my Son installed on his T would not balance out perfectly. The tire shop said it is just the characteristic of bias ply tires.
Try moving the tires around for a test ride and see what happens, if that is possible with your sizes and bolt patterns.
Don
If your tires are not brand new, that could be the source of your problem. Sitting flattens them out. Even the brand new tires I installed on my T and the ones my Son installed on his T would not balance out perfectly. The tire shop said it is just the characteristic of bias ply tires.
Try moving the tires around for a test ride and see what happens, if that is possible with your sizes and bolt patterns.
Don
gassersgarage
The California Kid
A lot of bias ply tires are out of round. Old time tire shops can shave the tires to make them round. This will also cause balancing problems. If the bias plys are old, low speed handling suffers due to the fact that the tires become hard and brittle.
My 31' had bias plys but I looked "drunk" driving down the freeway. It also wanted to follow the grooves instead of tracking straight. I switched to Coker Classics and now the car handles like a dream. Only problem, the tires cost a fortune.
My 31' had bias plys but I looked "drunk" driving down the freeway. It also wanted to follow the grooves instead of tracking straight. I switched to Coker Classics and now the car handles like a dream. Only problem, the tires cost a fortune.
billy
Motor mouth ratchet jaw!
billy
Motor mouth ratchet jaw!
Dug a thread out of the RRR basement, didn't ya Billy.
i dont notice the dates
and end up pulling 10 year old threads outa the basement...
donsrods
Well-known member
Wow, this is an old one, isn't it ? Well, funny how time changes things, because in 2007 I said in my post that you shouldn't need a stabilizer. Since that time I have installed 3 of them and will NEVER build another car without one.
I bought the ones SoCal sells and installed it first on my 27, then one on my Son Dan's rpu, and finally, one on my Son Don's T bucket. They made a totally different car out of each car. I can't tell you how much better the car handles over bumps and stuff like RR tracks, or at speed on the interstate. In fact when I was going through the 1/8 mile lights at the BP drags in my 27 at 92 mph I was thinking to myself how straight the car stayed and how I would have been worried about shimmy before I installed one.
Take my advice on this one, guys, if you can incorporate one into your build it will be about the best thing you do. SoCal has not built one car in the last 30 years that didn't have one installed, and when I build the little drag altered I am thinking about and also when I finish up my new rpu project, both will have one installed before I take the first drive.
Don
Well, funny how time changes things, because in 2007 I said in my post that you shouldn't need a stabilizer. Since that time I have installed 3 of them and will NEVER build another car without one. I bought the ones SoCal sells and installed it first on my 27, then one on my Son Dan's rpu, and finally, one on my Son Don's T bucket. They made a totally different car out of each car. I can't tell you how much better the car handles over bumps and stuff like RR tracks, or at speed on the interstate. In fact when I was going through the 1/8 mile lights at the BP drags in my 27 at 92 mph I was thinking to myself how straight the car stayed and how I would have been worried about shimmy before I installed one.
Take my advice on this one, guys, if you can incorporate one into your build it will be about the best thing you do. SoCal has not built one car in the last 30 years that didn't have one installed, and when I build the little drag altered I am thinking about and also when I finish up my new rpu project, both will have one installed before I take the first drive.
Don
Dr Crankenstein
Rocket Surgeon
Don's post reminds me of an experience that changed my thinking forever.
20 years ago, my best friend bought a proven altered chassis, and we put his power combo in it. When he started making full passes, he complained about death wobble in the shutdown area. (Not a friendly experience at 160 MPH) We went through that front end six ways from Sunday. Steering gear, joints, bushings, bearings, geometry, you name it. We even switched out the 5'' tire and wheel for a skinny dragster set. Nothing helped. Desperate for a solution, we put a stabilizer on it. Problem solved, the car went from death-defying to boring in an instant.
The previous owner had run quicker and faster with that car than we ever did, and never had an issue with wobble. [S We could only assume that our combination changed the dynamics and affected the steering in a way it never experienced before. Strange input = strange results.
Short story long, it proved what a stabilizer can do for a front end, and made a believer out of me.
20 years ago, my best friend bought a proven altered chassis, and we put his power combo in it. When he started making full passes, he complained about death wobble in the shutdown area. (Not a friendly experience at 160 MPH
) We went through that front end six ways from Sunday. Steering gear, joints, bushings, bearings, geometry, you name it. We even switched out the 5'' tire and wheel for a skinny dragster set. Nothing helped. Desperate for a solution, we put a stabilizer on it. Problem solved, the car went from death-defying to boring in an instant.The previous owner had run quicker and faster with that car than we ever did, and never had an issue with wobble. [S We could only assume that our combination changed the dynamics and affected the steering in a way it never experienced before. Strange input = strange results.
Short story long, it proved what a stabilizer can do for a front end, and made a believer out of me.
billy
Motor mouth ratchet jaw!
i havent even driven mine yet
but it has one on it.
but it has one on it.
donsrods
Well-known member
Anyone who has ever experienced death wobble NEVER wants it to happen again. I can't imagine it at 160 mph........I would be taking up golf.
My Son Don's T Bucket had an occasional death wobble, especially if he got on it hard. We did everything from resetting the chassis to moving the tie rod to the rear, and it got better but still got a little wiggle sometimes. I was so impressed with the So Cal stabilizer on my 27 that I ordered two of them, one for Don's T and one for Dan's rpu. They were a little hesitant to put them on, but I insisted they try them. Don went for the first ride and came back saying it was a totally different car. He ran over some RR tracks and it was like they weren't there. Death wobble has never returned.
Like I said, if and when I build a little drag altered it will have one for sure.......maybe even two of them.
Don
My Son Don's T Bucket had an occasional death wobble, especially if he got on it hard. We did everything from resetting the chassis to moving the tie rod to the rear, and it got better but still got a little wiggle sometimes. I was so impressed with the So Cal stabilizer on my 27 that I ordered two of them, one for Don's T and one for Dan's rpu. They were a little hesitant to put them on, but I insisted they try them. Don went for the first ride and came back saying it was a totally different car. He ran over some RR tracks and it was like they weren't there. Death wobble has never returned.
Like I said, if and when I build a little drag altered it will have one for sure.......maybe even two of them.
Don
gold03
He lives in an "Altered State"!
I don't see shocks on the car in the owners post. I always thought tires were like big rubber balls with out shocks.
gold03
gold03
klink
Well-known member
The spring and shackles look really streched out as well.
