MTFCA Forum

Hey guys, just want to tell you of my experience with wheel shimmy over the weekend.
The Club had a three day tour in our south west and prior to leaving home I attended to three items of maintenance on the T
Firstly increased Tyre pressure up to 30 psi as I usually run 26 psi ( signs of under inflated wear)
Secondly Tyre wear indicated “Toe Out” so reset to 1/4” Toe in by turning the adjustment 2 turns.
Thirdly, Installed a flat washer on the spindle to eliminate the up/ down movement of the steering arm that was rattling.

Well, after being on the road for over 24 years the car developed the old shimmy while crossing over a railway line. Typical
scenario, low speed and a slightly diagonal train track. It also does it on some of the rougher road services in this country
Town. At speed it’s all good and I’m yet to drive it around my home suburb to see if it’s okay here.

Very weird, that after all this time and miles traveled never experienced wobble. I understand some T’s suffer terribly this
issue but after a minor adjustment on mine it’s hard to believe it’s that critical between wobble and no wobble!

Reversing the adjustment back is easy and I wish that I had never bothered with the slight Tyre wear!!

I was even so careful to refit split pins and adjusting the Toe in!! (ARB)
Alan in Western Australia

From you third statement of installing a washer, to me that indicates some new spindle bushings and probably new pins should be installed. Hopefully the axle hole and threads are ok. Might be a good time to go through the whole front-end and inspect and redo or readjust everything.

A place that is overlooked more often than not is the pitman arm. Pull the cotter pin out and make sure it is TIGHT. It may be snug but it needs to be TIGHT!!!!! I'm with Chad, probably also needs front end work. To set your toe in, scribe your tyres to get a true line to measure to. 1/16 is plenty of toe in. My friend did a few things like you described and it made his worse, it ended up being the pitman arm. He also,( for piece of mind ) installed a steering stabilizer. Those will also do the trick. Good luck.jw

If your measurements in Australia are the same as in the U.S.A, then the tire pressure is too low. For a 26 with balloon tires, you should run 32 to 36 PSI. Also the need for the washers indicates the spindle bolts and bushings are worn. The toe in I use would be mark the tires in the center and use a square. Make your mark where the square touches the tire in front. Measure the distance between the wheels at the front. Then push the car so the tires make one half turn and measure the distance at the back. Adjust the length of the tie rod to the point where the wheels just begin to toe in. I think 1/4 inch is too much. If you back it off one turn, do they toe in or out. If still toe in, leave it at that distance.
All the parts should be tight. The spindle arms should be tight in the spindles, and the tie rod ends should be snug but not tight enough to bind. Might need to be replaced. The drag link ball joints should not have noticeable play and the balls should be round. Anyway all parts should be tight. Also measure the castor. See diagrams in the owners manual for proper adjustments. One more thing to consider is whether the wheels are out of balance. If you jack up a wheel and spin it and it always stops at the same position and then if you turn the wheel one half turn and let go, If the wheel turns and the same place drops to the bottom, your wheels are out of balance. You might need to add a little weight opposite the heavy point.
Norm

I'm certain that pictures of your spindles and components noted by others would help confirm their suspicions and proper fix.

I agree with all possibilities listed so far. I'd like to add another that showed it's face on a recent tour in Tennessee. A friend crawled under my car to look for play/movement while I wiggled the steering wheel. What he discovered was slop in the steering bracket on the lower end of the steering column. It turned out that the Steering bracket bushing was worn. After going through the fitting process, the shimmy went away.
More info and pictures at this thread http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/50 ... 1446465712

Bill makes a great point,I have seen this and had to help a member with the bracket being loose.

Thank you for the replies Gents.
The thing is, no shimmy for 24 years then the day after doing the minor adjustments we have shimmy.
I plan to increase Tyre pressure as noted then reset the steering to where it was and road test after every move.
The washer was only added due to slight up n down movement of the adjustment fork to spindle that was causing a rattle.
Will let you know what I find..
Cheers Alan

Alan,
If It shimmy's again under test, just let the steering wheel go and the shimmy disappears.
I do that at times when my 7seater 3a FIAT gets a shake up that is usually caused by an out of balance front wheel/tyre combo. You will get the feeling when its going to happen through your hands, release your
hand grip and let the steering wheel osculate/move in your hands. The vehicle is under control at all times ,let is shimmy and it controls its self. You could try it before any mods or changes are done.
Regards....N.

I had some pulling to one side issues on my 21 Touring. Checked the alignment which seemed OK.
The tie rod end ball yoke had up and down movement from wear so I decided to buy a NOS yoke from Lang’s. After installing the pulling to one side issue went away!
I wouldn’t have thought it would cause that issue. I was going to add a washer in the yoke but decided to get a new one. It was a good decision!