Front end shimmy

[Dobreutra]

Bought a 23 bucket 2 weeks ago, trailered it home and then drove it on our rough rural street and at 35 mph the steering wheel shook left and right and I noticed front tires shaking quite a bit..slowed down to about 15 and shimmy stopped, then I was able to get back up to 35mph.
I was told to replace Heim rod ends, did that but now once in a while the problem returns but not quite as often as before. What should I check next?

 

[bobj]

First, Welcome to the forum, I am sure everyone here will try and help you correct your problem. Front end shimmy can be caused by many different things. First I would check all of your front end components for wear, including the tierod ends, radius rods, kingpins and bushings, heim joints,pitman arm and any other components that could wear, a friend of mine had a similar problem and his cure turned out to be very simple, he found that the tires were not holding the same pressure, he adjusted the pressure and the shaking stopped. If you can't find any unusual wear you might try and find a shop that can check out the toe in and toe out. I talked to a friend of mine about your problem and he suggested you check the caster of the front end. The front axle should tilt back just a few degrees, this can be adjusted with your radius rods. Don't forget to get the weight off of the axle when you are checking your components for play. Good luck and let us know what you find out.
Bob

 

[Nailbomb]

Bobs got this one pretty well covered.

The problem is it could be any of a number of components to a suspension system causing your problem, and theres no easy way i know of to diagnose this.

But i'm not that good with suspensions anyway

Is there any more information you can offer on the problem?

 

[tfeverfred]

I have read about these problems on the NTBA site. As stated, there could be a number of things to check. What about tire/wheel balance? Also, what kind of brake set up does it have up front? If you are running GM brakes, they are too heavy and will cause the shimmy, but usually at a higher speed. If this is the case, you would need to find someone who can balance the tire/wheel with the brake hub attached. A rule of thumb is to tighen EVERYTHING before driving and afterwards do it again. Make sure to use Locktite on the threads to keep nuts from backing off.

Search the NTBA tech site for answers. There are a lot of guys who have had this problem on that site.

 

[Dobreutra]

After installing a new tie rod and ends and installing a panhard rod the problem still existed. We called a member of the NTBA in Arkansas and he recommended setting the toe-out to 1/8", then adding adjusting axle tilt to 5-1/2degrees. Made the changes and that fixed the problem. NO MORE SHIMMY!

 

[Rick]

Good job now thats what i like to hear a problem solved by another Bucket Head