Hey chassis boys... Part III

[Lee_in_KC]

OK, I finally got the new tarz and weelz mounted on the car... good news and bad news. Good news, the shake is greatly reduced and moved up in the speed range... 70-75 mph there is a noticeable but not annoying shake. The tire shop "road force balanced" the wheel/tire assemblies. One took a 1/2 oz. weight, the other took two 1 oz. weights, about 90 out from each other. The shop owner, who has been doing performance wheels and tires for over 30 years, said the big tires are always hard to balance. He said the only way to get them "close" is to experiment with different weights and positions.

I was watching the fronts very closely, and they were shaking too, so I'm not sure which is the cause and which is the effect. Another thing I noticed is the car does not hook nearly as well on acceleration or cornering. I'm gonna miss those fat tarz!!

Well, at least I can go on the long cruises at highway speeds without getting shaken to death!! I'll keep tweaking on it 'til we leave for the Choo Choo.

 

[putz]

Usually if the shake is in the seat it is rear tires/wheels in the steering wheel it is the front/tires wheels

 

[Dirt-T]

I think there was an artical in Street Rodder about some beads they install in tires along with weights.
Terry

 

[2old2fast]

Dam Lee , that's a shame you didn't get rid of your gremlin! Just askin' but , did you drive 15-20 miles? It takes that long for mine to warm up & get round , then they quit shaking...
dave

 

[Lee_in_KC]

Good point, Dave!! No, I only drove about 10 miles. I'll try to go further this weekend.

 

[sstock]

Lee, do you have a 1/2 shaft that is out of balance?

 

[T-Odd]

I recently took Toolman's car for a drive and I think he has the biggest Hoosier tires available. Highway speeds were like butter. I'd test your rims and tires on another car now, if available.

 

[Lee_in_KC]

Steve, I had no shake when I put the Tiger Paws on, so I don't think I have an issue with the rear end.

Todd, I would like to do that just to confirm it is the big Hoosiers and/or 15" wide wheels.

 

[gfigms]

Wheel bearings? ... remember Dayton ...

 

[T-Odd]

Lee, those big@$$ tires mounted on other rims will probably tell us, by process of elimination, that the issue is with the 15" wide Centerline rims.

Widest rims I have are 15x12 Ansen Sprints, but you can test them if you need them. They're just sitting in the garage waiting for something. I had originally planned to try some of the dirt track tires on there just to see what they're like.

 

[meangreen]

Lee,
I discovered a long time ago that more toe-in reduces front end shimmy. Every car is slightly different even if they look identical. All those components have to work together... Anyway, when I built my coupe (my roadster isn't roadworthy yet) I set the caster and toe by "calibrated eyeball". I was in a hurry to make it to a local cruise-in the following afternoon, but my first ride was an exercise in terror. I was about two blocks from my house when I hit a bump at about 30 mph and the frontend started shaking so bad I couldn't control it. This wasn't my "first rodeo" and I knew what the problem was, soI limped back home at 15 mph, loosened the clamps on the tie rod, gave it a couple of twists of toe-in, and took off up the road. Each time I added more toe-in, the speed increased a little before shake & shimmy set in. I finally got it to where I could go about 50 mph and that would get me to my destination the next day...

The day after the cruise-in I finally checked it with my gauges and measuring devices. The caster was 11 degrees and toe was 1.25 inches IN! I readjusted everything to get 5 degrees caster and 1/8 inch toe-in. I've seen 100 mph in the car with no more shake. When we set the front end on my son's sedan I put it at 5 degrees caster and 1/8 in and it drives fine with no further adjustment. The point of all this - I would reset your caster to 5 degrees and toe at 1/8" in and try it.

 

[donsrods]

Jim............Is that really you !!!! Long time no talk. You mean you still haven't got your track t on the road ? You are starting to be slow like me. Glad to see you are a member here now.

For those of you who don't know Jim, he is a true hot rodder and can make good parts from things most people would overlook. His Model A is the one I posted pictures of a while back, it has torsion bar suspension all the way around. He is also building a cool little track t with just about all hand made parts. He is a super nice guy and will go out of his way to help anyone he can with his experience.

Welcome aboard, Jim, and glad to hear from you again.

Don

Sorry for the hijack.

 

[EX JUNK]

Glad to see you back on here, Jim. I haven't been going to the cruise in Titusville since they moved it a couple of years ago so I've not seen you. I hope that you'll post some updates on your T.

Jim

 

[meangreen]

Hi Don,
Yep, it's me. You make me sound like a sort of miracle worker. Actually, folks, I make a lot of my own stuff because I never could afford to buy a lot of high-zoot parts. I discovered that I'm a pretty fair fabricator and I like doing that sort of thing, so I just kept making my own stuff for the past 40+ years. I've been a member here since 2008, but have mostly lurked and made very few posts, so I'm still considered a newby. I expect I'll get past that pretty soon now...

Jim Robinson - aka Meangreen

Sorry for the hijack, Lee. I haven't seen Don for 4 or 5 years.

 

[meangreen]

Jim,
The Titus-nights cruise-in has been moved back downtown now that the road work is done. Would like to see you and your car here again. I believe the next one is not until September. Do you ever go to New Smyrna? 2nd Saturday every month and it's bigger than Titusville.

Should be posting some updates on my T soon. I am building another new intake manifold for it; didn't like the first one I built...

Jim R

 

[EX JUNK]

It seems as though EVERY time I go to New Smyrna it rains. Maybe I'll try again. I'm glad to see that they have moved the Titus-nites cruise back to the downtown, that other area was not to my liking at all and I'm not alone in that opinion.

Jim