The dreaded "death wobble"...

[Mark23T]

I THOUGHT I had worked out a weak link in my steering that had caused a nasty death wobble when hitting a pothole (which my town is riddled with) by fixing a bad drag link end that was causing a little play in the steering. After a couple of days of smooth sailing I had the issue again today.

There is no play in any of the steering components up front, king pins are good, etc... I do however have some play in the steering box. I'm not sure if that can be adjusted out, or needs to be replaced, or if I'm even on the right track.

Any idea if that could be the culprit, or do I need to focus on the front end components?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mark23T]

...and upon closer inspection, the worm adjustment is facing the motor about a 1/2" away, so there will be no adjusting it short of pulling the motor.

 

[T-Test]

First tighten the wheel bearings snug with no play in them. Then remove steering box only(not Engine) and adjust it on the bench. Find the directions on these forums.

Work smarter not harder.

 

[Guy]

...and upon closer inspection, the worm adjustment is facing the motor about a 1/2" away, so there will be no adjusting it short of pulling the motor.

My steering box is the same way use a 3/4 wrench holding the set screw with a dime , adjust in only a 1/4 turn at a time , try that see if it helps

 

[Guy]

...and upon closer inspection, the worm adjustment is facing the motor about a 1/2" away, so there will be no adjusting it short of pulling the motor.

One other thing pay attention to any washers under steering box that screwed me up just that little bit cause the steering to bind

 

[guilld]

If all else fails try a steering dampener. On a VW if that dampener goes bad they have the same kind of wobble. Also in high school I had a 37 Ford and it did same thing but had no modifications to the Henry front end or suspension.

 

[Guy]

Don't get discouraged the guys on here are unbelievable and they have been there done that , I was lucky with steering mine has always been true going down the road , it will be a hit and miss type thing you will find the problem, , I would also lift the front end try moving the wheels see if you can see any slop

 

[Spanky]

I know of two similar cases where shock absorbers were the solution. In one case, simply tightening the friction shocks solved it. In another, there were no shocks on the front end, and adding hydraulic shocks cured it. These vehicles are all unique, with similar general design, but each application is slightly different due to owner preferences and variations in hardware. My awareness of the two cases above is one reason I chose to use 'cross steer' in my build.

 

[Neshkoro]

Early on, my bucket had the death wobble. It scared the hell out of me the first time it happened. I thought that the car was going to shake itself apart!
I adjusted toe in, toe out, caster, checked the wheel bearings, installed a steering damper and new front shocks. The change that made the most difference was adding the new shocks! It still wanders a bit but I can handle that. The next thing for me is to adjust is to make sure the steering box/ wheel is centered when the wheels are straight. Only 40 years of making adjustments. Not bad. Do I have anything else to do? Na!

 

[lincolnuT]

Be sure you try Toe Out before making lots of changes. Also make sure every thing is very tight. How old are your front tires...There have been some problems cause by the rear tires but very rare...Don't install the damper before you try lots of things cause they will just cover up the main cause.....my two cents worth and may not be worth that much......

 

[Neshkoro]

Be sure you try Toe Out before making lots of changes. Also make sure every thing is very tight. How old are your front tires...There have been some problems cause by the rear tires but very rare...Don't install the damper before you try lots of things cause they will just cover up the main cause.....my two cents worth and may not be worth that much......

I agree with lincolnT on the damper. It was an almost last choice. AS they say, " It covers up some other problem".

 

[Mark23T]

Thanks for the suggestions. It has shocks, but I've yet to pull them to see if they're good. The chrome on them sure is nice though... lol
I'll get it up in the air, check the bearings then start backtracking, checking toe, etc...
I'm seriously screwed adjusting the box though. The worm adjustment is literally 1/4" from the bell housing. Pulling the box out is the only hope of adjusting it with the trans in and even that is going to be a hand full. It's tight.

 

[Spanky]

I'm seriously screwed adjusting the box though. The worm adjustment is literally 1/4" from the bell housing. Pulling the box out is the only hope of adjusting it with the trans in and even that is going to be a hand full. It's tight.

That may not be necessary if you can tweak the other adjustments we've been suggesting. Only reason I see to mess with the box is if your steering wheel has excessive 'free play' when you turn it.

 

[Mark23T]

That may not be necessary if you can tweak the other adjustments we've been suggesting. Only reason I see to mess with the box is if your steering wheel has excessive 'free play' when you turn it.

I think it does. About 35° I'd say. From 12:00 to about 1:30 if it were a clock face.

 

[fletcherson]

I would do the steering box first, also play with tire pressure. Get rid of the slop before doing anything else, imho. If you can get an open end wrench on the lock nut, surely you can find a way to turn the bolt, they aren’t hard to turn... be creative! If you can’t get the steering box off and cannot possibly adjust it as is, can you just unbolt the mounts and rock or suspend the engine enough to gain access? Just a thought.

 

[Guy]

If you only have a 1/4" make a blade to go into the slot find how the set is now then use the 3/4 wrench holding the adjusting screw with the blade says on web pages to only turn 1/4 turn then lock it down try it and if needed do another 1/4 turn and so on ,

 

[Hackerbilt]

The very first thing to do is check to make sure the box is centered.

Set the road wheels to straight ahead and measure to the frame to be sure.
Pop off the drag link tie rod from the pitman arm and then rotate the steering wheel all way to one side, then rotate it all the way to the other while counting the turns.
If its perhaps 5 turns lock to lock, rotate it 2 and 1/2 turns to center it. Whatever it is...half it and use that number to turn the steering wheel to the correct CENTERED position.
Ignore the physical position of the steering wheel.
Whatever it turns out to be, put a piece of tape at the top to mark the center point of box rotation and make sure the tape stays right at the top while the rest of the check is completed.
If its out of position you will need to address that later by refitting the steering wheel or reclocking the steering joints etc. You cannot "fix" it by moving the steering box off the dead center point.
Now...check to see if the tie rod will slip into the pitman arm.
If it won't you found a problem.

Steering boxes are set up a little tighter at the exact center to give good road feel, but get sloppy off center. This allows the normal wear to be adjusted out if necessary, without binding up the gears in the box. ALL adjustments are done on that center spot only.

If your pitman arm tie rod won't fit back in the hole without turning the steering wheel farther you are driving the car with the box off center and on the sloppy fitting part.

You will need to adjust the drag link length to allow for proper fit and allow the straight ahead position of the wheels to line up with the dead center point of the steering box.

It makes a big difference to have the center point correctly positioned to straight ahead driving.

 

[Mark23T]

The very first thing to do is check to make sure the box is centered.

I think you're on to something here... Just checking it lock to lock, it's off center. I've got so much play in the box that I've decided to send it out for a rebuild when I swap the motor next month (and I can get at it easily). Once I get the rebuilt box back in, I'll set it up per your instructions.

Thank You (and everybody) very much for taking the time! I'll report back once I've set-up the rebuilt steering box and hit my least favorite beat up road (so many to choose from).

PS: I just realized tonight that this has been strictly a "low speed" phenomenon. 20mph or less. I've hit some nasty pot holes at 40+mph with no issues at all (luckily). Hit a pot hole at 10mph and I can about count on a good shake.

 

[Guy]

Not made for bad roads

 

[Guy]

The very first thing to do is check to make sure the box is centered.

Set the road wheels to straight ahead and measure to the frame to be sure.
Pop off the drag link tie rod from the pitman arm and then rotate the steering wheel all way to one side, then rotate it all the way to the other while counting the turns.
If its perhaps 5 turns lock to lock, rotate it 2 and 1/2 turns to center it. Whatever it is...half it and use that number to turn the steering wheel to the correct CENTERED position.
Ignore the physical position of the steering wheel.
Whatever it turns out to be, put a piece of tape at the top to mark the center point of box rotation and make sure the tape stays right at the top while the rest of the check is completed.
If its out of position you will need to address that later by refitting the steering wheel or reclocking the steering joints etc. You cannot "fix" it by moving the steering box off the dead center point.
Now...check to see if the tie rod will slip into the pitman arm.
If it won't you found a problem.

Steering boxes are set up a little tighter at the exact center to give good road feel, but get sloppy off center. This allows the normal wear to be adjusted out if necessary, without binding up the gears in the box. ALL adjustments are done on that center spot only.

If your pitman arm tie rod won't fit back in the hole without turning the steering wheel farther you are driving the car with the box off center and on the sloppy fitting part.

You will need to adjust the drag link length to allow for proper fit and allow the straight ahead position of the wheels to line up with the dead center point of the steering box.

It makes a big difference to have the center point correctly positioned to straight ahead driving.

I am going to adjust mine this way also my car goes down the road perfectly but the steering wheel has never been centered and I can remember counting the turns like you say but I don't think I put a tape to have a reference so that's why it's off a little.