front suspension issue

[steve36]

Hey again

Another issue I have is when I am driving down the road every 5 minutes or so my steering wheel and shiftier will start shaking big time...Ive been told by other motorists that when that happens they see my front wheels bouncing up and down...it only lasts a few seconds then goes away ..I can sometimes stop it by turning the wheel back and forth quickly...any thoughts?

[Doug Houston]

That's "Shimmy", and not bouncing. It's an oscillation of the front wheels side to side. You didn't say what model year you mean, but on some GM cars (I have a '96 Buick Roadmaster), there is a steering damper on the drag link. I have one on my Jeep as well. This keeps out the oscillation that is known as Shimmy.
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The damping device is a shock absorber that can go bad, and allow the front end to go nuts with uncontrolled oscillation, which can throw you off of the road.

Have a good front end shop look at the car and see if you have a bad steering damper, or if there is none on the car, your front end could be totally worn out.

[Jim Stamper]

     If your car has king pins I would check those.  I have had those same symptoms a couple of times, one was a 64 Econoline van, straight axle of course. The king pins were badly worn, I fitted new ones, and problem solved. Also a 57 Chevy pickup. Someone had put an aftermarket dampener on it to cure the symptom. I replaced the king pins and left the dampener off. It worked fine.

    But really, for a front end to be free of foibles everything needs to be up to snuff. King pins or ball joints if that is the case, tie rod ends, idler arm, properly functioning brakes, tire balance, caster, camber and toe in and even shocks. Any of these things gradually giving way will alter the handling and most of them happen so slowly, especially in our lightly used collector cars that the gradual deterioration of the handling isn't noticed until something ugly rears up, like a nasty shimmy. Get the whole thing checked and you will likely be amazed at the difference in your car.

                                 Jim Stamper CLC#13470

[harry s]

Steve, After you have checked all of the components Jim mentioned also check the center steering link. It is just below the radiator and the inner tie rods connect to it. This one of the few items that doesn't have a grease fitting and is hard to access.    Harry

[Dave Shepherd]

Steve, After you have checked all of the components Jim mentioned also check the center steering link. It is just below the radiator and the inner tie rods connect to it. This one of the few items that doesn't have a grease fitting and is hard to access.    Harry

Good point, I had a 38 Buick in my shop with similar symptoms, the gear box had way too much play and the center relay/link was bad.

[steve36]

I will tell my mechanic tomorrow.  Thanks so much

[Bill Ingler #7799]

You might have a alignment shop check your caster. Too much positive caster can cause a shimmy. Any small bounce or roughness in the road can start the shimmy.