1966 Fleetwood part time wheel shimmy

[jimrmac]

Sometimes, the I get a violent shimmy in what feels like the front wheels. Feels like the wheel is about to run off and gets worse when brakes are applied. Can come to a stop and the shimmy may or may not come back once I start moving again. The fact that this happens sporadically has me stumped. Thanks in advance for any help on this. Jim M.

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

Sounds like a typical king pin shimmy. Unfortunately you do not have king pins in all seriousness with symptoms like that I would not drive this car. It seems that something major is loose or worn in the front suspension and I would inspect all the suspension and steering components.

Greg Surfas

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Plus, inspect all the suspension mounting points, as there could be a weld that has cracked.

Bruce.

[jimrmac]

Ive had shimmy issues similar to this in old chevy trucks and the problem was worn out steering components. The difference here is the shimmy seems more violent but happens with less frequency than it did in those trucks. What would cause it to happen infrequently? I was thinking steering box maybe? Crawling under the car and inspecting, I didn't see anything obvious and none of the steering/suspension components seemed loose, bent, or excessively worn.

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

It really sounds like you have something ready for catastrophic failure and when conditions are right (curve, bump, braking, etc.) a major part of your suspension or steering starts to flail around. Don’t keep guessing. If you are not up to it yourself take the car toa reputable (there are some) front end shop and see what they say you can bring their diagnosis back here for discussion but please don’t procrastinate.
Greg Surfas

[Scot Minesinger]

Agree with Greg, this is serious and do not guess.  Even though I bash DC area (I know you may not live there), there are some good friend shops around still.  The suspension system on your Cadillac with box ladder frame and all was used in the same basic format from 1965 thru 1996 by GM, so anyone working on front ends last 20 years will be familiar.  One of my friends had a "restore suspension" job done and the shop did not install the pins in the castle nuts and he lost steering control of driver side wheel and brakes which caused a lot of damage - covered by insurance. 

There are often failures you do not anticipate.  This time you know there is a problem, so be best to deal with it.

[jimrmac]

Thanks to all for input. Ive got a local tire/ suspension shop that's been in business for years and was recently bought out by one of the chain stores but some of the old mechanics are still with them I believe. Will take it there and see what they can find. Will post back the results.