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1934 Chevy Truck Death Wobble


Steve Braverman

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I finally got Dad's truck out for a ride today. It rides and steers ok, but every now and then it goes into a death wobble. I mean bad! I stomped the brakes, but it didn't stop wobbling until it came to a stop. Where should I begin?

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Any play in the steering gear box, any play in any tie-rod end on either the drag link or the tie-rod, and any play in the front [fixed] leaf spring eye or pivot bolt.

Too little toe-in or any toe out will also cause the 'death wobble'..

But, if it didn't have the 'death wobble' before, I'd look first at the tires, have they been on the ground [floor] while it was in storage? if so, they probably are flat-spotted and might never get round again.

Jack up each front wheel, push/pull on the wheel at the top bottom [12 and 6 o'clock] if there is play, is it the wheel bearings or the king pin/bushings ? Then push/pull on the wheel side to side, [3 and 9 o'clock] if there is any play, is it the tie-rod at this wheel, or the other end of the tie-rod, or both??

Have someone operate the steering wheel, while you crawl under the truck, with all 4 wheels on the ground, Block the wheels. Have your helper turn the steering wheel back and forth, you need to look for any lost motion, loose tie-rod ends, and any play in the front bushing/bolt in the leaf spring.

This should get you well aquanted with the condition of the front steering and axle.

GLong

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This truck hasn't been driven much in the last 40 years and the tires are probably 50 years old. I have five new tires. I'm going to put them on and see if that helps. While driving today, it went into a violent wobble. I asked my dad if it used to do that. He said, "You think I remember?"

I said, "You would remember THAT."

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If you have a sticky stiff steering gear box with loose kingpins, loose tie rod ends and loose spring shackle pins and bushings, then the wobble will start, and you can't feel or give feedback due to the stiff gearbox and away it goes..

Sort of hard to get your left eyeball out of your right eye socket and visa-versa !! and a bit terrifying too !

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My 1931 Chevrolet did this when I first got it, turns out the last owner put new shackles on but failed to tighten the shackle cross bolts enough to take all the side play out. I was teaching my son-in-law how to drive an old car when it happened. It scared the daylights out of him, almost put him off old cars for good!

Howard Dennis

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My 36 Buick did the same thing and I parked it for 20 years until I declared war on it 2 years ago. I completely rebuilt the front end finding many pins/bushings, bearings, etc., completely worn out, replacing everything and having the shocks rebuilt. Drives great now. As Others have suggested, I would jack it up and start moving and shaking the wheels to see if it can be determined what the problems are.

Tom

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Had a '64 IH Scout that would go into the death wobble now and then. Did it once as I was leaving McDonalds, tossed my fries and large drink all over the place. Even with a damper installed it would do the dance now and then but I was too poor then to deal with rebuilding the front end. Like most things your problem is likely a combination of things, worn front end, bad tires, poor alignment.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Check to see if they put the "caster shim plates" back between the leaf springs and front axel. My 1928 Graham-Paige was missing one, on one side, over 45mph and any bump would set it off the "death wobble". I put in the correct caster shims 3 degree for my car (available at any big truck alignment shop, yes they still use them), The problem is gone.

post-67048-143142584882_thumb.jpg

Caster shim is the wedge plate fat end towards the front of the car, if I remember correctly.

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I put a narrowed 1949 Chevy truck axle under my 1933 3 window coupe, Street Rod.

It went into a death wobble so bad at 45mph that you couldn't see out of it.

Everything was new and tight, but I had the old rebound lever shocks on it.

I put new regular shocks on it with angle brackets and it never did it again.

Alignment shops will tell you this won't work, but it did for me.

I ran it on the drag strip in "C" gas and it behaved well.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest cben09

Chevy Blazer had that ,,some years ago,,can anyone recall??

First use of a hydraulic damper was Prof Lemp of G-E,,, and called the

Lemp Check and was used on the 1903 Knox cars,,a tiller steer!!!

Just sayn,,,,Ben

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Yesterday I put the truck up on jacks and checked the front end. It all seems tight except for some looseness in the steering box. The tires are older than me and are coming off. While the wheels are out being powder coated, I'll see if I can adjust some of the slack out of the steering box.

I do not want to add a damper or any other extra doo-dad that isn't original.

post-48034-143142620277_thumb.jpg

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Steering, brakes and tyres are key to safe motoring. Even in modern motoring tyre life, technically, is five years when tiny cracks begin to appear often goes unnoticed. With todays technology the motorist can squeeze a little more out .Those little ball sockets develops flat spots we tend to overlook. There is a cup like washer inside the tube, then the ball socket goes in, then a cup like washer, a heavy coil spring then a plug. Do not forget the cotter pin, I would dissemble the steering box and completely rebuild. Disassemble your king pins and repair and service as needed. Check your springs for equal l height, including shackles and bushings CHANGE THOSE TYRES AND THEN HAVE IT ALIGNED. OLD KNEEACTION SHOCKS WORKS FINE IF PROPERLY REPAIRED OR CHANGE TO MODERN TYPE SHOCKS. We tend to forget that these parts wear out. There is no magic to it. DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. Do not depend on what the previous guy did. Check it your self. Cheers and have a nice day.

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  • 1 month later...

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