Wayne’s Death Wobble

[60FlatTop]

57 minutes ago, John_Mereness said:

I bet the cheapest I have ever spent  is $500 to solve the problem

 

I think you got to the heart of it. I KNOW people who would block the thought of paying anything like that right out of their mind. Triggers impressionable memories- In the early 1990's when I was repairing collector cars a person told me he couldn't find bearings for the front of his first generation FWD Cadillac Eldorado. I followed up on them and the next time I saw him I said "I found the bearings for your car. They are (something like) $280 apiece".

"That's what I said, they aren't available". And he walked away.

 

That reply has stayed with me. Some people can say so much in so few words.

Bernie

[Grimy]

On the other hand, Bernie and John, there's no front end shop in my area (at very least) which will allow a vintage car to occupy valuable real estate, unsteerable with the old parts removed, while the shop or the owner searches for ball studs, king pins or tie rod ends.

[zepher]

9 minutes ago, Grimy said:

On the other hand, Bernie and John, there's no front end shop in my area (at very least) which will allow a vintage car to occupy valuable real estate, unsteerable with the old parts removed, while the shop or the owner searches for ball studs, king pins or tie rod ends.

 

Plus, I bet I've spent more hours under a pre-war car than 99% of all employees at any alignment shop within 100 miles.

Hint: over a dozen pre-war cars have been in my family longer than I have.

Edited March 26, 2020 by zepher (see edit history)

[stakeside]

:::

[John_Mereness]

16 hours ago, zepher said:

 

Plus, I bet I've spent more hours under a pre-war car than 99% of all employees at any alignment shop within 100 miles.

Hint: over a dozen pre-war cars have been in my family longer than I have.

For those that do not have your skill sets: There are two kinds of alignment shops - one is on street corners tied to tire shops and periodically one dealing with accidents -and the others deal in serious problems and/or such as spring work - the shops that deal with the serious problems are well versed in making sure you are prepared (ie stuff does not sit in their shops and they will throw out the roadblock people)  Actually, you may never know they exist without asking around to a lot of auto body shops and ....  And, I think nothing of going to the alignment fellow in Cincinnati and seeing trailers in the parking lot with license plates from all over the United States  - he is a leading front end specialist for Indy cars, plus he is a good project manager matched to having a solid machine tool shop and has access to all the specialized machine tool shops in area too. 

 

As mentioned, I am pretty good at this too, but there are plenty of gu-ru's out there that are better. 

Edited March 27, 2020 by John_Mereness (see edit history)

[zepher]

For sure, there are some very talented people out there and a lot of them are not in your brand new, shiny building with a string of brand new, shiny cars out front.

And if you are unsure of what you're doing, most definitely take it to a highly recommended shop and have them take care of you.

 

There is a tiny alignment shop near where I used to work that does amazing work on modern cars (from 50's on up) and is very honest.

Place has been there forever and the guys working there have been there forever.  It's a little hole in the wall that most people would drive right past.

 

As for doing pre-war cars, there are only a few truck/frame shops that can properly repair or align a car.

When I need an alignment there is only one shop about 30 miles away that can handle it.

It's an old Bear Alignment shop with guys working there that should be retired by now but are still going at it.

[60FlatTop]

In the 1960's, if a car did occupy that real estate, it was British or German, maybe a Frenchie once in a while. We are driving the foreign cars of today.

 

There are a lot of people out there who can fix a Chevy, Honda, Ford, or whatever the breed with an Alldata.com subscription, but you don't find many that can work through a basic knowledge of the mechanical principles.

 

Our local front end guy recently died. He used to drive the car before he put it on the rack and then test drive it when he was done. When did you see that last?

 

Since he died I have found you can spray two pieces of linoleum tile with silicone and make you own alignment machine.

Bernie

[edinmass]

15 hours ago, Grimy said:

On the other hand, Bernie and John, there's no front end shop in my area (at very least) which will allow a vintage car to occupy valuable real estate, unsteerable with the old parts removed, while the shop or the owner searches for ball studs, king pins or tie rod ends.

 

 

For many years we had a great shop up north, that were the go to guys to align anything, and they could handle a ten ton truck, or a Fiat Jolly. We could work with them also, which was a great benefit. They closed two years ago. Now down south, I have assembled all my own tools to do alignments in the shop myself............by careful searching of a combination of old and new modern tools, we can easily align all our cars. Our Model J- 357 has a steering damper on it for almost fifty years, and I spoke to all the guys who had serviced the car. They couldn't get it to stop the death wobble, so they lived with the band-aid. I tore into it and with some over the phone help got the alignment from out to lunch to almost perfect factory settings. It worked great, and we were able to remove the steering dampner, and the car behaved well. It was amazing how much better the car drove and felt after spending a few days chasing out all the little things, and getting the alignment correct. Lesson: The cars when new were really very good reliable drivers, it's lack of service, worn parts, and lack of knowledge, along with money issues that cause cars to behave poorly and make them disappointing to drive. 

[60FlatTop]

18 minutes ago, edinmass said:

Lesson: The cars when new were really very good reliable drivers, it's lack of service, worn parts, and lack of knowledge, along with money issues that cause cars to behave poorly and make them disappointing to drive.

 

Probably 20 years ago on TV I saw an interview with an older, leading physicist. They were walking on a path in a park. The interviewer asked the physicist what the leading edge in the field was today. The physicist laughed and said "You wouldn't believe how many times I am asked that question. And most people don't know how a butterfly's wings work."

 

I probably would have forgotten that if it hadn't applied to something almost every day since I heard him. Even in front end alignment the great concepts get waved around in a flurry, while many become bored and fall asleep with the details. To keep on topic, what to do? Take the camera off the car. Every editor knows that.

 

Bernie