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I just picked up this 28 Ford Hi boy and man O man the front wheels shake at different speeds.Checked bearings Ok,Checked all moving parts they are like new,checked balance Ok.I have not a clue :whacked: Please give me a starting point Thanks Shaken But not Broken
I ran into this with my '27 after it had been on the street for a few years. I had to hit the brakes to get the shimmy to stop. Over time it kept getting worse.
I finally cured it by putting on new front tires. The old ones were starting to develop a slight cup (sort of a characteristic of I beam axles, I'm told). I also reset the toe in slightly less (to about 1/16 inch). and put a little more caster in it.
I run bias ply tires, and changing them made the majority of the difference.
I would get under there and check every component for wear, kingpins, tierod ends, etc. But give a serious look to the tires. If you can find someone who balances the entire rotating assembly on the car, this is another good way to go.
I also read in a magazine one time that some rods actually cure these handling ills with a slight toe-out.
Don
Real common for king pin wear, or not having the right shimming of the trust surfaces. Also, make sure your wheels are clamping to the drum face. You didn't say which kind you have. If the center hole indexing is too small they won't seat, or if it's too big there's a slight posibility the lugs bottom before full clamping (especially if the lug holes are "egged"). Real problem if you're running Kelsey or Kelsey style wheels on later drums, the wheel doesn't seat at the lug holes which causes the center to flex, eventually stress cracking the lug holes.
On rare occasions swapping tire/rims left to right helps.
A steering damper would be a bandaid, but check for wear, make sure you have at least 7 dg caster and check for a bent wheel. Well , not really bent, but one that has excessive runout. This will throw the balance out laterally and cause a shimmy. A ny more than a few thousandths (.050) or more is too much.