shimmy

[kurt hoelter]

gentlemen, am having constant problems with a side to side shimmy/wobble in my 60 open. it was there with the normal and continues with the sc. the wheels have been balanced with a proper plate, rotated, swapped with another car, etc. same for rims. the shimmy begins at 41 mph and goes away at 50. it is entirely speed dependent and exists with the clutch in or out. rpm's are no factor. the shimmy is a seat of the pants thing and visible as a sideways motion of the windshield posts and or mirror. am ready to pull axles to look for a bent one. any advice or ideas before i do? regards and thanks, kurt

[JOEL JENSEN]

Check your wheel bearings, king and link pins, tie rod ends and steering shock. Has the car been aligned ?

[Mike Baskette]

Perhaps the steering stablizer shock? The shimmy you refer to is what would happen to VW's when the shock goes bad.

[Bud Osbourne]

Well, not quite. VW and Porsche put the steering dampers on to absorb
some of the......are you ready for this.......shocks that would
otherwise be transmitted through to the steering wheel when you hit a
bad bump or pothole the wrong way. They were most assuredly NOT put on
there to correct a "shimmy-ing" problem, which is typically caused by
excessive wear/lack of correct adjustment in the wheel bearings/link
pins/rod ends, or, perhaps a bent wheel, incorrect camber or toe-in
settings, or.....
If you are getting a "shimmy"; putting a new steering damper on may help
(depending on how weak the one on there is), but, it's like putting a
Band-Aid to cure a cold.
Bottom line is: you need to, carefully & thoroughly, check out your
suspension, wheels, tires and steering systems, if you are serious about
curing that shimmy.
Bud Osbourne
356Burgh

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Baskette [mailto:mikebaskette@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Friday, September 19, 2008 4:07 PM
To: 356talk@356registry.com
Subject: [356Talk] shimmy

Perhaps the steering stablizer shock? The shimmy you refer to is what
would happen to VW's when the shock goes bad.

------------------------
Mike Baskette
1963 S Coupe

Post generated using Mail2Forum via email.

[Steve Proctor]

New problem, old problem always problem? Does the car have 5.5" wheels?

STP

[John Brooks]

Take a good look at the rubber impregnated cloth coupling between the steering wheel shafts.. it is above the steering gearbox accessible through the access plate in the trunk. you might also check the adjustment on to of the steering gearbox. The speed is a harmonic of a tire /wheel, how it couples into the steering wheel is a function of steering damper, king pins, tie rod ends. Also try rotating the wheels front to rear,