Vintage Car Thread - Discussion and Parts Requests

[Stanley Doble]

In the 1920s Chrysler had quite a vogue in England and in Europe. They won their class in the Mille Miglia and finished in the money in the Le Mans and Spa 24 hour races. They had the first high compression engine, they pioneered 4 wheel hydraulic brakes and had quite a good chassis design.

 

[Big Man]

I have a good little helper that makes sure the old '48 Plymouth always looks sharp.

 

[Stearmen]

Just be carful there Big Man! I remember when one of my friends was washing his wife's 70 Cougar, His son decided to help and picked up a rag that was covered with dry concrete, luckily my friend spotted him before he made it to the car!

 

[Big Man]

Just be carful there Big Man! I remember when one of my friends was washing his wife's 70 Cougar, His son decided to help and picked up a rag that was covered with dry concrete, luckily my friend spotted him before he made it to the car!

I watch him like a hawk. When my daughter (the mother of my little grandson) was three or four years old, she decided to paint our relatively new '86 Pontiac. My wife caught her, but not before she had painted a two foot swath on the right front finder. We wiped it off as best we could, but that finder remained discolored for as long as we had that car.

 

[Big Man]

Something new has started with my '48 Plymouth. When starting out, the car wobbles like one of the tires are out of round. After just a short distance and after up to speed, the wobble disappears. Once the car has warmed up, no more wobble even at low speeds. There is no shimmy or vibration felt in the steering wheel. The tires are properly inflated and show no signs of wear. I'm not really sure the problem is in the tires, but that's just the best way to describe it. Any ideas?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm actually having the same problem myself. With me, the wobble hits in 3rd gear at about 25-30mph. Sometimes it smooths out, sometimes it doesn't, as I get up to 35-40mph. I've tried releasing the clutch while the wobble is going on, but it's still there -- it's not particularly pronounced in the steering wheel, and there doesn't seem to be any wandering in the front end, but I can feel the wobble thru the floor and seat.

I thought I might have lost a wheel weight somewhere along the line, but they all seem to be there.

It's been suggested that the driveshaft might be out of balance, which is something I plan to have checked at the garage this coming week.

It does seem to be more pronounced when the car is cold, but that's not entirely consistent. My heat riser is stuck in the open position, but I don't think that could have anything to do with it.

 

[GHT]

Big Man, Jack up the front of the car, go to the wheel, grip it top and bottom. Now try pulling the top out and pushing the bottom in. Then pull the bottom out and push the top in. If it actually does as I have described, you could have worn king pins. From the earliest of cars, the wheels are set to either toe-in or toe-out, if you are not sure what this means check it out on Google or Wiki. It sounds like your wheels are not lining up immediately, as in toe-in or toe-out. (you may use a different terminology in the US.) But if that is the case then your king pins will almost certainly be the culprit.
It might be worth getting your king pins checked Lizzie. I hope it's not the problem because it's an expensive fix if it is.

 

[Trenchfriend]

@Big Man & @LizzieMaine

Maybe one of the wheel's axle-bearings?

I know this from my Kia Rio II (Rio 5). Their axle-bearings from production-plant were partly deficient and on my left wheel, around 13.000 km, the axle-bearing begun to be unbalanced. It was heavier on 80 km/h.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yeah, that's another thing I'm having checked. I had them replaced about 9000 miles ago, but who knows what kind of quality the parts are now. I had the kingpins replaced two years ago, so I doubt it's that.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Then I guess, the driveshafts.

 

[Big Man]

Thanks for all the ideas. What has me puzzled is the wobble starts when I first drive the car, but will only last for a couple hundred yards. After that, no wobble. And, after I've driven it a while, then stop for a time (like to eat at a restaurant), get back in and start out again, no wobble. It appears just when I start out driving after the car has set overnight or for several hours.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Hm, maybe any lubrication-point.

Dampers and engine-suspension (!) ok??

 

[Big Man]

Hm, maybe any lubrication-point.

Dampers and engine-suspension (!) ok??

Just put new transmission and motor mounts in a couple months ago (old ones were completely shot). Don't think that could be the problem. If it didn't wobble with the old ones I can't imagine it would with the new ones, even if something had gone wrong with the new ones.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I had my motor mounts done last year, and the thought occured that maybe they hadn't been tightened properly. Some say the mounts available now aren't as resilient as the factory designed ones were, and I'm wondering if that might also be a factor.

 

[Trenchfriend]

I had my motor mounts done last year, and the thought occured that maybe they hadn't been tightened properly. Some say the mounts available now aren't as resilient as the factory designed ones were, and I'm wondering if that might also be a factor.

Again, I think of the driveshafts. Could be the explanation for that the problem is still there, on clutching out.

 

[2jakes]

Something new has started with my '48 Plymouth. When starting out, the car wobbles like one of the tires are out of round. After just a short distance and after up to speed, the wobble disappears. Once the car has warmed up, no more wobble even at low speeds. There is no shimmy or vibration felt in the steering wheel. The tires are properly inflated and show no signs of wear. I'm not really sure the problem is in the tires, but that's just the best way to describe it. Any ideas?

My ’46 truck will do that if I haven’t driven it on a daily basis which creates a flat spot on the tires.
As the tires warm up the wobble goes away.

Another time, water got in the spark plug holes when the water hose was turned on
the engine bay making for a not so smooth ride.

 

[Big Man]

I just got back from doing a little "experimenting" with the wobble issue on my '48 Plymouth. I discovered I was wrong about it stopping once the car had sufficiently warmed up and had been driven for several miles. Previously, the wobble problem was noticed when I started the car and pulled out of the driveway. What I learned today was that when I first pull out and begin going through the gears, I am moving rather slow (the way the drive enters into the highway plays a part in this). However, after any other stop, when starting out I tend to go through the gears much faster and build speed much quicker.

So, what I did was to pick a nice long and secluded straightaway and do some experimenting. All this was after the car had been driven several miles and the motor, tires, etc. were sufficiently warmed up. I discovered, when just barely creeping along in first gear the car had a distinct wobble (real distinct). There is no "shimmy" in the steering wheel, however. With tut the clutch in and still just barely moving, the wobble is still there but not quite as bad as under power. As the speed increases and as I move up through the gears the wobble disappears (or at least is not noticeable any more).

I repeated this process several times with the same results. The slower the speed (like down to almost a crawl), the more the wobble. The faster the speed, the less the wobble until it is gone.

From this experiment, I would think that should discount a "flat spot" on the tires. The motor/transmission mounts have been mentioned, but I would think that if these were bad it would show not only when moving but when stopped and the motor revved. The driveshaft issue might be a problem, but I would think the faster it was moving the greater the vibration would be (I could be wrong about that). The kingpin issue is something I don't have a clue about, and don't have the resources to check myself.

Given all this, any further ideas?

 

[2jakes]

I just got back from doing a little "experimenting" with the wobble issue on my '48 Plymouth. I discovered I was wrong about it stopping once the car had sufficiently warmed up and had been driven for several miles. Previously, the wobble problem was noticed when I started the car and pulled out of the driveway. What I learned today was that when I first pull out and begin going through the gears, I am moving rather slow (the way the drive enters into the highway plays a part in this). However, after any other stop, when starting out I tend to go through the gears much faster and build speed much quicker.

So, what I did was to pick a nice long and secluded straightaway and do some experimenting. All this was after the car had been driven several miles and the motor, tires, etc. were sufficiently warmed up. I discovered, when just barely creeping along in first gear the car had a distinct wobble (real distinct). There is no "shimmy" in the steering wheel, however. With tut the clutch in and still just barely moving, the wobble is still there but not quite as bad as under power. As the speed increases and as I move up through the gears the wobble disappears (or at least is not noticeable any more).

I repeated this process several times with the same results. The slower the speed (like down to almost a crawl), the more the wobble. The faster the speed, the less the wobble until it is gone.

From this experiment, I would think that should discount a "flat spot" on the tires. The motor/transmission mounts have been mentioned, but I would think that if these were bad it would show not only when moving but when stopped and the motor revved. The driveshaft issue might be a problem, but I would think the faster it was moving the greater the vibration would be (I could be wrong about that). The kingpin issue is something I don't have a clue about, and don't have the resources to check myself.

Given all this, any further ideas?

What would cause a low speed wobble in a car? | Yahoo ...

 

[Big Man]

What would cause a low speed wobble in a car? | Yahoo ...

That makes sense.

 

[kaiser]

I have had the tire problem on modern vehicles a couple of times. In both cases the wobble showed up at low speed, but disappeared as I increased speed. Also in both cases there was a delamination of the tread to the carcus of the tire, that in both cases was visable in the form of distortion of the tread. Replaced the tire, wobble was gone.