extreme wheel shake

[kbartley]

I have a pretty old Altered 4-link wheelbase is 116". As soon as I come out of the water the front wheel's start moving right to left rapidly. What do you think is the problem. I had this problem before on a FED that I had & I layed the spindle's back a few more degree's & fixed it. I checked fo play in the steering box on the altered & it seem's to be ok. Anybody out there had this happen before? My spindle's don't appear to be bent. Torsion bar frontend. Thank's, Kris

[cepx111]

I think you might need to repost this in the Chassis and Suspension section, you might get better response there.
Goodluck, Charles

[cepx111]

My bad I spoke to soon, I see it there>
Cp

[hammertime]

I have a pretty old Altered 4-link wheelbase is 116". As soon as I come out of the water the front wheel's start moving right to left rapidly. What do you think is the problem. I had this problem before on a FED that I had & I layed the spindle's back a few more degree's & fixed it. I checked fo play in the steering box on the altered & it seem's to be ok. Anybody out there had this happen before? My spindle's don't appear to be bent. Torsion bar frontend. Thank's, Kris

Have you checked the "toe" on the front end to be sure the wheels arent fighting each other ?

[kbartley]

Yeah, I see this now. First time ever posting. I caught that after I went back, but you know I 've gotten no response in the chasis cat.. Well what I did I layed the axel back to 10degree's, now I have tow out. So I'LL adjust that make sure my center's are right & try it. I was wondering if a little toe-in maybe a 1/4" would hurt anything, if necessary. Thank's, Kris

[bjuice]

hey kbarlty i moved your post and replies from the engine tech to chassis and suspension...no problem...its all good..

i had the same problem with one of my past rides..i had too much front end travel which in turn caused me to have a Negative Camber as the wheels dropped excessivley....my front end would wiggle just like your describing..you would drive out of it after 60/80 ft once the weight shifted back to the front of car.. you just had to be really steady at the wheel and not over steer.

i am not sure how the adjustments are on alters..i have only owned one in my life..

My question for you is this ... does the front wheels only to this under accerlation ?...does it do that same thing by gradually getting into the throttle ?

Also two guys i highly recommend speaking with on this chassis thing is Ed Wilson and /or Bubster.

Brian

[suicidebomb]

I run 8 degrees caster,& 1/8 inch toe in, on mine, no drama. I don't know if that's coorect or not, but it works on mine.

[kbartley]

It doesn't matter if it is under power or being towed back to the pit's, it still does it. This altered has a straight axel & where the kingpin boss's are welded on is 40" wide. So how old is that, I wonder? Here is another potential problem??? I noticed. It appear's the fr. axel had been cut in 2 at one time or another, about 3" in from the pin boss's both side's were cut now & welded back on at different degree's. What is the deal w/ that I wonder? So I have 7 degree's difference in spindle angle. In other word's, if the left side is 10 degree's the right is 17 degree's. Has anyone heard of this before? I bought this car back in november last year. I think I am looking at possibly starting over w/ a new fr. axel assembly unless someone understand's this cenerio that I have going on now Thank's guy's, Kris ------------- once in awhile, leaving early mean's you're trying hard!!!

[kbartley]

bjuice, thank's for moving my post for me. As I said earlier I just started in the forum a couple of day's ago, so I'm still learning the rope's. Just in case you guy's are wondering I have 2 Altered's. A hardtail & a 4-link. The 4-link car is the one I am having fr. end problem's w/. Just wanted to clear that up in case you happen to notice my eng.tech post. Kris

[zipper06]

You can get some pretty good choices on axles at Speedway if you're going to put a new one in.

Zip.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/m/310_Street-Rod-Front-Axles-and-Spindles.html

[Bubstr]

If your talking 7 degrees caster on left side and 10 on the right you have a circle track straight axle. there should be a difference in camber also if that is the case. 1 degree Positive right and 1 degree negative left. If this is the case, this axle should have been on a sprint car.

[dparker]

I have a pretty old Altered 4-link wheelbase is 116". As soon as I come out of the water the front wheel's start moving right to left rapidly. What do you think is the problem. I had this problem before on a FED that I had & I layed the spindle's back a few more degree's & fixed it. I checked fo play in the steering box on the altered & it seem's to be ok. Anybody out there had this happen before? My spindle's don't appear to be bent. Torsion bar frontend. Thank's, Kris

Kbartley look at your steering rod and make sure it has a good idlers. If that steering rod starts jumping up and down it will definitely cause that shaking. Also check your king pins they may be alittle loose. Make sure the set screws are tight.
good luck and let us know if you find anything.

[kbartley]

Hey Bubstr, I was thinking that very same thing. The only way I can see to fix it is go back to the beginning. The axel has been cut before. I think it may have been too wide so they shortened and didn't align the pin boss's before they welded it. So I think I should cut into it to see if they at least put in a piece of pipe before they welded it back together. I can see were the axel was welded back together but I don't see any evidence of a plug weld anywhere. Either way, It's not safe either way, you know. Damn, I can't wait for my new car to be done. I tempted to put this problem car out to pasture.