67 A108 bad shake in the front end

I just got a 67 from a good friend of mine and I get a speed wobble around 45 to 55mph and the previous owner swapped tires and said it got better...well better doesnt mean it stopped so I was guessing something else is the problem. could anyone give me some advice on what to check and see if anything is in need of replacing?

You need to check for looseness,,,,,when you rock the steering wheel back and forth, how far does it go without the tires moving? ,,,,the Pitman arm is the lever that drops down out of the steering box  and connects to the Drag link  bar that connects to the drivers wheel,,,,it has 2 ball joints on it,,,,,then the center link connects the drivers wheel to the passenger wheel,,,it too has 2 ball joints on it, it also can turn to adjust the toe in alignment,,,,,,so those 4 ball joints are suspects,,,,,,,,jack up the axle,,,,,grab the tire, check for slop, see if it moves,,,,left or right, up or down, in or out,,,,,,,,see what get,,,,,,,then we talk about steering box adjustment, front end alignment and kingpin bushings

While parked in driveway there is no steering slop noticed, but will jack it up soon

Other than what Don wrote it could be the king pin (worn, I'd say less likely) or (more likely) rims not balanced or (most likely) uneven worn tires. Tires might also been damaged by long standing. Even on modern cars you'd notice a wobble, if the rims are not balanced correctly or tires are unevenly worn, e.g. by hard stopping with blocking tires.

I'd take the two tires and take them to a tire shop, they can easily check on them being properly balanced for small change.

or maybe try  the rear tires up front,,,,,,aint it just about time you 2 guys start running snow tires?

Well, almost all tires I get over here are mud&snow anyway (at least for the classic cars).

German TÜV (technical surveillance of cars) is pretty strong on details.... The A100 needs tires that can stand the load of the axles (speed is not an issue, but very unusual load ratings for 14inch tires) and my Charger needs to have tires that are approved for speeds of up to 150mph!! Just because it's top speed is 128mph (on paper....). Those tires are just not available in 14 inch... Hence the only option is to take mud&snow tires with a little warning inside that I must not go faster than 112mph....


For my Phaeton it's not an issue - plenty of mud&snow for winter that can go faster than 150mph....
Crazy.

Jacked the van up, no real play in the pitman or drag link or ends... But there is some play when I grab at 12 and 6 on the tire and I get maybe 1/8th of an inch of play... Found one major problem I think, the original Anson slots on it have zero wheel weights on them, should've seen that one first but didn't notice until I was laying down under the van

Get the tires balanced, That should do the trick!

Tired got balanced... 3 of em were not too bad but the front driver side was out by 6.5 on weight. Got the van out and shake still there... I dunno what to do

Are you sure it's in the front end and not the driveline? When you say you got an 1/8" @ 12 and 6, do you think the play is in the king pin or the wheel bearings? You may want to check that the wheel bearings are intact and that the nut isn't loose.

what about the bushings in all 4 springs,,,,,,do you feel the shake in the steering wheel or seat,,,,,,some alignment shops have roller motors that spin the tires on the van,,,,,,maybe try that,,,,,,have you checked the adjustment screw on the side of the gearbox?

I didn't see much play in the kingpins at all but the wheel bearings have just a little bit of play, the shimmy is only felt in the steering wheel and total front end. And wouldn't you know the shop who did the balance (after being reminded twice) still broke off a stud on one of the wheels so I'm going to have them change out the lefties for all right handlers and repack the bearings when they do that. I am not too familiar with the adjustment on the steering box and what it would do exactly, please elaborate on that one.

,,,,the Dodge guys can tell you all about it,,,,,,,,,,so you gonna have them put all right hand studs on both left wheels instead of just pounding in the one left hand stud that they broke?




,

Not so much the stud but also the lug nut for ansen slots

If you are changing the studs in the front hub , You should remove the hub ,
use a bench and support the hub so you don`t bend the hub, the knurl on the stud is 6.25

What about the alignment? Has that been checked? We're running out of possibilities. Were the tires rotated if possible? I've heard if you have a wheel that needs more weight than the rest it should be mounted on the rear if possible. I don't see how the steering box could be the culprit, esp if there is little to no slop in it.

have you looked at the drive shaft for a dent or a missing weight 'or bad u joints ??

No but I will check that option out, could be an older tire issue. I will keep you all posted

how long did the van sit, the tires very well could be shot from sitting to long.
see if you can swap some out with a friend long enough to make a test run

I'll give her a try, got a few vanners around central Illinois

how about take one end of the front shocks off and pump it up and down,,,,,it should not move easy or fast,,,,,

forgot to follow up on this one, front tire had about a gallon of water inside of it, possibly from sitting on a flat at the prior owners property and collecting rain water

I had an Issue this week doing about 70 Mph. hit some bumps on the last bump I had a bad vibration coming from right front and shaking the whole truck, It lasted maybe one second. I Never had this happen in the 15 years of driving it. Truck was fine after that. I looked over the tires shortly after and noticed a wheel weight was missing on the right front. I am thinking that was my problem, Any Thoughts ?  Gary, '68 pick-up

it could be a small contributor but what I have seen unless you have a big amount of weights or unbalanced of weight you wont see much shake but with my short time on earth nothing seems to suprise me anymore so you may balance issue with the tire or the tires have gone bad. and have the tire removed from the rim and remounted and balanced.. the rim may be bent too and cause an issue

Have you checked your castor? My gasser pickup used to do that until I leaned the king pins back more. By back I mean a slightly angled wedge on the axle to lean the top of the king pin back.