Wobble in the suspension

[Jim53066]

I'm betting on the bent axle after seeing how much you have already done. I had a buick from the 70's that my wife slid very lightly into a curb while driving on ice. I could feel the shimmy or wobble in the seat of my pants driving it, but it was hard to find. Changed out the axle shaft and it was gone.

Jim

[cg285]

Originally Posted by vin63

I'll be sure not to use the shop you go to for alignment. When a customer comes in complaining about a wobble, darting, wandering, pulling right or left, etc., we take it for a drive with the customer to identify the issue. We put it on the rack and do a complete inspection as part of the alignment process. Then do a test drive after to make sure the issue is resolved. Just doing a static alignment without experiencing or addressing the customer's issue does little to fix any problems and is bad customer service.

the comment was addressing the fact that an alignment itself will not show a bent axle.
i wasn't trying to step on your great customer service toes.

[donthekawguy]

I drove it to work last night. I found a smooth road and felt the shimmy/wobble around 40 mph. It doesn't seem as bad now as it was but still noticeable but not bad. My hood hinges are bad so I closed the hood all the way for the drive home and the hood didn't shake as much. I think watching the hood bounce around made it seem worse than it actually is. lol I'm still going to swap out axles and wheels/tires so maybe that will make it all better. If that doesn't fix it I can live with it and keep dooing the upgrades I have left to do.

[luvbowties]

Sorry, did not read complete thread, but are you still using the same torque convertor that was in it when you bought the truck? Easy to rule out by sliding tranny back a tad and unbolting flywheel from t-convertor. Then start engine and speed it up to the rpm-range where wobble occurs. We recently found an unbalanced "new" t-convertor that came with a "newly" rebuilt trans.--when we reached wobble-rpm, there was no more wobble. Seller agreed, made it good, and eliminated all the "wobble".

Just another guess.
Sam

[donthekawguy]

It still has the same TC from when I got it. Another thing to check. Thanks!

[donthekawguy]

Well I swapped out the axles and axle bearings today and put on my junk yard rollers. Now the truck shakes like an epileptic. lol I'm guessing the rear tires were a little out of balance and the rollers are a lot out of balance. I'm going to leave it for now. My new rear wheels are on their way so I can deal with the shaking for a couple of weeks.

[1966shortwide]

If the tires are radials and are old junker's chances are those have broken belt's in them seen a lot of radials like that as i worked for goodyear and firestone's store's and seen a lot in the ford dealership also . Get the good tire's on and post back what it does then.

[apocalypse]

I'm interested in seeing what this ends up being. It's giving me some ideas to look for in my 66 Suburban, that's having vibration in the rearend at certain speeds. I think all my problems are either in the driveshaft or rearend. I'll be putting it up on jack stands today.

Hopefully you'll get it figured out. I know it's a major pain trying to locate the problem!

[donthekawguy]

I got the wheels and dropped them off at the powder coater today. I will have them back Friday and hope to have the new tires on by Monday of next week. Fingers crossed that's the problem.