[DeTomaso] Steering wheel shimmy

jderyke at aol.com jderyke at aol.com
Wed Apr 19 16:10:23 EDT 2017


 The small amount of caster possible (-2.5 degrees negative) in a Pantera with an all-stock front end can induce shimmy or road wander. If this is what's causing the nervousness, its a function of tire inflation pressure, width & rubber compliance, road surface and maybe a little wear in ball joints and the rack bushing. With around -4 degrees negative, nervousness disappears on most cars with big tires. Some may call this a 'mask', not a fix, but it often cures the problem. You can easily check the whole assembly for 'true' by jacking up one wheel and slowly spinning it with a dial indicator barely touching the sidewall, or the edge of the tread if its not serrated. Good luck, Tom- J Deryke


-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Baranek Garage <tbaranek at earthlink.net>
To: detomaso <detomaso at server.detomasolist.com>
Sent: Wed, Apr 19, 2017 11:54 am
Subject: [DeTomaso] Steering wheel shimmy


On my 1973 Pantera, I replaced the steering rack washer (with the brass one) YEARS ago.
The tires/wheels do not feel out of balance and the shimmy in the steering is more pronounced (when it is there) when I turn the wheel/change lanes. Sometimes going straight at highway speeds (and above) the steering wheel is often rock solid/smooth.
I have Pantera East 17" Campy replicas and am sure they are true, etc...but I will have them checked. Since the vibration goes away completely (sometimes), I'm thinking it is in the bushings or something like that???
Any known/obvious things I should check?
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-------------- next part --------------
    The small amount of caster possible (-2.5 degrees negative) in a
   Pantera with an all-stock front end can induce shimmy or road wander.
   If this is what's causing the nervousness, its a function of tire
   inflation pressure, width & rubber compliance, road surface and maybe a
   little wear in ball joints and the rack bushing. With around -4 degrees
   negative, nervousness disappears on most cars with big tires. Some may
   call this a 'mask', not a fix, but it often cures the problem. You can
   easily check the whole assembly for 'true' by jacking up one wheel and
   slowly spinning it with a dial indicator barely touching the sidewall,
   or the edge of the tread if its not serrated. Good luck, Tom- J Deryke
   -----Original Message-----
   From: Tom Baranek Garage <tbaranek at earthlink.net>
   To: detomaso <detomaso at server.detomasolist.com>
   Sent: Wed, Apr 19, 2017 11:54 am
   Subject: [DeTomaso] Steering wheel shimmy
   On my 1973 Pantera, I replaced the steering rack washer (with the brass
   one) YEARS ago.
   The tires/wheels do not feel out of balance and the shimmy in the
   steering is more pronounced (when it is there) when I turn the
   wheel/change lanes. Sometimes going straight at highway speeds (and
   above) the steering wheel is often rock solid/smooth.
   I have Pantera East 17" Campy replicas and am sure they are true,
   etc...but I will have them checked. Since the vibration goes away
   completely (sometimes), I'm thinking it is in the bushings or something
   like that???
   Any known/obvious things I should check?
   _______________________________________________
   Detomaso Email List is not managed by POCA
   Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes
   DeTomaso mailing list
   [1]DeTomaso at server.detomasolist.com
   [2]http://server.detomasolist.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
   To manage your subscription (change email address, unsubscribe, etc.)
   use the links above.
   Members who post to this list grant license to the list to forward any
   message posted here to all past, current, or future members of the
   list. They also grant the list owner permission to maintain an archive
   or approve the archiving of list messages.

References

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