Lately my Trooper has developed a pronounced shimmy between 40 mph and 50 mph. Does it just need a front end alignment, or could this be caused by something more (or less?) serious?
Heck. I thought we were talking about Lola and her hootchie-cootchie dance.
I’d start with a front end alignment. That’s usually the problem with the shimmies. If that doesn’t cure the problem, you will need a deep checkbook. It might even be a tire that has thrown one of its balance weights, but do the alignment, anyway.
SteveF
I agree with Steve. Have the tires balanced and the front end aligned. If it still shimmies then plan on digging deep to fix the problem. Actually, if the front end alignment guy is worth his paycheck he should find the problem during alignment. Most cars with front end problems usually won’t hold a good alignment even while the tech is working on the car. Also a good tech will do a thorough inspection before he aligns the car…looking for bad ball joints, bad tie rods, loose sway bars etc.
Warren
Personally , I would check the tyre pressures before anything else .
Mike
Put over 100,000 on 2 troopers. The first was NEVER out of alignment. The second was ALWAYS out of alignment. Never did figure out what was with the second one.
- Check the air.
- Rotate the tires.
- Check the balance.
Now that you mention it; I’ve been ignoring the fact that my “Front End” shimmies a lot lately. I don’t know about alignment or any of that stuff, but it does seem that my pants keep sliding down regularily too.
Are these problems related ?
Fred Mills said:
Now that you mention it; I've been ignoring the fact that my "Front End" shimmies a lot lately. I don't know about alignment or any of that stuff, but it does seem that my pants keep sliding down regularily too.Are these problems related ?
I guess you’ll have to:
Check the bheer.
Check your balance.
Can’t do much about rotating that tire.
As for alignment, just stick to the straight and narrow (gauge).
Another shot at the past…did the young lad get his Shimmy fixed…mine is still with me, even after the advice from Christopher…
Loose shock mounts.
Loose wheel bearings.
Wheel balance.
Broken cord in your radial tyres.
Shimmy may be caused by alignment, but…
My 50 F-1 used to shimmy.
Have a friend with a 56 that did, too.
The fix was to RTFM.
Read the f…actory manual.
The toe was OUT, not IN on these.
Solved the problem.
Now, by shimmy you mean cowl shake or steering wheel shake, or what?
Bad parts can often cause shimmy so badly you have to stop the vehicle to get it to subside.
Jack it up one wheel at a time in the front, roll the tyres, look for a “bubble”, look for marks where the weight USED to be, check for tie rod ends by shaking left to right, check wheel bearings by shaking from top and bottom.
If that doesn’t work, call Stanley.
He has all the answers.
Sounds like you might have thrown a tire weight. I would start with the simplest to start. Could be the tires balanced, Could be the front end not aligned, though I had a shimy on my VW, checked all the above, turned out to be a bad steering damper.
veewees will do that.
That and loose link pins (adjustable).
Lord, we used to do a lot of that on old Bugs.
Check the damper, tighten (and lube) the link pins, tighten (and lube) the steering box.
FIRST make sure, whatever you do, take it to a REAL mechanic, NOT a #$%@ parts changer. It will require a bit more looking and probably cost you more per hour, but save you money, time and aggravation in the long run.
Hasn’t anybody noticed that Ray posted this question almost 2 years ago??? Just old Fred, bringing up the past again 
Ahhhh, young Jon…yes he sure did, and I was just looking back, and wondered if he ever sloved his problem. If he has been waiting around for suggestions; he sure got some great ones.
The past is full of great bits of stuff, and I never get tired of looking back for bits of knowledge, wisdom and good friends who we don’t have the priviledge of meeting any longer.
I do hope others can enjoy my nostalgia, and share with me the fun of looking back.
Always fun to take a look back
hopefully he got rid of the stupid thing.