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Car Forum / Antique and Collectibles / Studebaker / September 2005Alignment question
I noticed something strange when I was driving my Cruiser this weekend. My wife and I were driving down I-65 and I noticed that the steering wheel wasn't straight, it was turned to the left. I thought maybe it was the way the road was banked, but it stayed with me all night. Then, Sunday morning I had 6 people in the car going to church and it was even worse. When I got home, I checked the pressure in the tires but everything was okay. This morning when driving to work (just me), it's perfect. So, what would cause the steering wheel to uncenter itself when there are passengers aboard? I've never noticed this before, but mostly it's just me in the car. The front end of the car has been rebuilt and the tires aren't wearing funny _______________________ Mark Anderson 65 Cruiser http://home.alltel.net/anderm Mark, Check the lower control arm bolts! I had a 64 Cruiser that liked to have them back off! Buy new bolts, GRADE 8 and LOCKNUTS! and use lock washers, a bit of over kill, but, that way, no one will get killed! Jim (I use locknuts on everything) Turner Jim (I use locknuts on everything) Turner Even on grounds??<G> Bob40 > Mark, > Check the lower control arm bolts! I had a 64 Cruiser that liked to have > them back off! Buy new bolts, GRADE 8 and LOCKNUTS! and use lock washers, > a bit of over kill, but, that way, no one will get killed! > > Jim (I use locknuts on everything) Turner Yeppers, even the grounds! BOSEG Jim (Dave Lester, take note) Turner Hey Jim,is a crossthread as good as a locknut? >8P > Yeppers, even the grounds! BOSEG > > Jim (Dave Lester, take note) Turner Note to self: Next time I see Turner, put lock washers on his nuts.  SignatureDave Lester www.davesplaceinc.com The Studebaker Hang Out Casbah of 'Sheba the Tramp, and Goliath the Hateful Truck > > Yeppers, even the grounds! BOSEG > > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > -- > Dave Lester You'll get more mileage/impact with the use of star washers! <G> JT Dave, My wife has locks on my nuts already! <G> Jim Turner I'm going to check those today--sounds a bit scary. Mark > Mark, > Check the lower control arm bolts! I had a 64 Cruiser that liked to have > them back off! Buy new bolts, GRADE 8 and LOCKNUTS! and use lock washers, > a bit of over kill, but, that way, no one will get killed! > > Jim (I use locknuts on everything) Turner > I'm going to check those today--sounds a bit scary. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > > > Jim (I use locknuts on everything) Turner There was actually a TSB on these, on early cars you're supposed to use special hardened, flat-ground washers under the nuts when you have those bolts loose. (later cars had those from the factory.) I found AN grade-8 flat washers at my local hardware place, I used those when I rebuilt the suspension on my '55 coupe. The two upper shaft bolts are known to work loose, as well. It's not a bad practice to check those as well, and I would recommend using a big flat washer under the nuts of those even though there wasn't one from the factory. There was also a TSB detailing the installation of a reinforcement plate because this area is prone to cracking on early cars. If you use Grade 8 hardware don't forget to uprate the torque spec, don't want reversing stresses on the fasteners (they "stretch" less than Grade 5.) nate > I'm going to check those today--sounds a bit scary. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > > > Jim (I use locknuts on everything) Turner There was actually a TSB on these, on early cars you're supposed to use special hardened, flat-ground washers under the nuts when you have those bolts loose. (later cars had those from the factory.) I found AN grade-8 flat washers at my local hardware place, I used those when I rebuilt the suspension on my '55 coupe. The two upper shaft bolts are known to work loose, as well. It's not a bad practice to check those as well, and I would recommend using a big flat washer under the nuts of those even though there wasn't one from the factory. There was also a TSB detailing the installation of a reinforcement plate because this area is prone to cracking on early cars. If you use Grade 8 hardware don't forget to uprate the torque spec, don't want reversing stresses on the fasteners (they "stretch" less than Grade 5.) nate > I'm going to check those today--sounds a bit scary. Last year I had driven my '64 Avanti to a wedding (hauled guests to the reception) about 40 miles away. Coming home at 10pm I heard a loud clunk in the front end and it felt funny. So, I limped the last four miles home, got a flash light, looked under and found that all four nuts and washers were gone on the left inner a-arm inner mounts. The a-arm was hanging loose about two inches below the frame. I agree- it is scary (and more common than you might think). Paul Johnson > > I'm going to check those today--sounds a bit scary. > > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > than you might think). > Paul Johnson The same exact thing happened on my old '63 Lark except that I was only a few hundred feet from home. It was easy to trace my malady on the front end shop as they had installed shims under the mounts. JT Problem arises from the fact that when many people work on these Stude front ends they do not replace the nuts with original Stude nuts. The original Stude nuts were lock nuts (of the side distort variety AFAIR). -- wf. > > I'm going to check those today--sounds a bit scary. > > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > than you might think). > Paul Johnson Signaturewf. Wayne Flowers Randee Greenwald randee@zianet.com Mark, Have you checked your rear springs? You could have one getting weak or even worse a cracked leaf. On a nice level parking lot; look at your car from the front and the rear, empty it should set level side to side, then load the rear seat with 3 passengers, it should still set level if all three in the back seat are approximately the same weight. If it leans one way that can cause a pull since it changes the loading on the front suspension. The passenger side rear leaf is normally the first to sag since it takes the thrust when the car accelerates. Brian R. Brian, I'll check again, but the car sits fine even when loaded (although 3 passengers in the back causes her to squat quite a bit). I checked the springs pretty thoroughly a few months ago and didn't notice anything amiss at that time. Mark > Mark, > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Brian R. |
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