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308 Front end wobble

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by Jdubbya, Mar 1, 2005.

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  1. Jdubbya

    Jdubbya The $10 Trillion Man
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    #1 Jdubbya, Mar 1, 2005
    I need some advice. I had a slight wobble in the left front of my 78 308 GTS. I put in new shocks and springs (not to fix this problem) and when getting it aligned noticed some play on the drivers side bearings. I re-packed the bearings, they seemed to be in good shape and are only a few years old. The problem is that now the wobble is worse.

    It started getting noticeable at about 35 and went away at about 80 before. Now it is more intermittent but seems to be worse under acceleration when the front end comes up a little.

    To save some questions, yes I torqued the wheel bearings per the manual, the tires were recently balanced, and all the nuts and bolts up there seem to be nice and tight.

    Thanks in advance for the help!

    John
     
  2. Ken

    Ken F1 World Champ

    Oct 19, 2001
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    #2 Ken, Mar 1, 2005
    When my Lotus had the same symptoms I replaced all the tie rod ends; she now tracks straight.

    Ken
     
  3. Verell

    Verell F1 Veteran
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    May 5, 2001
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    #3 Verell, Mar 1, 2005
    tie rod ends first.
    If still wobbles, check/replace the steering rack mounting bushings. They're prone to taking a set & letting the rack move a bit.
     
  4. Spasso

    Spasso F1 World Champ

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    #4 Spasso, Mar 1, 2005
    There are bushings in the end of the rack that guide the tie rods that wear out also. Usually it is the passenger side bushing that goes first though.
     
  5. Jdubbya

    Jdubbya The $10 Trillion Man
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    #5 Jdubbya, Mar 1, 2005

    I've heard that as well. This seems to be pretty consistently coming from the drivers side though. I'll try the tie rod ends, that's pretty easy and relatively cheap.

    Thanks for the advice Guys!!!
     
  6. Spasso

    Spasso F1 World Champ

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    #6 Spasso, Mar 1, 2005
    The first thing they did to mine when I took it in for alignment at Group2 was put a guy on the streering wheel, rocking it back and forth lightly with another guy underneath looking for play.

    Saves time and expense of needless R&R of good parts.
     
  7. bwassam

    bwassam Formula Junior

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    #7 bwassam, Mar 1, 2005
    Get your wheels balanced too. A lot of times worn bushings can cause this sort of behavior. Replacing your front end bushings should completely tighten up your front end steering. This is in addition to tie rod ends. Be careful around the front springs. Undoing the wrong nut can really hurt.

    Bob Wassam
     
  8. Jdubbya

    Jdubbya The $10 Trillion Man
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    #8 Jdubbya, Mar 2, 2005

    I have new A-arm bushings but haven't gotten around to putting them in yet. I may tackle this job now that I've seen the other thread about swapping in the graphite ones. I just had the wheels balanced a few months ago but may try to find a place that will do "dynamic" balancing (with the wheels on the car).
     
  9. f355spider

    f355spider F1 World Champ
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    #9 f355spider, Mar 2, 2005
    True-line in Seattle does the on car balancing
     
  10. pma1010

    pma1010 F1 Rookie

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    #10 pma1010, Mar 2, 2005
    Not hard to check. Ease the outer tie rod end out of the steering arm. with steering on full lock, grab the inner tie rod and shake. If you feel it move (independently of the housing), the bushing has gone. When driving, you'll usually feel it under all conditions (unlike warped rotors which can produce a [similar] shake and you'll feel under braking).

    While the passenger side bushing is more notorious, my advice is to replace both and also check the wear in the pinion (sloppier over dead center/tightens at the ends of travel). It is easy to get the rack rebuilt only to find that the pinion gear is also worn.
    Philip
     
  11. scorpion

    scorpion Formula Junior

    Jan 19, 2004
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    #11 scorpion, Mar 2, 2005
    Strange as it may sound, sometimes a balance problem on the rear wheels will also show up as a shimmy around 50mph. Make sure all of your wheels are balanced - preferably on the car.
     

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