TR4/4A Front End Vibration

Hello,

As I continue to enjoy my TR4, I am always finding things to adjust or make better. So the current issue is some vibration in the front end. This only happens as I approach 60mph and disappears above 65mph. I have steel wheels, newer radial tires, and just had the tires balanced. Although there was some improvement after balancing the tires, I would really like to eliminate the vibration all together. So let me have it. What have folks experienced themselves? What are the areas I should look at next?

................Cheers, Alex

Switch tires front to back and side to side and see if the problem goes away.
Some time time back I had a non-LBC car that had the same problem and after spending a serious amount of time and money trying to resolve the issue in desperation I moved the tires from side to side (reversing the rotation) and the problem went away. Seems like the radial belts were shifting and causing the issue. From then on every time (every couple of years) the vibration reoccured I switched the tires from side to side and the problem would go away. The issue finally went away for good when those tires finally wore out and got a different brand of tire.

M.

Been going through much the same thing myself, on multiple cars. I'm chasing what I believe are several different problems, but with the same solution.

1) The hub and rotor are not perfectly balanced and/or do not run true. As a test, I tried mounting a spare spindle in the bench vice with the hub & rotor from the car on it, and spinning it with a drill motor. It shook so hard that things started falling off the bench!


2) When the tire shop balances a wheel, they always grip it with a cone in the center of the wheel. So the hole in the center has to be not only perfectly concentric with the seats for the lug nuts, but also perfectly flat to the wheel. Mine aren't any more. (I like my modified TR6 wheels so I don't want to buy new ones even though that would fix this problem.)

Used to be you could find places that could balance the tires on the car, which solves both of the above problems. (Of course, then you have to be careful to always mount the same wheel on the same corner, with the same orientation to the hub.) But I couldn't find one the last time I looked, so I bought an old strobe type on-car balancing machine for myself. Haven't found time to use it on the TR yet, but it worked a treat on the Buick Estate wagon. Only took 1/4 ounce on each wheel.

mcmillal said:

Hello,

As I continue to enjoy my TR4, I am always finding things to adjust or make better. So the current issue is some vibration in the front end. This only happens as I approach 60mph and disappears above 65mph. I have steel wheels, newer radial tires, and just had the tires balanced. Although there was some improvement after balancing the tires, I would really like to eliminate the vibration all together. So let me have it. What have folks experienced themselves? What are the areas I should look at next?

................Cheers, Alex

Click to expand...

Steel wheels notwithstanding, the best investment I ever made was getting my wire wheels micro-balanced by Hendricks Wire Wheels. Same symptoms as yours-- so I'd keep looking at the wheel balance. Jim

mcmillal said:

Hello,

As I continue to enjoy my TR4, I am always finding things to adjust or make better. So the current issue is some vibration in the front end. This only happens as I approach 60mph and disappears above 65mph. I have steel wheels, newer radial tires, and just had the tires balanced. Although there was some improvement after balancing the tires, I would really like to eliminate the vibration all together. So let me have it. What have folks experienced themselves? What are the areas I should look at next?

................Cheers, Alex

Click to expand...

I was or am in the same position.60 some vibratioin then gets smooth after 65.
I had my new sprint classics shaved and balanced by a shop that specializes in british / foreign cars with some improvement.All my wheels are within runout spec of 3/32which seems like a lot, around .075,and I went thru about ten to get the best four.
How round are your wheels?You can spin them jacked up and get an idea or indicate.
I have thought of a spare set of mags and tires for trips but I really like the hub caps and steel.
And of course all the regular stuff,wheel bearing adjustment , alignment, etc.
Good Luck
Tom

I had a wheel balance problem on the 3A just before going on my honeymoon a few years ago. (Alright, 45 years ago). I had a couple of new tyres fitted and balanced on my wire wheels. The car had a bad vibration afterwards and I did not have time to get it fixed before the wedding. However, it smoothed out a bit over 90 mph. That led to the best time over a distance of any car I have ever owned - 243 miles in 3 hours and 3 minutes including one stop for petrol. Must have wanted to get to the next motel....

The tyre problem was that they had not been fully seated on the wheel so the tyre had a "wobble". They had not used enough soap or air pressure. Got them properly put on again and the problem went away. Might be worth checking. You can see whether the distance between a line on the tyre and the rim is consistent.

To the many possible causes delineated above, I add that I recently replaced the bushings and trunnions on my 3A. My "passing thru 60" vibration nearly vanished. With bad bushings, all planes of alignment will vary with speed. How are your bushings? As Merlin notes, do not move radials from side to side unless you turn the tires around on the wheels so the tire thinks it is still spinning in the same direction. The people do not like shaving rubber off tires. It used to be common practice but I have not heard it promoted in a long time.
Bob

Alloy wheels are the only thing I found to fix this issue.

What Randall said!

My TR3 had a bad front end vibration between 45 and 65 mph. Tried everything *but* checking the steel wheels themselves for being bent. Nothing helped.

Then I check the wheels by spinning and seeing if they "wobbled" in and out. Turned out all four were bent, maybe from 50+ years of hitting curbs and chuckholes.

Replaced the wheels - and kept the same tires! - and the vibration evaporated.

Tom M.

Just today I checked run out on my front wheels for the same reason. 48 spoke wires, so I don't expect perfection. I found a slight wobble in the right front and moved the rt rear to the rt front. Marked improvement. Next is to rebalance to hopefully gain a little more improvement. Hope you get yours solved.