TR2/3/3A Wobble

[frankfast]

After spending only $20 to straighten and balance both rims at a local tire shop, I didn't expect much. I remounted the worst of the two rims and took it out for a spin. Under 60mph the car ran better than before and between 60 and 70 there was only a slight vibration before it smoothed out again above 70. I'll mount the other rim and see if there is any difference. It's by far the cheapest improvement I've made on the car. I've always been a proponent of doing things locally.

 

[glcaines]

Don't always assume the wobble is caused by wheels. I had a 1962 TR3A with wire wheels that had a wobble starting at around 45 mph. I swapped wheels temporarily with a friends TR3B and the wobble didn't change. I put the wire wheels back on and that is when I noticed that the mounting points on the frame for the right front were cracked and the top plate on the frame in the area was also broken loose. I welded it all back up and had no more wobble. This area is a weak point on TR3 frames.

 

[TR3driver]

Other potential problems include brake rotors out of balance (I got a new pair some years ago that proved to be dramatically out of balance), and hubs out of balance.

You can also have hubs that don't run true. The worst offender I've found proved to have a burr turned up between the hub and inner bearing race (probably caused by nicking the hub with a punch while removing the old bearing race); but I've found others that were either machined wrong or warped as the casting aged.

 

[frankfast]

Understanding that there may be many reasons for a car to wobble, mine was the most obvious one - bent rim. The right rear and the spare have been straightened enough to make the problem almost disappear completely but I have found two wheels that aren't bent. I'll switch tires in an effort to completely solve the problem. I don't usually take the car above 60mph but it's nice knowing that I can. Funny how a bent rim will show up at a specific range of speed and then disappear when exceeded. The wobble disappeared above 70mph.

 

[TR3Alex]

Understanding that there may be many reasons for a car to wobble, mine was the most obvious one - bent rim. The right rear and the spare have been straightened enough to make the problem almost disappear completely but I have found two wheels that aren't bent. I'll switch tires in an effort to completely solve the problem. I don't usually take the car above 60mph but it's nice knowing that I can. Funny how a bent rim will show up at a specific range of speed and then disappear when exceeded. The wobble disappeared above 70mph.

Do you still have that wobble at 55-60? Mine has..... these were indeed slightly bent hubs, but didn't change teh wobble, got from steel rims to wire wheels, straigt as... almost perfect, didn't change the wobble, new shocks, front, changed rear, perfect shocks, but didn't change the wobble. Got a new driveshaft from gearbox to diff, no change, new springs at front, no change, new tyres, no change, now rebuilding the leaf spings again, seems to do something, it is certainly not the shuttle shake, but it's driving me crazy. Wheels are perfectly balanced, diff is 100% ok, driveshafts ok, hubs ok, smooth ride, except at that 55-60/65 mph... :-(

 

[NutmegCT]

Alex - do the test I outline in post #4.

Let us know what you find.
Tom M.

 

[TR3Alex]

Hi Tom,

sorry didn't noticed your reply... wheels are straight, they run certainly true. Thanks for your outline test.

It the mean time, I've also changed to new bolts and nuts for the rear shocks, somehow they were loose everytime I drove the car, that didn't help either. So the wobble reduces to a light wobble, noticable around the 60mph. Will run and test for uncoming summer and maybe have to balance the wheels again, because all the wobbles and bad front wheel alignment caused my tires to wear the wrong way. So maybe in the near future I'm able to solve this as well.

Thanks again for all your help!
Alexander

 

[sp53]

Did you change the idler arm on the steering ?
steve