Front End Shake

[craigshealey3000]

The shake begins around 55-60 mph, and is quite noticeable up through steering column. It has wire wheels and new Firestone tyres. What are the first and second steps to take in resolving it? Front end alignment? Have wires trued? Thanks for the tips. It is exciting to have it on the road!

 

[craigshealey3000]

The shake begins around 55-60 mph, it is quite noticeable up through steering column. It has wire wheels and new Firestone tyres. What is the first, second steps to take in resolving it? Front end alignment? have wires trued? thanks for the tips. It is exciting to have it on the road!

I found this about tire shaving, anyone had this done? I'm in Myrtle Beach SC and looking for a good British car repair shop:

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Hi, Craig -

Hendrix Wire Wheel in Greensboro NC - they're a well-respected resource. I had them true my wire wheels (MG T series), and shave and install new tires and tubes. Did a fantastic job, even labeling each assembly as to its location on the car! Check them out: > Hendrix Wire Wheel <

Mickey

 

[BobHaskell]

Agree with Mickey's suggestion of sending the wheels to Allen Hendrix. He can true the wheels, balance the wheels/tires and shave the tires. Another thing that causes the Healey scuttle shake is unbalanced brake drums. Something else that Allen can do.

 

[Keoke]

Agree with Mickey's suggestion-2-Keoke

 

[Jack T]

The shake begins around 55-60 mph, it is quite noticeable up through steering column. It has wire wheels and new Firestone tyres. What is the first, second steps to take in resolving it? Front end alignment? have wires trued? thanks for the tips. It is exciting to have it on the road!

Craig,

There are many areas to address before getting into tire shaving. That would be the last thing i would do after a thorough appraisal of your front end.

First, place a floor jack beneath the spring pans on each side and check for any play in the wheels. Any wear in the king pins, tie rod ends, or wheel bearings will result in shake at speed. Also check for wear in the splines of the hubs and wheels.

Second, check your alignment. Toe is the only adjustment available on a big Healey, and it's not difficult to do by yourself.

Third, check the balance of the wheels. You say you have new tires, but did the shop that installed them properly balance the wheels? The wire wheels on our cars must be properly mounted to the balancing equipment, and not every tire shop takes the extra time necessary.

Congratulations on getting your car on the road. It is a great driver when all is properly set up.

 

[HealeyRick]

It sounds counterintuitive, but your rear brake drums being out of balance is a very likely cause. Send them off to Allen Hendrix. Here's the story: > Hendrix Wire Wheel < Secondly, standard wheel balancing machines won't properly mount the hubs from a Healey for proper balancing. Moss sells a kit to properly mount them, but it's not cheap: > 386-305 Wire Wheel Balancing Tool Set | Moss Motors < Chasing down that shake can be a maddening process. After you've made sure everything is ok with your front suspension, I think I'd send your wheels and tires to Allen to determine if your wheels are true and have them balanced along with tire shaving. Brake drums balanced too. His prices are reasonable, shipping will be high, though. I had that 55 mph shake and now I don't. I did all the above with Allen as well as mounting new Michelin XAS tires on Dayton 72 spoke chrome rims. Then just to make extra sure, I reinforced the transmission tunnel per this article: > Scuttle Shake < I can't say for sure what cured it, since I did everything at the same time. My bet would be the brake drum and wheel balance. Expensive, but it was worth it to get rid of the shake. I've had the car over 100 and it's rock solid.

 

[tahoe healey]

Hendrix did my rear brake drums years ago. Helped, maybe. Last fall he mounted new tires and shaved them. He balanced the wheels with weights on both sides (I got used to the look). I have no shake all the way up to 90 mph. I've never experienced a smoother ride in 20 years of owning my BJ8.

Check out the price of shipping at Parcel Monkey (name does not exude confidence, I know). They are 50% of UPS and you just pay and print the label online. You take it to the UPS location of your choice. You track just as you would normally. You can get perfect shipping boxes (that hold two each) at any U-Haul store.

 

[bdcvg]

Mine went away with balancing of the rear drums. I had the same 55-60 mph scuttle shake.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Couple things:

- 'Scuttle Shake' isn't unique to Healeys; Mustang convertibles, at least the early ones, had it as well (my dad was a factory rep for Ford when the 'Stang first came out, and he said it was a common complaint from customers; our '65 convertible had it bad). Convertibles don't have the structural rigidity of coupes or sedans, and are usually heavier due to additional bolstering required in the chassis, which may or may not eliminate the shake.

- My BN2 had it, until I got a new set of (5) MCS wheels and Vredestein tires (no shaving required). Now, it's smooth up to 75MPH (I have no reason to go any faster in that car, and the crankshafts are known to fracture above 4,500RPM).

- Shaving tires will likely void the tires' warranties, if that matters to anybody.

Ok, three things.

 

[craigshealey3000]

Craig,

There are many areas to address before getting into tire shaving. That would be the last thing i would do after a thorough appraisal of your front end.

First, place a floor jack beneath the spring pans on each side and check for any play in the wheels. Any wear in the king pins, tie rod ends, or wheel bearings will result in shake at speed. Also check for wear in the splines of the hubs and wheels.

Second, check your alignment. Toe is the only adjustment available on a big Healey, and it's not difficult to do by yourself.

Third, check the balance of the wheels. You say you have new tires, but did the shop that installed them properly balance the wheels? The wire wheels on our cars must be properly mounted to the balancing equipment, and not every tire shop takes the extra time necessary.

Congratulations on getting your car on the road. It is a great driver when all is properly set up.

Great advice! I'll follow all the steps you have outlined, thank you!

 

[craigshealey3000]

Hi, Craig -

Hendrix Wire Wheel in Greensboro NC - they're a well-respected resource. I had them true my wire wheels (MG T series), and shave and install new tires and tubes. Did a fantastic job, even labeling each assembly as to its location on the car! Check them out: > Hendrix Wire Wheel <

Mickey

I spoke to Allen Hendrix, he is a hoot and extremely knowledgeable of course- he even knew the previous owner of my Healey in NC. I like your quote too, I peed on an electric fence more than once until I learned my lesson.

 

[craigshealey3000]

Agree with Mickey's suggestion of sending the wheels to Allen Hendrix. He can true the wheels, balance the wheels/tires and shave the tires. Another thing that causes the Healey scuttle shake is unbalanced brake drums. Something else that Allen can do.

I'm going to jack it up first and look for wiggle- King Pins and then may got to Hendrix, thanks!

 

[bob hughes]

My BJ7 had the dreaded shake and I was contemplating all sorts of balancing, in the end I had the chance to by some nearly new chrome wheels, I also forked out for new tires and new splined hubs all round. The old splines were really badly worn, The bottom line was that the shake had gone. The actual cause was never really found but the tires were installed onto the rims and balanced on one of those static balancers, absolutely brilliant.



Bob

 

[craigshealey3000]

My BJ7 had the dreaded shake and I was contemplating all sorts of balancing, in the end I had the chance to by some nearly new chrome wheels, I also forked out for new tires and new splined hubs all round. The old splines were really badly worn, The bottom line was that the shake had gone. The actual cause was never really found but the tires were installed onto the rims and balanced on one of those static balancers, absolutely brilliant.



Bob

Thank you Bob, I took both front wire wheels off, the splines look good. I cleaned and greased everything including the front suspension and tightened all bolts in the front end. Its better but still shakes around 60 mph and rattles my steering wheel hub and turn signal switch.
I may have it balanced and aligned, if that doesn't do it, I may have to spend the money on Chrome wires and new tires.

Oh yeah, now my overdrive also stopped working, checked throttle switch and filled the OD unit with about 1 quart of Castrol 20/50 with Zinc. When i took it for a test drive, it worked! But only for a minute and then it stopped again.
What is my next move?
Thanks!

 

[Legal Bill]

It's funny how all these problems create the same scuttle shake. This summer I am determined to eliminate mine. Here is what hasn't worked, yet:
New suspension front and rear.
New hubs and bearings and adjusted to 0 end float.
New brake drums, balanced.
New 72 spoke wheels and Vrederstein tires, balanced on a bubble balancer by Wire Wheel Restoration in Auburn, MA.

Coming up:
Balancing the drive shaft (tomorrow)
High speed balance the wheels at a shop with the correct mounting adaptors for wire wheels. (next week)
Front end alignment at a shop (I already did it with an alignment bar, but I'm sure the shop can get it better).

If these things don't do it, I'm shipping the wheels to Hendrix. I already used a dial indicator to see how far the new wheels are out of round. They are all within spec, but one is right at the limit, .050.

 

[BobHaskell]

Another solution from Bill Bolton

 

[craigshealey3000]

It's funny how all these problems create the same scuttle shake. This summer I am determined to eliminate mine. Here is what hasn't worked, yet:
New suspension front and rear.
New hubs and bearings and adjusted to 0 end float.
New brake drums, balanced.
New 72 spoke wheels and Vrederstein tires, balanced on a bubble balancer by Wire Wheel Restoration in Auburn, MA.

Coming up:
Balancing the drive shaft (tomorrow)
High speed balance the wheels at a shop with the correct mounting adaptors for wire wheels. (next week)
Front end alignment at a shop (I already did it with an alignment bar, but I'm sure the shop can get it better).

If these things don't do it, I'm shipping the wheels to Hendrix. I already used a dial indicator to see how far the new wheels are out of round. They are all within spec, but one is right at the limit, .050.

Yes, I've spoke to Allen Hendrix and that may be my solution if all else fails, $$$$. Sounds like you are much farther down the road with this issue than I am, but I'm taking it for wheel balancing and alignment next. Good luck.

 

[Legal Bill]

The drive shaft was fine. I'll reinstall it in the morning and see if I can find an alignment shop that know what they are doing.

 

[bob hughes]

Your overdrive problem may be caused by the solenoid operating erratically, as you have BJ8 it is going to be a bit awkward getting access on the BJ7 I can easily remove the gearbox tunnel. With the ignition on and the O/D switch on, can you hear clicking when you move the gear lever across the gate, that would be the solenoid coming into action. That is straight for the jugular, it could be that the gear switch has worn if it is intermittent, there are a number of checks you can carry out on the various switches that are in the circuit, have you got the workshop manual ?



Bob