VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION New User Forum 33 chev shimmy

1933 chev master eagle; if I hit a small bump in the road the car will shimmy. I slow down or stop and the shimmy ceases. Is there some way to stop the problem ?

Chevrolet's 1935 Two Day Mechanical School indicates "Shimmy" may be caused by the following;
1. Low or unequal tire pressure.
2. Unbalanced wheels and tires.
3. Loose or worn wheel bearings.
4. Worn king pins or bushings.
5. Badly cupped tires.
6. Improper toe-in.
7. Too much or unequal caster.
8. Bent steering knuckle.
9. Bent or twisted axle.
10. Over-lubricated springs.
11. Engine improperly tuned or mountings out of adjustment.

I would tend to think after hitting a bump I would check numbers 3 & 4 first.
Other things to look at too much play in the steering gear or in any of the tie rod or drag link end joints. Weak or broken spring could also be a factor. Just find cause by a process of elimination.

Wecome to the VCCA Chat site; our club has all the information, help, etc. to help you keep the car on the road. Hope you will join our club & get our monthly Magazine, and tons of other benifits.

Several after-market companies made a shock absorber to reduce shimmy. The early straight axle cars were very prone to shimmy and the retro fit parts helped a good bit. These are basically a small tube type shock absorber that clamps on the the tie rod and is secured to the cross member or frame. From time to time these kits pop up on ebay. You can also find a similar OEM part on early VW's that can be modified to fit.
If the proper adjustments mentioned above don't fix the issue you may want to consider a kit.

If everything is to factory specifications there shouldn't be any "shimmy". Don't use the damper to hide the problem.

I had a similar problem with my '31. I found a tie rod end to be loose, and the steering box needed to adjusted a little.

Dan.

thanks for the help