Hi John
How old are your tyres? A friend of mine had good condition old tyres on his
2500 sedan and a shimmy at 50ish turned out his tyres were deforming at
speed causing the shimmy, this does not show up at the speeds at which
wheels are balanced! If your tyres are not in this category have your wheels
rebalanced then check all of the joints in the steering / suspension, adjust
the wheel bearings, then have the alignment checked, My dad had a Vanguard
and that was supposed to have toe out on the front and the tech kept setting
toe in!! If it is the ball in the socket then No the stem should not rotate
that freely after the sort of mileage you say if the 1000 miles was since
fitting (was it since fitting or since having the front end aligned?). if it
is the taper in the hole then yes it will turn untill it is tight, either
way, No it is PROBABLY not dangerous but if it is the ball that is loose it
will make things feel better if replaced.
Graham.
----- Original Message -----
From: John Cowan <jfcowan@pacbell.net>
To: <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2000 5:20 PM
Subject: TR-3A - Dangerous steering problem (was 53 MPH shimmy)
>
> A friend and I had my '60 TR-3A up on jacks last week so we could
> adjust the shocks and check the stiff steering. We heard a clicking sound
> as we moved the steering wheel back and forth. He then noticed that the
> nyloc nut securing the right inner tie rod end was loose and that the stem
> of the tie rod end was loose within its socket. At first he was unable to
> tighten the nut because the stem would just rotate inside the socket, but
> succeeded when I turned the steering wheel in a direction that put a
little
> friction on the stem and socket.
> Some questions:
> 1. Is the stem of the tie rod supposed to rotate within the socket?
> 2. Does the loose and rotating stem indicate that the tie rod end is
> trashed? (I think it does).
> 3. Things seem tight, now, but should I assume the tie rod end is unsafe
to
> drive with?
> 4. Could the nyloc nut have worked itself out? I was standing by when
the
> tie rods were initially installed this time last year and had the mechanic
> check each of the ends. We both agreed they were tight. The only other
> time anyone was near the tie rod ends was shortly thereafter when I had
the
> front end aligned. I suppose the tech could have unscrewed the nut, but I
> don't know why he would have. I had also asked him to check if everything
> was secure and he said it was, although I was not able to watch. I've put
> about 1000 miles on the car since then.
> 5. Does this sound like I got a bad tie rod end from TRF?
>
> Further note: Some time ago I posted a question about dealing with an
> annoying shimmy just above 50 MPH. I never fully solved the problem, but
> it had diminished to the point where I could ignore it - until we
tightened
> up the tie rod end last week. Now it's worse than ever. Interestingly,
> the shimmy began just after I had the front end aligned.
> Any insights or suggestions would be appreciated.
> Thanks.
> John Cowan
>
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