front wheels wobbling

cadman2005 · Post by **cadman2005** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:25 pm

Its done, and it only took 10 years!
Well almost. I still have a few bugs to work out. I got my tags and insurance and have been test driving it.
What I have been finding is when I hit a rough section of the road the front tires start wobbling and continues, kinda scary
I noticed this when I bought the car 10 years ago and towed it home. I had to bungee the steering wheel to try to keep this to a min.
without the bungees It was impossible to tow. has anyone had this happened to them, and what is the solution thanks
Chuck

towd-dude · Post by **towd-dude** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:51 pm

There could be several things causing your problem. I'd try some other wheels first, only because I recently mounted two bent front rims and it's the easiest place to start. Then check the wheel bearings, followed by the link and king pins (if you have a this type of front beam), or ball joints if you have those. I doubt it could be out of balanced wheels because they tend to severely hop instead of wobbling.
That's what I would do.
Bob

Tom-Kathleen · Post by **Tom-Kathleen** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 4:48 pm

It could also be a bad steering dampner. Remove it and see if has resistance. Tom

cadman2005 · Post by **cadman2005** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 5:54 pm

I thought about the wheels too, but it did it with another set of wheels. Also everything seems tight in the ball joints

I was wondering about the steering damper too, with the car on a lift I can grab the front tire and very easily turn the front wheels

thank you both for the quick response I will try the dampner and change the front wheels

Lee-Hoffer · Post by **Lee-Hoffer** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 6:16 pm

Have you ever had the car aligned?

jlowery · Post by **jlowery** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:32 pm

Congrats on your build.

I had this problem a few years ago. New ball joints, tie rod ends and correct toe-in helped. You may want to add some caster shims on the beam.

Also check how your tow bar mounts. If it's too loose it can get the shakes.

Joe

Ed-Chenal · Post by **Ed-Chenal** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 3:55 am

Years ago, I had a 1950 Ford that did the same thing when I drove it over RxR tracks. I would have to come to a complete stop or the wheels would continue to wobble. It had bad king pins in the front suspension.

About fifteen years ago when I bought my Baja, the front wheels would go into a very serious wobble whenever I flat towed it and hit a dip or rough section of road. After checking all of the possible causes, I added caster shims to the front suspension and it solved the problem. Good luck.

dirtdad · Post by **dirtdad** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 5:45 pm

I had a bug that did the same thing, turned out to be the front tires were badly cupped and unevenly worn.
Had a Chevy Luv with same thing, was cured by balancing the tires with a machine that could do it with the tires on the car, not sure if that is available anymore.
My sons Jeep Cherokee did the same thing after we added a lift, that was cured by a wheel alignment.

cadman2005 · Post by **cadman2005** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 8:33 pm

I pulled the dampner and its shot. I can easily move the piston in and out. I am getting one tomorrow

I have this bad feeling this is not my only problem

Is it possible to replace the ball joints without removing everything from the car?

Lee-Hoffer · Post by **Lee-Hoffer** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 11:00 pm

"Is it possible to replace the ball joints without removing everything from the car?"

Yes, but you need a special press for pushing out the old ones and pressing in the new ones. With the tool, all you have to remove is the spindles. The torsion arms stay put. I borrowed the actual VW tool from a friend, but there are other similar tools out there. I'm just not sure how well they would work on the VW front end.

manxdavid · Post by **manxdavid** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 9:09 am

Lee Hoffer wrote:"Is it possible to replace the ball joints without removing everything from the car?"

Yes, but you need a special press for pushing out the old ones and pressing in the new ones. With the tool, all you have to remove is the spindles. The torsion arms stay put. I borrowed the actual VW tool from a friend, but there are other similar tools out there. I'm just not sure how well they would work on the VW front end.

The only work you save with the above method us actually just undoing the one locknut and grub screw that enables you to pull the arm off. If you haven't got a hydraulic press it may be easier to remove the arms completely and get a shop to press the new joints in.

Ed-Chenal · Post by **Ed-Chenal** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 12:41 pm

[b]cadman2005[/b] wrote:I pulled the dampner and its shot. I can easily move the piston in and out. I am getting one tomorrow
I have this bad feeling this is not my only problem
Is it possible to replace the ball joints without removing everything from the car?

Are the ball joints bad?

Lee-Hoffer · Post by **Lee-Hoffer** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 5:00 pm

"The only work you save with the above method us actually just undoing the one locknut and grub screw that enables you to pull the arm off."

Technically, there are four locknuts and four grub screws if you are doing all four arms. The arms can be a pain to get out sometimes, especially if they have been in there for a while. Then you must find a shop, take the arms to them, drop them off, wait for them to be done, come back later, pay, and reinstall the arms on the car. Then you hope the shop paid attention to the notches on the new ball joints and pressed them in correctly. The biggest problem is you risk damaging the needle bearings in the front beam every time you remove and install the arms (yeah, I know - people have done it a million times, but those little bearings aren't that easy to find anymore). Maybe I'm just lazy or stubborn, but I am much more comfortable doing this job myself.

"If you haven't got a hydraulic press it may be easier to remove the arms completely and get a shop to press the new joints in."

The tool I used is not hydraulic. It's a very simple tool, but its precision made the job very easy.

Or like Ed asked, do the ball joints even need to be replaced?

cadman2005 · Post by **cadman2005** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:51 pm

being a Chevy guy I am not going to say I know much about VW's so I am
not sure, I don't seem to get any movement when I try moving the wheels
up and down, but I do know all the boots are shot. So I guess the
answer would be yes. I got way burnt out trying to finish my buggy
by
the big bear run. I did finish that week but did not want to come and
possibly break down on the run. I have run the buggy a few times on the
streets , put it back up on stands, checked the tranny oil found it low.
I filled it to the side hole and now both axle seals are leaking badly
even though I replaced them a few years ago