I took her out yesterday and noticed that at 39 mph no problems but at the instant I hit 40mph the front end started to shake very badly. It also seemed like the front end would fall off but it stopped very quickly once the speed dropped below 40. I was using my kid and his GPS as the speedo is broken. I have replaced the kingpins but not tie rod ends but that should not make a difference. Could wheel balance be a issue? Were they ever balanced to begin with?? Does not seem a driveline issue (new u joints, flywheel put on correctly) since in lower gears but high RPM no shakes. rusty
Rusty,
These cars were mostly geared low for putting down dirt farm roads and crowed city streets. My car provides the best ride between 30-35 mph. When I climb past 40 the motor starts to knock. Especially if she is very hot. The whole car shakes because my wood framing is pretty rotten. I pushed the car past 50 mph on a slight downhill and believe me the ride was very scary. I haven't pushed her since.
In your case I would suspect the wood wheels. It would be good if someone could ride next to you and determine if your wheels are wobbling. After all these are wood spoked wheels put together by hand. Whoever drilled the center hole on your redone wheels only had to be off dead center by a small amount to create a wobble at high speed. But then again these cars were not used on super highways so the wood wheels were more then adequate. Do you have wood dust around the point where the spokes pin into the rims ? If you do your rim is moving slightly in respect to the spokes. My car has this problem and needs the wheels redone. The Plymouth manual says to park the car in a shallow stream over night to swell the spokes. Pretty high tech !
Chet...
Thanks, I feel better. I thought these cars were mainly only below 40 mph. I bet 40 mph was a pretty good speed. Dirt roads were a main stay back then. I am surprised on how load the driveline noise is. It makes my 42 buick look really really advanced. rusty