Hi folks,
This is my first post here and I am a car novice.

I now own a 1977 C3. It was purchased by my dad new in 77. I have known it my whole life. It runs just fine.

However it has this low frequency resonance in the steering wheel when going over bumps sometimes where the steering wheel will jerk back and forth and the front end gets a quite a shake. It seems to have gotten worse. What i liken it to is if ypuve ever driven down a "washboarded" dirt road.

It use to mainly happen when hitting bumps on a turn at 30-40mph. Now i can predict it happening when assending a bumpy hill.

Once I slow significantly the jerking stops and I can continue driving.

A year ago, I took it to a trusted, local, general mechanic. They couldnt find anything wrong.

What is going on? Any ideas? Use small words because Im not very bright.

Thanks
-Grover

 

I also have a 77. And just to say, mine definitely does not do that! I have recently replaced absolutely everything under my 77 trying to find a shake I had in mine.
Finding a shake you swear is coming from up front only to eventually find it in the rear of the car is frustrating.
Best of luck. It's almost 50 years old and it could be so very many things. Try a different mechanic or several different mechanics if this is above your skill level.

 

what would be helpful is many pictures of suspension front and back in detail.. no one can flex ball joints online but maybe something shows obvious like bushings etc.. tires last balanced? how old are they?

 

can't quite understand what is going on?

binding antisway system
drag link

 

Look at the date codes on tires. If the tires are over 10 years old they are way overdue to be replaced.

 

I would be checking the steering box and steering columb to make sure nothing is loose. Sounds almost like the death wobble Ford and Dodge have issues with on their trucks.

 

Probably the easiest thing would be to take it to a shop which specializes ...or at least does a lot of suspension work. Get a 'free' estimate. Even if you need to pay for their expertise, it might be worth it. There could be multiple weak points. Items someone unfamiliar might overlook.

But if you want to check it out for yourself, start by checking the upper and lower ball joints. Then inspect the bushings. Grab each of the steering components and push/pull firmly... like you MEAN it! Checking for any looseness or wear. Esp with the idler arm and the control valve. The control valve on your car could be shot..(the stud). There are videos on Youtube how to check these things. Bear in mind they need to be for a conventional suspension/steering...not a strut front end. And C3 steering is not like other cars (at least the power steering).

The Steering box might be worn/loose, and the flexible coupler might be worn too. Steering boxes on C3 tend to go weak sooner than other cars. That doesn't mean they're bad ...but a quick rebuild along with repairing the rest of your car's front end, will restore it to factory tightness. There's a guy here who's the steering box rebuild guy. There's about a thousand "Front Steering/Shaking Problems" ...forum posts. If you do a search, you'll find a ton, and how other owners resolved their cars front end issues.

Like I say, if you can have a shop do a 'free' front suspension inspection, that might get you started a lot faster.