I have a feeling there isnt a whole lot you can do about this, but is there any way to get rid of or reduce speed wobbles at 75+ mph?

 

Speed wobbles? Never heard it quite put that way before j/k

Could be a number of things, but you can start by having the tires balanced and checking the U-joints

 

just got new tires so they are balanced, but havent checked out the u-joints yet

 

Just what is a speed wobble?

 

I bet you also ride a bike...using that desciption. Are you talking about trouble keeping her straight at high speed?

 

It could be a bent rim, a bad tire (even though they are new), a bad balance job, a bad front end alignment or wear in the front suspension.

First, put the front tires on the back and the back tires on the front. Now take the car for a test spin. If the problem goes away then its either a bad tire, a bad rim or a bad balance job ---- with that bad wheel now on the rear.

If that didn't make things better, then take the car into a good shop for a front and rear wheel alignment. Tell them the p roblem you are having. If it's a front suspension problem (ball joints, tie rod, idler arm, bushings,etc) they will tell you, if not, the alignment will probably clear things up. If not, check/replace your universal joints

Let me know what the ultimate problem was.

good luck

 

Never ridden an old motorcycle, eh? Just what it sounds like--lateral oscillation of the front wheel at a given speed. Usually a high rate of speed. A real butt-puckerin' experience on a bike. Once it begins it usually grows worse if you slow down--you typically have to speed up to get it to stop.

I'd check into alignment & suspension: Bearings, bushings, ball joints, trailing arms, steering linkages, etc.
On a single-track vehicle (bike), it's usually a combination of incorrectly loaded or worn bearings, out of balance or out of true tires/wheels and misalignment.
Your new tires may have exacerbated a pre-existing problem.

 

well the front end has been pretty much completely rebuilt(new bushings and all that good stuff). I havent touched the u joints yet so they are probably about the same age as the car. I'm going to pickup some of those aluminum style rims next weekend so maybe it will ride a little different with those on there. I just recently had it aligned, but I wasnt really happy with the shop that did it. They kinda sounded like a bunch of knuckleheads that have probably never dealt with this kind of car before. Ill try what you said about the wheels and go from there.

 

Have a tire shop with GSP9700 check your wheels and tires.

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/technical/4127T/4127t.cfm

 

Nope. So it's a shimmy. check all that stuff, and look at the sway bar bushings/links and the idler. And, rarely, broken shocks.

 

jhuff-log on to the SoCal section of the forum and see if there's an alignment shop in your area that does Corvettes

 

An alignment done by people who don't know Corvettes can easily cause many handling problems.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I guess it was just the balancing because when I put a different set of wheels on it the problem seemed to go away for the most part

 

"...for the most part..." Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! You have just entered "The Twilight Zone", where you will now be unable to stop the never ending pursuit of unobtainable perfection!
Like Sisyphus doomed to forever pushing a giant boulder up the hill only to see it roll down again....Like Promethius chained to a rock with the eagle tearing out his guts every day for all eternity.....The black hole in your garage shall draw you ever closer to its event horizon--money, labor, time, your thoughts--your life!-- shall be inexorably propelled toward the abyss, the maelstrom, from which nothing escapes!

But wait--all is not lost yet---There is no cure, but there is help. It is not easy, but many among us have regained a semblance of sanity with the help of our peers and a strict adherance to the following creed...Good luck, my friend, and remember, we are all here for you in your times of need!

Twelve Steps....

1) We admitted we were powerless over performance--that our car had become unacceptable

2) Came to believe that more power could restore us to sanity

3) Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to our car as we understood it

4) Made a searching and fearless inventory of our car

5) Admitted to the Forum, to ourselves, and to every human being the exact nature of our cars defects

6) Were entirely ready to remove all these defects

7) Humbly asked the Forum for help to remove its shortcomings

8) Made a list of all parts we had harmed, and became willing to make repairs to them all

9) Made repairs to such parts wherever possible, except when to do so would injure our car

10) Continued to take inventory of our car and when required, promptly improved it

11) Sought through discussion and meditation to improve our conscious contact with our car as we understood it, praying only for knowledge of its will and the ability to carry that out

12) Having had a mechanical awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to motorheads, and to practice these principles in all our affairs


"One Day At A Time"



John

 

That was nice.

 

Since most of us don't have alignment racks or spin balancers in our garages, getting rid of those pesky 'speed wobbles' can be very frustrating in these days of over-charging, under-competent repair shops. I recently noticed a camber/caster/toe gage setup in Summit's catalog for about $170.00. I've blown at least that much on failed attempts at having lazy/greedy/incompetent shop mechanics 'align' my cars over the past five years or so. Add to that the minimum $15.00/tire balance charge that everybody seems to get nowadays and that $39.00 Harbor Fright bubble balancer is lookin' pretty attractive also. As long as you don't have to add or remove any trailing arm shims to a C3 Corvette the actual process of changing alignment settings is no more difficult than the same very simple procedure for any other '60's era GM car (or truck, for that matter). It's getting whichever shop you decide to have victimize you do more than the old "set the toe and let it go". And keeping in mind JPhil's ingenious post understand that your C3's speed wobbles could be attributable to a number of other phenomena including flexi-flyer frame, 30 year-old sacked-out springs, shocks breathing their last, worn balljoints, idler arm, pitman arm, tie rod ends, rag joint, steering box, etc.,etc. Correcting all these concerns should keep your calendar and your wallet fully occupied for a good long time....

 

Sounds like the "balancer" tech got lazy and counter-balanced one or more of your tires...

 

I actually work for Goodyear(tire plant) and I don't trust those guys to balance it properly. I"ve seen them try to sell someone new struts, brakes, rims....etc...only to find out in the end that it was the tires. I've got new tires there to have them ride worse than the old worn out ones and have them give me ridiculous excuses. As for alignments, good luck finding a shop that knows or cares.

 

Try and find a workshop that understands older suspension, and corvettes in particular.

I was plagued with ongoing rampant bump steer for quite a while after having alignment done on my vette. I was told by a couple of different places, that it was common for ball joint equipped 60's vehicles to exhibit issues, especially when they had undergone a conversion to right hand drive as mine had.

The poor handling at elevated speeds got to the stage where I didn't want to drive my vert, and I was considering selling it.

I decided to get both the front and rear suspension completely checked and overhauled if necessary.
I was steered to a workshop where the alignment tech was a guy in his 50's, who understood and knew all about early suspension systems.
I was expecting to be told I needed a complete overhaul.

After checking the vette, he came back and told me all the suspension bushes, shocks and components were in very good order.

The rear alignment was within spec, but there was an issue with front wheel toe.... I had 2 degrees of toe "out" rather than toe-in.

He corrected the alignment issue at minimal cost, and also suggested a new set of tyres might improve matters... the shoulders of my front tyres were quite worn due to a bit of track work on under inflated tyres, and the rears were getting a bit low on rubber.
A new set of TA's went on the following day.

The transformation was incredible.

The vette now tracks true and my confidence is restored.
My passion for the ol' girl has returned.

Find a good workshop, and when you do, spread the word.

cheers

 

You think you have problems, try getting work done in a Banana republic