Steering wheel shimmy; How to diagnose (1 Viewer)

[paulj]

I just got back from the Lone Star Roundup in Katemcy. Had a great time down there. My truck ran great on the 250 mile trip down. On the way back it started vibrating if I went much faster than 55 mph or so. I guess I bent something on Aggie Highway, the easy trail at Katemcy Rocks. So how do I figure out what it is? Nothing looks bent. It could be a bent rim, but the front tires hold air fine. I've been thinking about rotating the tires anyway, so I'll try that first. But how do you tell if the tie rod is bent slightly but looks O.K.? I guess I could replace it, but I don't want to go replacing parts if they're not broken. Truck is a stock '76. With brand new tie rod ends and bushings.

 

[lovetoski]

Shimmy in the steering wheel usually means a front-end issue. If the truck tracks straight, then the tie rod isn't a likely candidate. I'd check wheel balence. A weight might have popped off when you were driving on rough terrain. If you're not near a tire shop, an easy test would be to swap the front/rear wheels.

 

[treerootCO]

Jack the front tires off the ground and pull on the tire with both hands. Pull top to bottom and left to right. Look for anything loose.

I'll 2nd the wheel weight as well. I had a tiny amount of mud on one wheel and the virbration was downright scary.

 

[Magoo]

check steering knuckle.mine shimmied like crazy,re-shimmed the knuckle and blamo!! no more death wobble.

 

[CruisinGA]

I got a lot of highway shimmy from a loose wheel bearing.. tire chunking as well...

 

[paulj]

Thanks to all for the replies. I looked at the front tires after I got home from work last night and neither of them had weights on them. Don't know if they did before. I'm gonna take the truck to a tire place this weekend and have the tires rotated and balanced. As for tie rods, wheel bearings, etc.
I've basically got a totally rebuilt front end, including a front axle rebuild. I hope I didn't damage anything, but it's possible as I went over a couple of ledges at Katemcy pretty hard.