violent shaking of cruiser--why?

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So here's what I've done so far:
1. visually and manually (using hand to see if there's movement in anything or bolts holding things on) checked u joints, bushings, damper, steering linkage, leaf springs. Nothing except the tie rod link was loose to the touch and none of these has been worked with since I've owned it. The tie rod link (that's what I'm calling the link between the steering arm and the tie rod; see pic below) was very loose. It rotated maybe 1/2+ of a inch. I haven't tried tightening the castle bolt to see if it actually cinches down. I have my doubts but I'll check.
2. checked for wheel bearings being bad. It was just the wiggle test. The wheels had no vertical movement and only a small horizontal (3 and 9 o'oclock). The whole inner hub tended to move with the wheel but as I say, it was only a very small amount (maybe 1/8+ of an inch).

Have yet to check on:
1. tire balance
2. wheel alignment
3. exact angles of drive shafts but rig hasn't had a lift or transmission switch so not sure why that would matter.

Tomorrow, I'll take it to my mechanic who isn't familiar with these rigs, but I'll share with him what you guys have told me. I'm including various pics of the steering links and such below, so if anyone sees something I haven't because I'm a uneducated observer (some of the terms you guys use are like a foreign language to me :), please hollar. Thanks to all.

This first couple pics are of the steering link that has a lot of play (the 1/2+ inch)

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Paraglider said:
So here's what I've done so far:
1. visually and manually (using hand to see if there's movement in anything or bolts holding things on) checked u joints, bushings, damper, steering linkage, leaf springs. Nothing except the tie rod link was loose to the touch and none of these has been worked with since I've owned it. The tie rod link (that's what I'm calling the link between the steering arm and the tie rod; see pic below) was very loose. It rotated maybe 1/2+ of a inch. I haven't tried tightening the castle bolt to see if it actually cinches down. I have my doubts but I'll check.
2. checked for wheel bearings being bad. It was just the wiggle test. The wheels had no vertical movement and only a small horizontal (3 and 9 o'oclock). The whole inner hub tended to move with the wheel but as I say, it was only a very small amount (maybe 1/8+ of an inch).

Have yet to check on:
1. tire balance
2. wheel alignment
3. exact angles of drive shafts but rig hasn't had a lift or transmission switch so not sure why that would matter.

Tomorrow, I'll take it to my mechanic who isn't familiar with these rigs, but I'll share with him what you guys have told me. I'm including various pics of the steering links and such below, so if anyone sees something I haven't because I'm a uneducated observer (some of the terms you guys use are like a foreign language to me :), please hollar. Thanks to all.

This first picture is of the steering link that has a lot of play (the 1/2+ inch)

same thing but different angle of the first photo

This is the other end of that link toward the front of the rig
Click to expand...

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Sorry but this site is not letting me post pics and messing things up in a big way. Spent the last hour trying to do what I want to do (and I do know how to use the site) but something's going on with it. I'll post pics when it'll let me.
 
I had death wobble on my 77 FJ-40. Checked everything.

It was my bent steel wheels...keeping my tires out of balance.

It happened around 35 MPH if I hit a bump.

Had bushings replaced, everything in the front end freshened-up and re-torqued. First drive...35 MPH, hit a railroad crossing...death wobble.

Replaced wheels, not tires. Death wobble gone for good.
 
G-Cat said:
I had death wobble on my 77 FJ-40. Checked everything.

It was my bent steel wheels...keeping my tires out of balance.

It happened around 35 MPH if I hit a bump.

Had bushings replaced, everything in the front end freshened-up and re-torqued. First drive...35 MPH, hit a railroad crossing...death wobble.

Replaced wheels, not tires. Death wobble gone for good.
Click to expand...
You had it twice? How did you figure it was the rims?
 
cant tell what it is but one of your pics shows a missing castle nut and cotter pin at a link end...

in addition to trying to move things by hand you can lift front end off the ground and watch as someone turns the wheel back and forth. As things reverse direction you can see if there is movement at each connection point.
 
erics said:
cant tell what it is but one of your pics shows a missing castle nut and cotter pin at a link end...

in addition to trying to move things by hand you can lift front end off the ground and watch as someone turns the wheel back and forth. As things reverse direction you can see if there is movement at each connection point.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I should have put those back on before I took the pic. They're on now. thanks for mentioning it. What am I looking for if I lift it and have someone turn the steering wheel--just looseness at any of the joints?
 
Paraglider said:
Sorry, I should have put those back on before I took the pic. They're on now. thanks for mentioning it. What am I looking for if I lift it and have someone turn the steering wheel--just looseness at any of the joints?
Click to expand...

yes, when things reverse direction you can see play at the ends if there is any
 
Sorry if my post was confusing:

Had death wobble. Addressed total front-end refresh. Did not fix.

Replaced wheels, not tires.

Fixed.
 
It's a process of elimination. Start with the easiest and cheapest. When you get your tires balanced be sure the tech makes sure your rims are not bent. Do what erics mentioned. The only thing I would do different is have someone shake the steering wheel back and forth, while the wheels are on the ground. Sometimes components need more resistance to show if they are bad or not. Everything needs to rotate evenly, no wobble. The tierod/link rotation is normal. Watch the rod ends. Watch where the knuckles rotate, Watch the relationship between the spring and the spring perch. There should be no movement. The shackles will twist slightly, excess movement is bad. Look at the steering arms and the bell crank, does the shaft wobble, is the unit loose on the frame? Etc. Then jack it up and check wheel bearings and knuckles, and double check the previous items mentioned.
 
pb4ugo said:
It's a process of elimination. Start with the easiest and cheapest. When you get your tires balanced be sure the tech makes sure your rims are not bent. Do what erics mentioned. The only thing I would do different is have someone shake the steering wheel back and forth, while the wheels are on the ground. Sometimes components need more resistance to show if they are bad or not. Everything needs to rotate evenly, no wobble. The tierod/link rotation is normal. Watch the rod ends. Watch where the knuckles rotate, Watch the relationship between the spring and the spring perch. There should be no movement. The shackles will twist slightly, excess movement is bad. Look at the steering arms and the bell crank, does the shaft wobble, is the unit loose on the frame? Etc. Then jack it up and check wheel bearings and knuckles, and double check the previous items mentioned.
Click to expand...

The problem got solved today!! But the list you gave me, Pb4ugo is helpful and I'll do it anyway to see if there's anything else that needs to be addressed. Thanks to all who have participated in the thread. I've learned a lot from this. People like me probably should not be buying 38+ year old vehicles that we know little to nothing about and having had virtually no mechanical experience with cars before except changing oil, spark plugs and tires. But we also fall in love with these old classics and therein lies our path toward pain, sorrow, excitement, frustration, elation, . . . But it definitely would be an impossible task without mudders' help.

So here's what the problem was: Whoever put the driver's side tire back on before I bought it, put the lug nuts in reverse so the rim was able to move around when I hit a bump of any kind. On top of that, they were not tight. Once they were reversed and put on how they're supposed to (with the sloped part in the hole), the problem went completely away. I know all of you guys would have probably checked that kind of a thing right away (like Pb4ugo said--check the simplest and least costly things first), but I didn't. I just assumed they were on right. I'm super happy that it was such an easy solution but feel really stupid I didn't check that. In any case, as I said earlier, the good thing about it for me is that I learned a lot from all of your input. Although I'm selling this one, I have a troopie version that I am keeping and have restored (the body mostly; few mechanical things) over the last 3 years. So I'm going to be able to use this info for it, too. I've included a few pics of it, but the best part is actually the undercarriage. I scraped all the old grease and oil off under the tub and rear, etc. etc. and painted everything a few different colors (tranny blue, t-case silver, most other things black but diffs a dark mauve color--sounds weird but looks good, I think :).

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