[T3] Front beam is loose

[Chris Slaymaker]

On Nov 9, 2012, at 9:56 AM, Bobsnotch wrote:

If I  understand correctly, repair would involve removing the upper bar 
completely  and drilling a new, deeper "land" for the right side set screw 
(bolt).   Alternatively, a new land could be drilled on the opposite side of the 
bar  (the arms would need to be turned around 180  degrees).

> I'd try and do an adjustment first (working on the right side), and see IF  
> that fixes it (see Bentley for the procedure). If it doesn't, then you'll 
> need  to do the above. I only say that, as it should get an adjustment every 
> 3000  miles (just like adding a drop or 2 of oil to the felt pad under the  
> distributor rotor), but is commonly forgotten. And it's usually not until  
> everything is loose that it becomes a problem. Out of the 5 or 6 T-3s that I  
> worked on, everyone of them needed an adjustment (including my 42,000 mile  
> T-34).
> 
> Another thought is that you could have a tire that is out of  balance/out 
> of round, that's causing the shimmy. BTDT before too.  

I spent more quality time underneath Foster this afternoon.  Per Don Robertson's suggestion, I inspected the steering damper. I disconnected it from the drop arm (the nut was loose - a little more than finger tight) and I was going to disconnect the other end from the beam, but I didn't want to mess with the lockplate.  Anyhoo, while the pushrod was disconnected from the drop arm, I tried to actuate it.  It took considerable effort, so I judged the steering damper to be in good shape probably replaced in recent history by the previous owner - I've had Foster for 6 years now..

Yesterday I rotated the tires, as the outer tread of both front tires showed considerably more wear than the middle and inner treads.  Rotated back to front on same side.  The rear tires were in better shape.  The rear tires are 9 months old, the front tires are two years old.

Today driving to and from work (15 miles one way over hill and dale - mostly freeway speeds) the steering wheel was not as jiggly.  It seems before, it would oscillate the most when no rotation was on the steering wheel, and would go away with a slight turn to the left or the right (mostly to the left).  In retrospect, it seems that at times these oscillations would grow in amplitude (if allowed to continue) and would wrest the steering wheel from my grip.  Again, as I said before, braking would stop it and I'm pretty sure turning the wheel would stop it too.

The problem seems to have gone away with tire rotation, but I'm still not happy with the axial play in the upper torsion arms, and yes, I DID adjust the right side per the Bentley Manual.  A front-end alignment with new ball joints was done 9 months ago.

Chris Slaymaker
1971 Westfalia "Lurch"
1971 Squareback "Foster"
Knoxville, TN

". . . at least I'm enjoying the ride."

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