1974 Super Beetle - Wobbly front passenger tire.
- Sluggo
- Wishin' I was Fishin'
- Location: Portland, Or.
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
1974 Super Beetle - Wobbly front passenger tire.
My front passenger tire wobbles slightly. The drum, backing plate, shaft all the way up to the top of the strut wiggles slightly if I jack up the Beetle and shake the tire. Everything else is stable.
Any ideas?
Any ideas?
1977 Bus with Sunroof - "Lucky '77"
2000cc Type IV w/Dual Weber 36s,
Aircooled.net SVDA w/Compufire,
Redline Weber Fuel Pump,
Holley Regulator,
Half Ass Brush & Roller Rustoleum Paint Job,
Incomplete Custom Interior,
Dual Batteries,
Crunched Slider Door.
------------------------------------------------------
- vwlover77
- IAC Addict!
- Location: North Canton, Ohio
- Status: Offline
Any noises while driving it? Shimmy or loose feeling in the steering? Does it wander over the road?
The bushing and/or ball bearing at the top of the strut could be bad.
The bushing and/or ball bearing at the top of the strut could be bad.
Don
---------------------------
78 Westy
71 Super Beetle Convertible Autostick
"When we let our compassion go, we let go of whatever claim we have to the divine." - Bruce Springsteen
---------------------------
78 Westy
71 Super Beetle Convertible Autostick
"When we let our compassion go, we let go of whatever claim we have to the divine." - Bruce Springsteen
- Sluggo
- Wishin' I was Fishin'
- Location: Portland, Or.
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
No noises. It does have the 35-45 shimmy and a little play in the steering (box needs replaced). No real wandering. Just slight from bad alignment.vwlover77 wrote:Any noises while driving it? Shimmy or loose feeling in the steering? Does it wander over the road?
The bushing and/or ball bearing at the top of the strut could be bad.
I was already thinking about the strut bearings. Would that make the whole wheel wobble?
1977 Bus with Sunroof - "Lucky '77"
2000cc Type IV w/Dual Weber 36s,
Aircooled.net SVDA w/Compufire,
Redline Weber Fuel Pump,
Holley Regulator,
Half Ass Brush & Roller Rustoleum Paint Job,
Incomplete Custom Interior,
Dual Batteries,
Crunched Slider Door.
------------------------------------------------------
- hambone
- Post-Industrial Non-Secular Mennonite
- Location: Portland, Ore.
- Status: Offline
Ball joints? Wheel bearing adjustment? Yeah it could be something in the strut. They're not too expensive to get replaced. I'd be too nervous to compress that spring at home, rather a shop do it.
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat
- Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
- Status: Offline
Classic MacPherson strut behavior. It is not necessarily the bearing, which allows the strut to rotate about the steering axis, but can be within the strut cartridge itself. With MacPherson struts, the integrity of the cartridge has direct bearing on the camber plane of the front wheels.Sluggo wrote: I was already thinking about the strut bearings. Would that make the whole wheel wobble?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
- Sluggo
- Wishin' I was Fishin'
- Location: Portland, Or.
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Thanks! I already have new struts to install. I guess I'll get the bearings, bushings, etc... and do the job right.Amskeptic wrote:Classic MacPherson strut behavior. It is not necessarily the bearing, which allows the strut to rotate about the steering axis, but can be within the strut cartridge itself. With MacPherson struts, the integrity of the cartridge has direct bearing on the camber plane of the front wheels.Sluggo wrote: I was already thinking about the strut bearings. Would that make the whole wheel wobble?
Colin
You plan on coming back around soon? (hint hint)
1977 Bus with Sunroof - "Lucky '77"
2000cc Type IV w/Dual Weber 36s,
Aircooled.net SVDA w/Compufire,
Redline Weber Fuel Pump,
Holley Regulator,
Half Ass Brush & Roller Rustoleum Paint Job,
Incomplete Custom Interior,
Dual Batteries,
Crunched Slider Door.
------------------------------------------------------
- Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
- Status: Offline
Yeah. With my hand out.Sluggo wrote: You plan on coming back around soon? (hint hint)
The New Mean Itinerant Air-Cooled Consultant
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
- Sluggo
- Wishin' I was Fishin'
- Location: Portland, Or.
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
I'd fill those hands. I'd have to pay someone else to do it anyway.Amskeptic wrote:Yeah. With my hand out.Sluggo wrote: You plan on coming back around soon? (hint hint)
The New Mean Itinerant Air-Cooled Consultant
1977 Bus with Sunroof - "Lucky '77"
2000cc Type IV w/Dual Weber 36s,
Aircooled.net SVDA w/Compufire,
Redline Weber Fuel Pump,
Holley Regulator,
Half Ass Brush & Roller Rustoleum Paint Job,
Incomplete Custom Interior,
Dual Batteries,
Crunched Slider Door.
------------------------------------------------------
- Sluggo
- Wishin' I was Fishin'
- Location: Portland, Or.
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Hambone. Your avatar is scaring the hell out of me. She has crazy eyes!
And how do you adjust a wheel bearing? I've always just packed and installed them.
And how do you adjust a wheel bearing? I've always just packed and installed them.
1977 Bus with Sunroof - "Lucky '77"
2000cc Type IV w/Dual Weber 36s,
Aircooled.net SVDA w/Compufire,
Redline Weber Fuel Pump,
Holley Regulator,
Half Ass Brush & Roller Rustoleum Paint Job,
Incomplete Custom Interior,
Dual Batteries,
Crunched Slider Door.
------------------------------------------------------
- dtrumbo
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Mill Creek, WA
- Status: Offline
Here's an excerpt from Colin's write-up in this forum. He uses his bus as an example, but the concept is the same for a Beetle.Sluggo wrote:And how do you adjust a wheel bearing? I've always just packed and installed them.
Here's the entire thread if you'd like to see the whole thing.Amskeptic wrote: NOW THEN. Be attentive. You put this all together, you know there is a bearing just to the inside of that fat flat washer. We are going to test the bearing adjustment by prying on the washer only! Do not stick your flat blade screwdriver in so far that you are bending the cage of the bearing. Sure it is greasy and hard to see and all, but just the tip of the screwdriver. Put it at 9:00 (on the clock dial) between the hub inner radius and the flat washer, hold the hub from turning with a grip on a wheel stud, and turn the screwdriver like you are loosening a screw to pry the washer sideways. It might already be moved, so don't get all monkey on it. Go to the 3:00 position and try to pry back. You should get a sticky movement. If everything is unyielding, back off the nut until you can move that washer totally sloppy and record the range of its movement, so you'll know what to do as you tighten it (wheel rotating) and then loosen it until the washer just decouples from the nut. You want the nut tight enough to make sliding the washer sideways moderately (new bearings) or slightly (old repacked bearings) sticky:
Tighten the 6mm lock bolt in the nut when you are done. Not too crazy, it locks the nut onto the spindle threads very effectively:
http://itinerant-air-cooled.com/viewtopic.php?t=3149
...and here.
http://itinerant-air-cooled.com/viewtopic.php?t=3150
I just used this procedure when I replaced the front bearings on my bus and it went very well.
- Dick
1970 Transporter. 2015cc, dual Weber IDF 40's
1978 Riviera Camper. Bone stock GE 2.0L F.I.
1979 Super Beetle convertible.
... as it turns out, it was the coil!
1970 Transporter. 2015cc, dual Weber IDF 40's
1978 Riviera Camper. Bone stock GE 2.0L F.I.
1979 Super Beetle convertible.
... as it turns out, it was the coil!
- Sluggo
- Wishin' I was Fishin'
- Location: Portland, Or.
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Oh. You're talking about adjusting the end play. I just did that. I use a dial gauge though. I like Colin's method better. I thought there were adjustments to the actual bearings that I had missed. Phew!
1977 Bus with Sunroof - "Lucky '77"
2000cc Type IV w/Dual Weber 36s,
Aircooled.net SVDA w/Compufire,
Redline Weber Fuel Pump,
Holley Regulator,
Half Ass Brush & Roller Rustoleum Paint Job,
Incomplete Custom Interior,
Dual Batteries,
Crunched Slider Door.
------------------------------------------------------
- hambone
- Post-Industrial Non-Secular Mennonite
- Location: Portland, Ore.
- Status: Offline
Ya think so?? For some reason they make me jiggly-kneed. I must covet the insane. Go figure.Hambone. Your avatar is scaring the hell out of me. She has crazy eyes!
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat
- vwlover77
- IAC Addict!
- Location: North Canton, Ohio
- Status: Offline
Oh gawd, is that a young Sarah Palin???
Edit to include Technical Content:
I have compressed the springs on my Super Beetle struts myself. The good news is that they are relatively small and "soft" springs since they do not have to support as much weight as a larger, front-engine car. But, erring on the side of safety by taking them to a shop is not a bad idea.
Topline parts sells a urethane bushing kit for Super Beetles that is supposed to help eliminate the dreaded shimmy. If I were doing it again, I'd try this option.
http://www.toplineparts.com
Edit to include Technical Content:
I have compressed the springs on my Super Beetle struts myself. The good news is that they are relatively small and "soft" springs since they do not have to support as much weight as a larger, front-engine car. But, erring on the side of safety by taking them to a shop is not a bad idea.
Topline parts sells a urethane bushing kit for Super Beetles that is supposed to help eliminate the dreaded shimmy. If I were doing it again, I'd try this option.
http://www.toplineparts.com
Don
---------------------------
78 Westy
71 Super Beetle Convertible Autostick
"When we let our compassion go, we let go of whatever claim we have to the divine." - Bruce Springsteen
---------------------------
78 Westy
71 Super Beetle Convertible Autostick
"When we let our compassion go, we let go of whatever claim we have to the divine." - Bruce Springsteen
- Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
- Status: Offline
I am deleting the chit-chat. This is a technical forum. Come on, grown-ups, be alert to which forum you are in.
ColinNanny
ColinNanny
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
- Sluggo
- Wishin' I was Fishin'
- Location: Portland, Or.
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Did I miss something? Whatever it was killed this thread.Amskeptic wrote:I am deleting the chit-chat. This is a technical forum. Come on, grown-ups, be alert to which forum you are in.
ColinNanny
1977 Bus with Sunroof - "Lucky '77"
2000cc Type IV w/Dual Weber 36s,
Aircooled.net SVDA w/Compufire,
Redline Weber Fuel Pump,
Holley Regulator,
Half Ass Brush & Roller Rustoleum Paint Job,
Incomplete Custom Interior,
Dual Batteries,
Crunched Slider Door.
------------------------------------------------------