Front end shimmy

[edwpas]

96 34ft Pace Arrow Ford Chassis: Just got back from a trip one time it started to shimmy I had to jam the brakes on to stop it. New tires, balanced, Had front end checked at Ford garage last winter said it was ok, MH has 36000 mi. on it any suggestions Scared the daylights out of me.

[DAN L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by edwpas 96 34ft Pace Arrow Ford Chassis: Just got back from a trip one time it started to shimmy I had to jam the brakes on to stop it. New tires, balanced, Had front end checked at Ford garage last winter said it was ok, MH has 36000 mi. on it any suggestions Scared the daylights out of me.

some say to jack the front and release all the pressure in the new front tires to re-center them and then to re-inflate them. that may change the balance.

grease the chassis. make sure all grease points are actually taking grease. check for loose or worn components.

what kinda shocks? consider koni fsd shocks. my original monroes were not functional with <8k miles.

[Nutmeg]

Not sure if Ford used one on that year chassis but a worn steering stabilizer will show a simular sign. Unit will look like a shock absorber mounted horizonally on the drag link. Unit should have firm resistance in and out its basiclly a 50/50 shock. Easy to check / easy to replace.

[RobRV]

Add a bit more weight to the front Storage Compartments.

[jDavid]

I had a situation like your several years ago with my F350. Everyone thought it was the front end or tires. The weird thing was you never knew when it would happen. Finally one day when I was pulling a fully loaded*4 horse trailer on I16 it started again. It felt like the left front was going to bounce off of the road. Anyway to may a very long story short (took almost a year to identify the problem), I had a brake caliper that would partly engage. One of the local Ford dealers here fixed it and today it is fine. The opinion is that due to the fact that I do not use the truck very often, the brakes will set and cause this problem. The bottom line have the complete front end looked at including brakes, lugs, bearings and the new tires.
Good Day!

[edwpas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jDavid I had a situation like your several years ago with my F350. Everyone thought it was the front end or tires. The weird thing was you never knew when it would happen. Finally one day when I was pulling a fully loaded*4 horse trailer on I16 it started again. It felt like the left front was going to bounce off of the road. Anyway to may a very long story short (took almost a year to identify the problem), I had a brake caliper that would partly engage. One of the local Ford dealers here fixed it and today it is fine. The opinion is that due to the fact that I do not use the truck very often, the brakes will set and cause this problem. The bottom line have the complete front end looked at including brakes, lugs, bearings and the new tires. Good Day!

That mite be the problem when I pulled over to check things out I smelled something on the left side could have been the brakes Thank You and have a nice day

[dieselclacker]

Give the tie rod ends on both the drag link, and tie rod a really good inspection for wear. Also the ball joints. I have seen cases where flimsy sidewalls in even new tires can set off a shimmy under certain circumstances. Hope you find your problem.

Dieselclacker

[tmh462]

I had a similar problem with an F250. It was fine until I bought new tires. I took it back several times, and finally took it to a shop that used a road force tire balancer to balance the tires. The tires were almost a pound out of balance between the two front tires.
Once I did this, the problem went from barely being able to hold the steering wheel to an occasional tremor.

[jDavid]

If it does it again, stop and put your hand close (don't touch) the rim. Compare the two sides, if it is noticeably hotter on one side versus the other, it is either bearings or brakes. Like I said earlier, it took many professional opinions to nail my problem and one then one little country Ford dealership found it and fixed the problem. All I know is that is was a very scary problem.
The first time it happened to me, I was traveling 70+ and pulling a 40' horse trailer fully loaded. The truck and trailer where all over the road. The funny thing is, it did not happen again for several months.