1960s 1960 Annoying Vibration

[dadscad]

Hello Jon. Two things I haven't seen mentioned. I'm not sure if this is relevant or not but does your car have the torus unit to crank spacer or is it the later designed torus that has the nub machined on it? If it uses the spacer it may have been left out at some time during a transmission repair. Another possibility is that the flex plate has developed a crack.

[60eldo]

Thanks, Im not sure I know what ur talking about, but I will look into it. The funny thing is how the steering wheel vibrates at 20-25 mph then smooths out, and again at 40-45, I keep thinking about that.

[Dave Shepherd]

That's a tire wheel/issue, usually.

[David Greenburg]

How is your steering coupler (rag joint)?  Could be contributing. I recently replaced mine to eliminate a "klunk" coming from the steering column, and it eliminated a lot of vibration.

[Chopper1942]

As I have said before, get a NVH analysis done.  You can keep guessing what the problem is and throwing parts at it and not do anything but waste time and money. Vibration issues can be very difficult to resolve even when you know the type of vibration you are dealing with. But, at least you know where to concentrate your efforts to resolve the issue  or issues.

[Dave Shepherd]

When I worked in the field for Cadillac, my butt was the NVH sensor. Lol

[Chopper1942]

In the past that was all we had and it could lead us wrong. You can't beat today's technology. I wish we had it 50 years ago!

[Cadman-iac]

  I still believe it's a brake drum out of balance due to being warped and turned to correct it, leaving it thin and unbalanced.
 Just take a look at the drums for maximum diameter and how many weights are on them. Ones that have several large weights and have been turned to maximum diameter are more likely to be unbalanced now.
 You can find a shop that does balancing by spinning the whole wheel and brake drum on the car to figure out if this is your problem.

 Rick

[60eldo]

  So did another test today. Jacked up back wheels only, went up to 40mph and it was vibrating, good news now I no its not the front wheels.Its the back or the engine.

[Cadman-iac]

So did another test today. Jacked up back wheels only, went up to 40mph and it was vibrating, good news now I no its not the front wheels.Its the back or the engine.

Now you can rotate your tires from front to back and try that again. If it still does it, then look at the drums, as that's the only other thing that is large enough to cause your balance issue.

I doubt it's the driveshaft, but look it over for any dents or missing weights from the balancing process. If one is missing, you can probably see the welds where it was attached.

My money is on a drum though.
Glad you narrowed it to one end of the car, I hope you find the problem.

Rick

[Chopper1942]

When you are doing this, have the jack stands on the axle tubes.  I would put the wheel nuts back on the studs to hold the drums in place. Run it the same as before and see if the vibration is gone. If so, the problems is with the tires.

If it is still there, this is a little risky because you can blow out a wheel cylinder, you can put the car in neutral, remove the drums, DO NOT APPLY THE BRAKES, start the car, DO NOT APPLY THE BRAKES, put in drive and run it up to speed as before, shut off the engine, DO NOT APPLY THE BRAKES, and let it coast to a stop. No vibration, a drum issue, still vibrates, prop shaft or engine.

[Cadman-iac]

  So have you figured out what exactly was causing your problem?

[60eldo]

  No, for the past few weeks Iv had many problems, with fuel pumps 3 or 4 all bad. Thermostat not opening causeing overheating. And a clogged heater core. And a leaking frost plug. And a dead battery. Soon I will get back to the vibratin. Maybe I will check the rear drums, Im not sure. My bets still the engine. Cause I dont think a car 5000 lbs can vib at 20 mph

[Cadman-iac]

  Jon,

 Sorry to hear about all the other issues you've had to deal with recently. It seems like anytime we go to solve a problem,  things tend to snowball on us.
 I hope you get everything sorted out and can resume your search for the vibration cause.

  Rick