Please help.
I'm puzzled about the way my car is handling (or not!) and thought I'd
see if any of you have any suggestions. It's a TR3A, but this is a
generic question. Whenever I hit any kind of rough or irregular
pavement, either driving around town or at highway speeds, the car
bounces all over the road. Kind of a side to side bounce. As an
experiment, I squatted down next to the rear wheel and push/pulled the
car sideways. Set up an oscillating movement that took a couple of
seconds to stop! It reminded me a lot of Galloping Gertie (the bridge
we've all seen footage of that collapsed in a light breeze).
So far, I've installed upper wishbone bushes and Spax adjustables in the
front (I have the lower wishbone bushes, but haven't yet installed
them). In the rear, I've replaced the 8 rubber bushes at the rear of the
springs (haven't done the front silentblocs yet) and checked the shock
fluid level in the lever shocks. One was full, the other only slightly
down. When I look under the car while someone else shakes it, I see
nothing that looks unusual - other than LOTS of movement.
Pushing up and down on each corner results in no excess movement, so I
would assume the shocks are okay (the front ones BETTER be-they're
new!!). What would cause this drastic amount of side to side wobble? Do
I need new springs? If so, front, rear, both? Any way to tell?
Bud Rolofson followed me to Portland and said the movement was quite
obvious every time I hit any kind of bump in the road. Most
disconcerting. Needless to say, I did not participate in the autocross!
8^)
Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thank you all very much.
--
Michael Ferguson
1959 TR3A TS53990L
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