One last check-in...

[blueskies]

Well Gents...

It's touch and go as of now, not sure if I'm going to be driving my '50 to Tulsa or not.

Joseph and I flew in late last night from a family trip to southern CA, completely packed and readied the car for the trip, and hit the hay for the night.

Dropped off the car at the alignment shop to get it better dialed in, and headed off to the office to cram in a weeks worth of work in 6 hours...

Got a call from the shop, and they can't get it to drive any better. Cory, the alignment manager is the one doing the work, and seems to have an affinity for the car, and really wants to get it right so I'm sure he's giving it his all.

The car darts left and right, worse than before the king pin job and new tie rods. I don't want to have to herd it down the road for 3500 miles, it's just not worth it to make the trip if it's a white knuckle affair. And, I'm out of time to get it figger'd out.

Cory is going to try adjusting the toe again (third time) to see what he can do. I'm wondering if replacing part of the suspension and steering system magnafies other problems that were masked by the slop in the parts that were previously worn out.

The other thing I'm wondering is if the subltle tire wear pattern that happened in the last 7500 miles on the bias ply tires could be causing the problem. I'm going to see if perhaps they can get a cheap set of radials with tubes to work with my original wheels, just for the trip.

We will be making the trip, but it may be in the daily driver instead of the Plymouth... damn...

More to come-

Pete

[knighthawk]

Radials will defintily help.. Those old plastic ( bias ) tires will follow the ridges and grooves in the pavement.

[James_Douglas]

Pete,

I am sorry to head you are having troubles. I know how much work you have put in and I can only guess how much you and your son want to make the trip in the car.

A quote from my car alignment book:

" Likewise, two misalignment factors, each of which alone would create instability, may cancel out each other, with the result that the vehicle has stability when in motion. In such a case, the correction of only one factor might remove the counteracting force with the result that the vehicle would loose its stability."

Sounds like your part replacement may have triggered the above phenomenon. Even though there is nothing the alignment shop can do about bent parts, make sure they do the "steering axis inclination" and "toe-out on turns" checks so you can know if anything is bent.

Best, James

[Don Coatney]

Pete;

When I had my car alignment shop it was necessary to use every bit of available adjustment to get the tow in correct. However this was due to the disc brake setup as it added about 3/8" outset to each front wheel. Hope the replacement tires help your problem as I will be looking for you (in your car) at Tulsa. My bags are packed and I am ready to hit the road early Wednesday morning.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Pete..check your PM...info sent

[rearview]

Just went through this with a friend and his 38 chebby. Ended up increasing the positive caster to about 6-8* (tough to measure) and it fixed it right up. Did make it a touch harder to steer, but who cares?

[david lazarus]

Had same issue with my '38...seemed like the car was "possessed":eek: . Put on 205 radials can now drive one hand on wheel, other resting on window (as you do). Bias tyres...never again.

[BobT-47P15]

I think maybe the radials would help noticeably. And maybe your old tires are adding to the problem by their wear pattern.

[greg g]

Try a tire rotation and see if there is any difference. Have you tried tightening the adustment on the steering box?

[Suddensix]

Pete, had the same problem with my 49 til we figured out during the installation of disc brakes the steerig arms had gotten switched side to side. Take a look under the car when it is on the ground and make sure the tie rods are level and horizontal to the ground. Also forget tubes in your radials,I run mine on stock rims with rubber valves with no problem at all. Good luck on the trip to Tulsa

[steveplym]

Pete, had the same problem with my 49 til we figured out during the installation of disc brakes the steerig arms had gotten switched side to side. Take a look under the car when it is on the ground and make sure the tie rods are level and horizontal to the ground. Also forget tubes in your radials,I run mine on stock rims with rubber valves with no problem at all. Good luck on the trip to Tulsa

Pete, I agree with suddensix. Since I got rid of the old bias WWW on my p-15 and put on the radial tires it has made a world of difference. It was wandering all over the road before that. Didn't use tubes either, but running the tubeless tires.

Good luck on your trip. Have fun!

[blueskies]

Just dropped another $550 on new tires, and went for a spin.

The car drives so much better, it's hard to believe. That said, there is still some gremlins in the front end. There is a tiny bit of bump steer, that is I assume, from cutting one coil out of the front springs. And, there is still a faint bit of dart, but the radials mask it well enough that it isn't a problem.

When the shop pulled one of the wheels and removed a tire, they couldn't believe the rust between the wheel and tube. The said I definitely wouldn't have made it round trip without three or four flats along the way due to the condition of the tubes. These tubes had been on the wheels for 6 1/2 years.

When I get home and have recovered from the cash outlay of the trip and car prep, I will replace the wheels with air tight new wheels, so that I can get rid of the tubes. The wheels are one piece outers, which means they are not the type of old wheel that can split down the middle from the stresses of a radial tire. No worries there. They do have, however, the centers riveted to the outers, so they will not hold air.

The tires that they had are whitewalls, but they aren't as wide as my old bias www tires. They aren't the tires I wanted to buy, but they will do. I already miss the wiiiide whites that came off. But the choice was buy the tires that they had and drive the car, or leave it home and drive the "other" car.

I can't say enough about the service of my local Les Schwab tire store, who has taken care of the alignment and tires. They have gone way beyond the call of duty to do the alignment three times, balance new tires twice, and track down vibrations. All this, and they only charged for one alignment, $45.

I'm on my way back down to the shop to pickup up the car, looks like it's a go... We will pull out for Salt Lake city in a couple of hours.

Pete

[Reg Evans]

Good luck to ya Pete ! It's gonna be a great and memorable trip for you and your son.

[TodFitch]

Good luck to you too. Take (and post) plenty of photographs!

[Don Coatney]

We will pull out for Salt Lake city in a couple of hours. Pete

Pete;

No not Salt Lake, We are not racing on the salt! We are racing in Tulsa. I think you are confused and going to the wrong place:cool:

[Norm's Coupe]

Pete;

No not Salt Lake, We are not racing on the salt! We are racing in Tulsa. I think you are confused and going to the wrong place:cool:

Don,

I will be waiting to hear the results of the BIG RACE to see which one of you makes it to the lunch counter first. Maybe BobT can take pictures.

Pete,

Glad to hear you got the Plymouth back on the road again. If you like the wide whites so much, just keep them and the old wheels. You can use them for running around locally and use the radials for long hauls.

All of you guys have a safe trip and have fun.

[Tony_Urwin]

Good luck, Pete. It's an adventure, right?

[DAVE KNOXX TENN]

Just dropped another $550 on new tires, and went for a spin.

The car drives so much better, it's hard to believe. That said, there is still some gremlins in the front end. There is a tiny bit of bump steer, that is I assume, from cutting one coil out of the front springs. And, there is still a faint bit of dart, but the radials mask it well enough that it isn't a problem.

When the shop pulled one of the wheels and removed a tire, they couldn't believe the rust between the wheel and tube. The said I definitely wouldn't have made it round trip without three or four flats along the way due to the condition of the tubes. These tubes had been on the wheels for 6 1/2 years.

When I get home and have recovered from the cash outlay of the trip and car prep, I will replace the wheels with air tight new wheels, so that I can get rid of the tubes. The wheels are one piece outers, which means they are not the type of old wheel that can split down the middle from the stresses of a radial tire. No worries there. They do have, however, the centers riveted to the outers, so they will not hold air.

The tires that they had are whitewalls, but they aren't as wide as my old bias www tires. They aren't the tires I wanted to buy, but they will do. I already miss the wiiiide whites that came off. But the choice was buy the tires that they had and drive the car, or leave it home and drive the "other" car.

I can't say enough about the service of my local Les Schwab tire store, who has taken care of the alignment and tires. They have gone way beyond the call of duty to do the alignment three times, balance new tires twice, and track down vibrations. All this, and they only charged for one alignment, $45.

I'm on my way back down to the shop to pickup up the car, looks like it's a go... We will pull out for Salt Lake city in a couple of hours.

Pete

Please Go To Tulsa!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE Have Good time!!!!!!!!!!!.YOU Have Done a Lot of Work!!!!! Please Take Pics and post them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[blueskies]

Don-

Salt fever, it's tough to shake! If Norm turns out to be right, I like salt on my fries too...

We are checking in from our first stop, about 150 miles from home. We got a late start and decided to just drive till dark and get a room. At least it's a head start on tomorrow. Took longer than I thought to pickup up the car and get it loaded up and ready to go.

The car drives very nicely now. No pulling, darting, or other troubling behavior. There is still a driveline vibration, but I think it will be ok for the trip. The vibration damper thing that I bought turned out to be snake oil... It made the vibration that is there very pronounced. The tire shop put the car on the rack and ran it up to speed. The could tell that the driveline was the source of the vibration. They moved the damper thing to various places along the driveline, and the vibration went from bad to worse, depending on where they put it. When they pulled it off, the vibration went back to what it was before, subtle. I'll be sending the damper back for a refund when I get home.

As soon as I get this loaner laptop dialed in, I will be able to post pics from the road via my photobucket account, or my website.

It's a long way to go, and a short time to get there, we gonna do what they say can't be done...

Pete

[TodFitch]

Thank you for the report from the road. Good to hear you have made it the first few miles and have the suspension and steering issues sorted out.