Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train front end shudder,,

hi guys, drivin my 65 chevy for a few days while the other car is in the shop,,,I've been battling with excessive play in the steering box, and drum brakes not releasing, I've found a rock solid rear rubber line and replaced it, got fluid to the rear drums,still must have adjustment wrong, it violently pulls if you tap the brake,and 2 drums still do not release properly, now I have developed a shudder, the whole front end is all new pieces, so no wear,,will the play in the steering box cause the front to shudder when applying the brakes?,I would of thought it would wiggle sorda, but this is more of a up - down type of shudder, if I come off the brakes it calms right down,,,?

driving home it got worse, I found a sweet spot, about 45 miles an hour it shuddered pretty bad,, I shifted into neutral,, it didn't get better, it actually got worse, rpms on the motor changed nothing, and as the car shuddered longer as I drifted it got bad almost like wheel hop in the front,, got home, all the bolts are tight, nothing out of wack,,could this really be coming from the steering box allowing the tires to move side to side uncontroled?,,,, I feel nothing in the steering wheel when this happens,the wheel play is from about 10 o'clock to 2 now,?

jack up one side and pull on the tire and see if/where you get any play.

In my experience, shudder when applying brakes is usually caused by a warped rotor/drum, worn/loose joints, wrong toe setting.

everything is balls tight and new, given the fact that it is very easy to steer the wheels before you feel resistance in the steering box,? brakes are new, drums turned,,,as for alignment, i think I found a good shop, the tires have no un-normal wear,,(except for the back drive tire,lol),, he even had me sit in the car while he checked something to do with driver weight in the vehicle,?

Did you do the work yourself or?

If you didn't, are you assuming it was done right, or have you personnally checked it over?

yes I did it myself,,I'm not a certified tech, but I play one on tv,,lol just joking,,,I've worked my way around a garage or two,,my work is done right with the correct stuff and tools and such,,,man, I wish someone was here to drive it,,,, Hey Twisted ya out there,,,?

No offense, just trying to get some perspective on the situation...

Wheel bearings tight?

Have you tried jacking up one side yet?

Are the motor and trans mounts ok?

single or dual master cylinder?

back at ya here,long weekend,,
bearings good,,
jacking one side,,?
all mounts good,,
single master

Yeah, You put the floor jack under the lower A-arm on one side and jack it up until the tire is off the ground. Then you grab the tire with both hands and wiggle it front to back and top to bottom to see if there is any play in it. It may require a second set of eyes to help trace the wiggle back to its origin. Make sense?

did the one side thing, each side, everything seemed tight as could be with just the steer in the wheel moving the other tire on the ground, I did then jack both sides up to feel the play in the steering box,, wow, with the tires of the ground you can move the wheels pretty easily till you feel the gear box give some resistance,, they gotta be going back and forth driving down the road,,?