Front vibration

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TimDart

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i've been plagued with front wheel vibration under heavy braking. Checked all the usual things (ball joints, idler, wheel bearings) and no joy.
Today i took off the skiny front rubber (23 1/2"diam.) and put the old steel wheels and tyres on. 26" diameter.
Vibration almost disappeared. Could it be that I had too much rake before and the castor angle was put out? The Dart certainly responded better to the thicker, higher front tyres.
 
Yeah, a warped rotor or out of round drum can cause a vibration sensation. Also check the bearing run-out on the front hubs. When you say vibration, describe exactly what happens. Does the steering wheel shake or do you feel a vibration through the chassis?

But, I am curious why it seemed to go away with the different tire/wheel combo. I assume the steel wheels you refer to are the stock rims, correct? What kind of wheels are the 'skinnies' on? Are they hub centric or lug centric? What is the offset? Have you checked to make sure the wheel itself is true for roundness and that it is not bent? And how much air pressure are you running in those front tires? Remember, the contact patch is smaller on skinny tires and there is a huge amount of weight transferred to the front when braking heavy. And I guess I should ask what the front tire construction is, bias ply or radial?
 
Thanksguys. Drums not rotars. Tyres are radials. The wheels i changed too are the original steels running (Eurosizes) 14 x 75 x 205. I usually run Centrelines (7 x 14) with 14 x 195 x 65 profile size tires.
The vibration is quite harsh and can be felt thru the steering wheel but also the whole dashboard can end up ratling. Its quite uncomfortable. When I put the bigger tryes on today, the braking vibration pretty much stoped, it certainly was way better.
However, the car has always suffered a degre of general vibration from arounf 70mph up whatever tyres/wheels i run.
Moe info, car has good engine mounts, new shocks and the power steering works perfectly with no leaks.
Finally, (this probably needs a seperate thread) the steering( I think) growls in a very mettalic manner (sounds nasty) whenver the car is turned to the right, or launched hard, or stopped hard. Could this be damage to the worm drive in the box.
Sorry for so many queries on my first post!!
Tim
 
GotDart, just read yor post again. Hub centric or lug centric. The lugs/nuts centre the Cenreline wheels. just jogged my memory. When i fitted the Centrelines I was concerned that they didnt really apearto have a flush face to set against on the 10" drum case and are reliant on the lugs.
 
Tim, one possible problem that I've encountered is that while the lugs tighten they are actually tightening against the bottom of the stud itself and the wheel may actually be loose between the lug nuts and the drum/caliper. See if the lugs may be too long, if so they'll be tightening at the base of the drum/caliper, or too short, bottoming out at the top of the wheel stud. Second, it wouldn't be the first time a tire (sorry, tyre :) ) has split a cord internally. Three, DO NOT mix radials and bias ply tyres!. Four, yes there may be an alignment issue, and with more contact patch on a larger tyre it can serve to mask, but not cure, the problem. The problem will surface later with uneven wear. Check the simplest things first and work your way up. Keep in touch. RICK
 
Thanks Rick, i think you may be onto something regarding the lugs. I'll do some clear measuring over the xmas break. All the best1
Tim
 
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