What's best way to improve handling

[Don]

Cursing the interstate in the 35 (I-64) the other day with new radials and Columbia, 60 was no problem,nice and smooth,till hit some bad pavement,before I knew it the car was wanting to change lanes with out any help from me,slowed down till I had more control ,,what the heck causes this,put a torsion bar on last summer ,helped some on curves, not sure about my shocks,would improved shocks help this or go to tube ,I like to drive my car and will probally never be in a points judging,,,,,, .any ideas ..do have the later model steering gear,big improvement..everything is tight.

[PeterC]

assuming excellent shocks and steering box adjustments - sounds like you need to inspect the entire front suspension and steering components ... treat as a total system - kingpins, all links, bushings etc - also toe -in and camber should be checked as well.

[rotorwrench]

Check your king pins and steering linkages for looseness. A king pin & straight axle suspension can sometimes get a death wobble under conditions that are caused by pot holes or other road discrepancies. Wash board conditions can cause problems on just about any type of suspension, even if it is in good condition.

[flatheadmurre]

Are you loosing traction due to poor suspension or is it bump stear ?

[V12Bill]

There was a one mile stretch of I 95 that caused my Lincoln to do all kinds of crazy things. A few years ago that section was repaved and I had no more problems after that. I think that it was pavement that had been pretty well beat by large trucks. My everyday car did not seem to notice this area, but the old Lincoln sure did.

[B-O-B]

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Had a F-500 that would do the the shimmy shimmy thing when I hit a pothole or higher speed sometime. Truck garage sold me a king pin set that never got installed . I took it to a truck tire store & the outcome was a bent rim. Different rim & no mo shimmy shimmy. Might try a tire rotation & see if there is any difference.

[Kurt in NJ]

Prpoerly lubed springs and properly working shocks make a big difference ---springs that leak red rust dust are not good, they are stiff ---have you disconnected the shock arms to see if they work --better yet bench adjust them, 50 lb weight on 2 foot lever should take 40 seconds to 1 min to move 20 degrees ---ford spring lube is light oil with talc ---grease is too thick

[Johnnydidd]

my 53 Victoria did the same thing, also when I applied the brake, have bias ply tires, I would hit the brakes and it would change lanes, hit a hole same thing. solved the problem by replacing kingpins, upper arms, bushings, rear spring bushing, rear spring pins, bled and adjusted the brakes, new shocks all the way around, adjusted the steering sector box, now with bias tires it drives like a dream.

[Don]

Probably have less than 2500 miles on frame off rebuild,front end was alL redone then,bearings tierods,everything,but shocks ,think I'll take it up to Bruce J. And use his lift and do the shock test,never heard of this before .I assume a 2foot bar is connected to th shock arm (c clamps) for the test then adjust for time to fall.

[FlatheadTed]

Check the spring shackles should be under tension ,steering sector and related links need to be tight ,and run a tape measure over the tow in ..caster needs to be about 2Deg .Ted

[VeryTangled]

Ride on my 36 improved a bunch when we chucked the tube-shock/sway-bar rig on the front and got two of our shocks redone, and two supplied, equals four shocks from Bill Wzorek. We also had the springs off, blasted, painted, lubed, and reassembled. I think we lubed with the same stuff people put on 5th wheel hitches, Slip Plate, in a spray can? Getting the old shackle bushes out is not normally a fun job.

Bias ply tires will never give the feel equal to your modern car. Thinking about radials when I need my next set.

[trainguy]

How is your wheel alignment?to much or to little toe in can negatively affect handling also to little caster will cause problems.Check your ball at the end of your wishbone.phil