66 Beetle with wandering front end

[ebanville]

Hey, gang.

Hoping some of you will have some ideas on what's going on with my bug. Started having an issue with the front end wandering a few months back. It started getting worse to the point where I'll be driving on the highway and the car will start to wander and eventually begin doing a back and forth that would lead to an S pattern if I didn't slow down. Had the front end inspected and alignment done twice and they found nothing. I crawled under and over the front end, found the steering gear was leaking and replaced it. Just for kicks replaced the steering damper. Checked all the tie rods and ball joints and they're all tightened down properly with no tears or other issues that I can see. Checked the bearings, wheels, etc., all are fine. Shocks are relatively new up front and I replaced the rear shocks. All this work was done after I noticed the problem, so while none of this has been the cure, it's also not the cause.

The only other suspension issue I've noticed is I may have a rear spring plate issue. It's the one part of the car I didn't re-do other than replacing the outer bushings on both sides. When I back up I notice the car sag to one side. Could a bum spring plate be causing an over car instability, including front end wandering?

Thanks for any thoughts you all have,
Ethan

[KTPhil]

Yes, check the rear also.

Check the coupler between the steering box and the steering wheel. ALso, check the alignment (front and rear).

[Derek Cobb]

Caster shims might help with the wandering. Some dead stock Beetles needed them from the factory to correct 'wandering' issues.

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ACC%2DC10%2D4190

[ebanville]

Coupler is fine. Like new urethane.
As for caster shims, I didn't need them for the first 20000 miles after rebuild. Hmm. Guess it can't hurt to try.
Alignment is good up front. Will have a local shop verify the back.

Any other ideas pop into your head, please let me know.
I'll let you know if I find anything next weekend when I have time to dive into it again.

Thanks!

[JamesDole]

I had a problem with my 66 wandering on the freeway. Come to find out it was in the rear. One of the drums was loose and that caused the back end to wander. Once I tightened up the drum, problem solved and no issues for almost a year now. Check the drums and see if they are loose.

[duginabug]

I took my steering box out to work on it and after I reinstalled it I went for a drive and it wandered all over the road just like you describe. Turned out I hand't tightened the pitman arm tight enough. That bolt has to be super tight. That's all it took and now it drives great.
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1960 Sedan. L349 Jade Green.

[ebanville]

Thanks, but as I said, it did this before I replaced the steering gear. I will double check the pitman arm though. And I'll check out the spring plates asap.

[andk5591]

Just for the hell of it - check the alignment yourself. Get a couple pieces of wood or something tp lay against the outside of the tires (like a couple 4x4 blocks with a wood strip on top so you arent at the bulge of the tire) and measure the distance from one side to the other just in front and behind the tires. Should be cocked in about 1/8" at the front. I know you said they checked it, but a lot of times - shops don't.

Toe being wrong will make the car really squirrelly.
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D-Dubya Manx clone - 63 Short pan,1914.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
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Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Cindy's daily driver.
Max - 73 standard Beetle hearse project - For sale
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

[scumerset]

And have all four wheels balanced if it hasn't been done already.
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67 Type 1 : Driving Project born Sep 66

"Brakes, they just slow you down." - Stuart Jones

[Max Welton]

Tire pressures?

Max
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[iowegian]

I had the same situation on my '61 Ghia. I know that the '61 is king pin and your '66 is ball joint, but repeated lubrication cured the problem over a period of time. What happened was I was constantly overcoming "sticking" and then over-correcting in the opposite direction, etc, etc all the way down the hiway. It acted just like a caster problem.
Maybe too simple, but it sure doesn't cost much to try.

[drscope]

Wow, lots of suggestions....

If the front has been aligned and checked and is OK, then maybe you need to check alignment on the rear.

The change in ride height or attitude of the spring plates when you back up is normal and most likely has no effect on the problem you are having.

But if the rear toe is not set, then the rear of the car is what is trying to steer away from straight. And since this is a swing axle car, as the wheel moves up and down, the rear toe on that wheel also changes.
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Mother Nature is a Mean Evil Bitch!

[61SNRF]

Have someone drive behind you on the highway to see if the car is tracking straight. If it looks crooked from behind, then something is bent, out of alignment or loose. If the rear toe is in on one side and out on the other, then the car will rear steer and require constant correction.

[Vayabroder]

[67_13Deluxe]

My 63 was wandering on the freeway. I replaced the spring plate bushings and re indexed the torsion bars and that fixed my issue. My beetle is stock height but the rear wheels had slight negative camber. I think thats what was throwing it off.
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56 Beetle - Wilbur. I found a lot of lipstick on this pig so far.
63 Beetle - Luna
66 13 window Bus - Tetanus
71 Bay Window - Lola. Totaled.

[TDCTDI]

[leowagen]

did you adjust the play in the steering box? I had lots of wandering which translated as a ton of freeplay in the steering wheel. I managed to adjust the box and sorted it out quite well...

[TDCTDI]

Check tire pressure, 18 front, 28 rear.

Check for worn/loose suspension/steering components: tie rod ends, ball joints, pitman arm, steering box, steering box clamp, steering coupler, steering coupler clamps (especially since you had shtuff apart down there.)

Check wheel bearing adjustment. (When was the last time that the bearings were serviced?)

After confirming that all of the above are correct, check alignment, all four corners & have them give you what the front caster angle is, this was set close to 0° at the factory which causes light steering when at slow speeds but can be very unstable above 50. Install caster shims to bring to 6°-10°.
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[pwmcguire]

[61SNRF]

The original post is ten years old, I "wander" where ebanville is
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An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.