Hello All,
For the last few years I�ve had my 1960 Mark 2 Auto back on
the road and have been shaking out a number of issues mostly
minor � I�ve often asked for help on these forums.
The main issue has always been a road speed related
vibration issue that seemed to get worse at around 55 mph
and become quite a problem after that � I couldn�t sustain
that speed too long for fear of something breaking in the
rear end (the car not mine!).
The bottom line is that today I finally got rid of the
vibration � I can now drive at 70 mph + without any dramas
except maybe the police nabbing me!
I�d been trying to find the cause for a few years and
thought it would be useful to chronicle what I went through
and what worked (and didn’t) � this is the culmination of a
lot of time, thinking and reading discussions on this forum�
Here what worked for me:
-
I completed the major restoration � all bearings,
rubbers, universals, shock absorbers renewed. I kept the
front and rear springs though. -
I proved it wasn�t engine speed related � it revved
in neutral with no vibrations. When doing 60mph putting into
neutral, rpm dropped vibration didn�t. -
Checked driveshaft alignment � a bit out but nothing
major (maybe � inch at the center - I now know this is a
significant) -
I had the driveshaft balanced and the universals
shimmed. No impact. -
At this stage I changed over the wheels from solid
to spokes. New hubs to go with them. I did this for looks
and not to solve the problem but it was a good chance to see
if it helped. It didn�t. All of the �runouts� were good. At
that stage I got the rear discs machined. No change. -
I bought 2 new � axles & bearings and installed them
� thinking one might not be straight. This did help a bit
but nothing significant -
Upgraded to Koni Shock absorbers . This helped
vibration problem i.e. a bit better (lower level). -
The front springs were �sagging a bit� . New
springs made the car sit upright, a bit too high on
passenger side. Vibration marginally improved, handling
dramatically better. -
I then thought the rear springs might be suspect
(front sitting high on one side), I changed with new ones.
This was the big fix, vibration dropped almost completely.
The rear bounce was considerably reduced � another dramatic
improvement in the drive handling as well. New springs had a
big impact on overall alignment and stiffer response
resulted in far less movement. -
Center driveshaft bracket (an auto) was on backwards
this meant a slight mis-alignment with the center support
bearing. Also aligned the drive shaft properly down to
millimeter accuracy. With new springs I could actually do
this properly now, before it was all over the place. -
This was the last piece of the puzzle � I took it
out for a spin � got it up to 70mph + with no sign of
vibration except normal stuff from the engine. Happy to
claim success now.
I hope this helps someone!
Regards
Glenn–
GlennLogan
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