I took my Bucamino down to the tire shop today to get an professional opinion about the vibration the car makes at 60+ mph. They checked everything and could not find a smoking gun, but did suggest completely rebuiding the front end. The vehicle is supposed to be all 1965 Skylark GS suspension, frame, rear axel, engine, four speed setup, with a 65 el camino setting on it. Makes a nice sounding chevy out of it. Where I need help is with the front suspension and the interchange of parts. The shop guy said I should change to chevelle a-arms and their bushings as this would be cheaper and I have the parts to make the interchange work. Has anyone converted a gs front-end to chevelle components to save money???
Be careful as there may be differences. I know in 70-72 the differnce is the alignment holes for the spring ends inthe spring pockets so they may work bot things may be "off" because you listened to a Chevy guy who have a narrow view of the auto world based on their bowtie brains.
Interesting question - are all Buick A body A-arms the same from 65 - 72? And Kcombs - the reason its cheaper for chevy guys is the aftermarket has support for their cars - For example http://www.ss396.com/ has fully loaded upper and lower a arms for $520. - Bill
Tires were rotated/balanced, drive shaft balanced. Shocks are new, but the rest of the suspension is old. Nothing looks really bad, just worn. The front-end shop guy doesn't think it is in the driveline because shake in the steering wheel and the speed of the problem. Seems driveline stuff feels different because of the speed of the components before before the differential. I would guess the front tires are way out of balance, but they aren't. Could it be the front shocks were not run through their complete range before installation????
Is the steering wheel shaking side to side or up and down? I have learned side to side is in the front end and up and down is in the rear. JKaz
Have you checked for damage to the front tire carcasses themselves?? There could be hidden damage to the sidewalls from potholes, ruts in the road, etc.
The steering wheel is moving up and down and the tires were inspected by one of the best shops in town..... How about "flatspots" on the tires from sitting???
The upper A-arms on the 65 Skylark are unique. I believe they were only used on 64-65 Buicks, and maybe Olds?. These use screw-in metal bushings instead of the more common pressed-in rubber bushings. Should be able to swap in the later control arms. Bob G or Brian would know for sure...
I would check the rear tires for either flat spots or a tire out of balance. Try rotating them and take it for a drive. Had the same problem on my '72 Olds and it turned out to be a tire out of balance. Jkaz
One more thing...if you use the later style upper A-arms, there is an offset control arm shaft available....it makes up for frame spread, or settling. If you have a lot of alignment shims now, the offset shafts will allow you to run more camber without using a stack of shims. Best to ask your front-end guy about it.
What about your front wheel bearings? Worn or pitted races or bent bearing cages can cause a gravely feel at higher speed. I thought I had a bad u joint on my drive shaft when I found my front wheel bearing on one side was deteriorating from the inside of the bearing cage. John D
Can I swap Chevy A-arms to replace the Buick? I have a set off of a '64 or '65 El Camino. BTW, the tires were rotated and balanced with 500 lbs of forced placed on the tires by the balance machine.
Your tire problem sounds eerily like an ordeal I went through some years back. When I hit 60mph, like someone threw a switch, my front wheels would suddenly become out-of-balance. Sometimes sooner, if I hit a bump or curve. Wierd as hell. After troubleshooting through all my options, removing the tire showed a pint of water in there. Condensation shot in there from the prior owner's compressor, probably.
Another thing to check is the brake drums to make sure they're in balance. There is usually a small weight on the drum for balance. If that came off it could do what you're talking about.
sometimes u need to balance the tires to the 1/4 ounce. u need to check the lateral & radial runouts of each wheel and tire.
I'm going to remove the tires and check the bearings, brake drums and swap on a different set of tires and take it for a ride, really soon. It is a real bummer having that great sounding car sitting in my garage and I can't enjoy driving it. Kurt
If you keep the 65 buick upper A- frame trunions and bushings lubed , they will last forever. They are better than chebbie units. I once put a nailhead in a 64 camino and it was a beast of a performer.
The front-end shop and tranny shop guys didn't think it was the pinion because of the speed of the vibration. I would say this is more of a bounce felt in the steering wheel which is going up and down. Maybe a shake is a good way to put it. Not engine related as it does it in neutral and the engine idleing. I did find some play in the idler arm, would that cause a shake? Kurt
