MTFCA Forum

Why does the front tires, mostly the front left I believe, bow in like it is about to collapse when I turn to the left.

I tighten the wheel that kinda helped, but not much. The inner bearings were not very tight. Is this a bad bearing situation?

It is still in the restoration stage. It is not street worthy. I drove it on the lawn.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Bob

Could be bearings or spokes or kingpin bushings. Jack it up grab the wheel and try to move it top-bottom, side to side and find out what is moving.

You probably need to rebuild the front end assembly. Jack the front end up, remove the radiator and you can take off the front end assembly in one piece.
Before you do make a check and see where there is any play in the steering assembly tie rods,
spindle bushings and bearings.

When you have the car raised up slowly turn the steering wheel back and forth and you can see what’s loose.
Hope this helps.

Not sure what you're describing. Can you post a picture?

You need to get the booklet on Front and Rear axles published by the club. It has illustrated step by step instructions on the axles. It is written for the do it yourself mechanic. There are 3 important measurements for the front axle. Castor, which is a tilting of the spindle forward at the bottom. This can become distorted by hitting curbs or potholes. Especially is this true on the older cars with the radius rods bolted over the front axle. Those hanger bolts can become bent and the axle will tilt back at the bottom instead or toward the front. The exact measurements are posted in the booklet.
A second measurement is camber. The bottom of the wheels should be closer together than the top of the wheels so they look like they are leaning outward at the top. Again the exact measurements are given in the booklet. Both the above measurements can only be adjusted by bending something. So the only way they can get out of adjustment is by bending something.
The third adjustment is the only one you can do easily. That is the toe in. Again the front of the tires are just a bit closer together than the rear of the wheels. This is adjusted by turning the end of the tie rod between the two wheels You can't get an exact adjustment this way, but can get close enough to work very well. You can only adjust by one complete turn. So I measure in the center of the tires at the point where it touches a square which is placed on a flat floor at the front of the wheel. I put a bit of masking tape at that point and make a mark in the center of the tire. Then I push the car so the wheel makes one half turn and measure between those two marks from the back of the tire. They should be closer in front than in back and again the correct measurement is also found in the booklet. I usually find the point where both front and back are the same then lengthen the rod to the next point where I can attach the bolt. It should be near the adjustment in the book
Before you do any of those measurements, however, you need to check for play in the spindle bushings, the tie rod ends and the wheel bearings. They must all be in good condition before you can get accurate adjustments. The wheel bearings should be removed and cleaned. Inspect the rollers and races for wear and replace in necessary. Then pack the bearings well with wheel bearing grease and install a new seal on the inner bearing and adjust the bearings so you feel a little drag and loosen just a tiny bit so the wheel spins freely but does not feel any slop or loosness in the bearing. Then install the washer with tab and the nut and tighten. Check that the wheel spins freely. Sometimes it will bind after the nut is tightend down and in that case you will need to turn the race just a little looser and tighten the nut again. Install the cotter pin.
Also check the steering box. The steering wheel should turn freely with less than two inches free play. The gear box below the steering wheel should be packed with grease. You will need to remove the steering wheel and the cover over the gear box to grease the gears. Be sure to install the screw to hold the cover in place. There is one other place on the steering column. which can show wear. That is the bushing in the bracket at the base of the column where it bolts to the frame. The ball joint under the rear of the engine where the radius rods should also be snug and greased. The nuts should be tightened on the springs and the two studs should be safety wired together. It is important to place the wire here not cotter pins because the studs could unscrew from the engine unless the studs are wired together.
Norm

Another thing I failed to mention, if you have wood spoke wheels, the spokes should be tight in the felloes and in the hub. They might need to be re-spoked if they are loose.
Norm

Norman Kling wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 22, 2020 9:51 pm

Another thing I failed to mention, if you have wood spoke wheels, the spokes should be tight in the felloes and in the hub. They might need to be re-spoked if they are loose.
Norm

That is what it sounds like to me.