M35A3 super shimmy!

[Warren Lovell]

Anyone have a shimmy at around 35-40 mph in their M35A3?
Any ideas? The shaking goes right up the steering shaft. Turning the wheels slightly to right and left seems to lessen the issue, or until I either go faster or slow down....

 

[cattlerepairman]

I would start with the usual culprits on the frame - check draglink, kingpin etc. for play. Wheel bearing play? Check alignment. Any wear marks on the tires? Front shocks dead?

Front tires could be whacko out of balance. It has happened that there is caked, rubbed-off tire material stuck on the inside of a tire. That would do it...

Maybe someone can check in with a redneck method of tire balancing/balance check. Maybe lift wheel off the ground, spin it by hand, wait until it comes to a standstill and put chalk mark to mark the bottom spot of the tire. Spin again. If the chalk mark is at the bottom again after the wheel stops spinning, you may have an out of balance wheel. Just a thought.

 

[R Racing]

Check ur toe in and see how off it is.From what I have been told it should be close to 0.

 

[Economist]

I am new to the A3 ownership, so maybe this is too basic. My shimmy came from there being no counterweight. The weight was on the spare. When I pulled it off and installed on the offending tire, the shimmy was gone.

Hope that helps.

 

[Warren Lovell]

Thanks guys, I will start the check up. Tires look fairly new, shocks look brand new, it has 6200 miles with even tire wear. Other than the shimmy/wobble feel at cetain speeds - she drives nice! Definetly easier than the A2. (threw that comment in their to divide the deuce owners, thus creating a civil war)

 

[mktopside]

Thanks guys, I will start the check up. Tires look fairly new, shocks look brand new, it has 6200 miles with even tire wear. Other than the shimmy/wobble feel at cetain speeds - she drives nice! Definetly easier than the A2. (threw that comment in their to divide the deuce owners, thus creating a civil war)

It's the normal out of balance A3 wheel thing.

#1: It'll get better the more you drive it.

#2: Add additional lug nuts to the studs opposite of the CTIS shield to "balance" the wheel.

Between driving it, and messing around with the balance, the vibration is all but gone on mine.



Oh yea, check your bearings and all that good stuff for safety and stuff

 

[flyxpl]

Mine was missing a counterweight in the rear and had the shake , it got better after I added the counterweight but still has some shimmy at the 48 - 50 mph range . If I take it to 55 it smooths out but then I am turning the engine a little fast . I have a set of hemmit rims and 395 tires that I am hoping will cure the problem .
You could rotate the front tires to the back and see if it gets better . The fronts will wear different then the back and should probally be rotated often .

 

[hellrayzor1]

Just replace the A3 with a good ol reliable A2, problem solved

 

[glcaines]

Try running 55 psi in the tires. The higher pressure makes my A3 run much smoother.

 

[Warren Lovell]

Okay, increasing tp to 55...then I'll 21st drive it.

 

[mktopside]

Just replace the A3 with a good ol reliable A2, problem solved

Nah, I'm sure he prefers to keep his engine parts inside the engine. I've heard you guys have problems with that? Isnt the multifuel only supposed to last like 2 oil changes or something before it self destructs?

 

[jdoktor83]

My A3 had a shimmy as well when I picked it up from gl. I checked to see if the wheel weights were on the tires and they all were. So I looked at it alittle longer and the wheel weight wasn't on the right stud opposite of the ctis cover. When I got home I moved it back one stud and walla smooth as a 43" tire can be. Oh and A2 owners are just jealous of the A3's.

 

[Dustyh]

We took all the CTIS stuff and counter weights off our truck and that solved our problem. We are also running 70 psi in our tires.

 

[mktopside]

We took all the CTIS stuff and counter weights off our truck and that solved our problem. We are also running 70 psi in our tires.

They do drive A Lot better with cranked up tire pressure.

FYI....C&M can custom program your CTIS computer to whatever psi you want.

 

[trukhead]

Wobbly Wheels

I bought two M35 A3 wheels from Ft. Polk and they still had the castin lines on the threads. However one wheel was half full of water and the counterweight on the other wheel was in the wrong spot. both wheels will be disassembled when I get ambitious.

The wheels on my A3 are out of balance above 50 mph but I only go that fast 2% of the time. I bought some more of the rim bolts so I thought about adding some to see if the wheels can be brought more in balance, again if I feel ambitious.

 

[Ord22]

hellrayzor
nice avator! is that yours?

 

[glcaines]

We took all the CTIS stuff and counter weights off our truck and that solved our problem. We are also running 70 psi in our tires.

Running 70 psi is not good. The tires can take it, but the wheels are limited to 60 psi max. That's why I stop at 55 psi.

 

[Dustyh]

glcaines, just curious why the wheels would only be rated to 60psi. Were did you find that info, is it stamped on the wheel? We are using our truck to fight wildfires and everyone else that has them and still running the CTIS stuff are having problems running the tires of the rim. We have yet to have any problems with ours, I will have to check into the 60psi rating. All I read was the info on the tire which stated max pressure was 80psi I believe.

 

[trukhead]

A3 rims

I will check on some brand new A3 rims in the shed durong the daylight. I believe I saw the stamped with a max psi rating and it was not close to the 80 psi rating on the tires.

 

[AceHigh]

I bet the wheels are not the issue. I think the "O" rings in the wheels are only rated at 60 psi or so. Should not be an issue if you do not use CTIS as the wheel valve will isolate the "O" rings.