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Old 10-06-2017, 10:31 PM   #35
Dannny B
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Van Nuys, California
Posts: 186
Re: NAPCO C-50 Chevy restoration,, almost lost it

I took my chevy for only the second drive since I got it together. I'm still working on the dump bed. The truck is way low-geared and I wanted to see if it would reach highway speed. Night time, WIDE street,,, I pushed it to 55 mph. All of a sudden, it began shaking VIOLENTLY, all over the road. I let off the gas but, nothing would bring back control. I finally locked up the brakes to try to save it. I ended up in the center and aimed backwards and crosswise.
It was so violent that the back step bumper ripped off. The tags are expired and I didn't want to hang around. I lost all my rear lights when the bumper ripped off. I picked up the pieces and took off. After about 2 miles I heard a noise and smelled something bad. The battery was upside down being whacked by the fan. I had to grab the wet battery and pull it up to the tray. The fan sprayed acids around the engine compartment.
Fortunately, the truck restarted but, I was in traffic without lights. I finally made it back home and washed down the battery and my hands.
In the second leg of the trip, the mudflaps and license plate disappeared.

The front axle can set up an oscillation just because it wants to. Even if you have hold of the steering wheel, the entire axle can shift side-to-side.
This is from a Jeep site.
"There are few things more terrifying than experiencing "death wobble" in your Jeep for the very first time. More times than not, it'll happen out of the blue soon after hitting a bump in the road or a pot hole, driving over a rough set of rail road tracks or even after driving over rhythmic sections of expansion joints in a concrete laid highway. The sensation is unbelievably violent and so much so that it can feels as if your whole Jeep is about to tear itself apart. You literally feel as if you're about to die and the only way to get it to stop is to bring your Jeep to a stop. Unfortunately, some people become so traumatized by death wobble that they become reluctant to drive their Jeep again and others go so far as to sell it."

The article talks all about maintaining your "track bar". The Chevy doesn't have a track bar but, I rsoon will.

https://wayalife.com/showthread.php/...n-Do-to-Fix-it
BTW, the battery is new. I patched the hole with The Right Stuff
and it is fine.
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