Reply To: Front Axle wedges

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Hi Philip,

The last thing you need is more confusion.. That’s what I get for working from my sieve like memory. Lets try this again.

As you mentioned the sagging springs aren’t helping you any but, other than that I would guess the wandering is caused by something other than caster angle. Since the box is good, I would look at tires, especially their age, toe-in, and tie rod ends. Adding some positive caster ( top of the upright tilted back toward the car) most often helps a shimmy.

One of the functions of caster is to make the car straighten itself out as it comes out of a turn, so if the caster angle is too negative (top of upright away from the car) it could be causing some trouble. Most likely the reason for the contradiction in the books is the axle to spring location. If the spring mounts under the axle you would shim from the front side. Since 30s Pierces have the spring mounted on top of the axle you shim from the back side. You would use the wedges as normal. In fact you don’t need a wedge. Old style front end shims will work or you can make your own flat shims.

Another function of positive caster is it makes the car steer heavier. Some folks crank in negative caster (top of the upright away from the car) to make the old cars steer easier. This could be contributing to your problem. You might try removing these shims as it sounds like the car has negative caster added. Establish a base line and go from there.

I don’t think the attachment came through fro your article.

Caster is referred to in opposite terms of camber.

I would think the sending unit would be a good place to start with your gas gauge.

Good luck

Rick