The front end shakes?

[Mark B]

My first foray to find airstream wisdom.... Drove the 95 land yacht ( about 60k miles on it ) from Wisconsin to.S Ca for family Christmas. We keep it between 60 and 65 and it feels like I have unbalanced ties with a bouncy shake. However it is intermittent. New front tires within the year. The guy put a little bag of graphite in the tires and said it would perennially balance.? The trip included several long crawls though slow to stop and go traffic. At slow speeds it felt sometimes like a Flintstone mobile...rocking wobble. Checked and filled the front bags to 70-75 no discernible change. Thinking of changing out the steering damper/shock?

[Protagonist]

Before trying anything too esoteric, have you considered simply checking the front end alignment?

[masseyfarm]

Welcome to the AF Mark. Sorry to hear you have some problems with your unit. Sounds to me like a wheel/tire problem, but one other thing that can cause this type of bounce/wobble, is a bent driveshaft or alighnment of such.

I take that this unit is new to you?

Dave

Originally Posted by Mark B

My first foray to find airstream wisdom.... Drove the 95 land yacht ( about 60k miles on it ) from Wisconsin to.S Ca for family Christmas. We keep it between 60 and 65 and it feels like I have unbalanced ties with a bouncy shake. However it is intermittent. New front tires within the year. The guy put a little bag of graphite in the tires and said it would perennially balance.? The trip included several long crawls though slow to stop and go traffic. At slow speeds it felt sometimes like a Flintstone mobile...rocking wobble. Checked and filled the front bags to 70-75 no discernible change. Thinking of changing out the steering damper/shock?

[Mark B]

We've had it since 04. Will look at alignment and retest engine/drivetrain empty vs road speed. Maybe that would isolate or eliminate the drive shaft possibility?

[HowieE]

If the problem is intermittent I would look at the front brake rotors especially if the problem shows up while braking.

If you do go for an alignment make sure you go to a truck shop and not a car dealer.

[richinny]

on an older vehicle you can have an accumulation of wear in the front end. while installing new dampener(s) might help a thorough front end check it needed. often a bump starts the oscillations. hopefully it is something simple like a bad tire or a thrown weight.

[bwoodtx]

Of course everyone has their own opinion and mine is this. I would jack up the front end and check the following:

Wheel bearing end play
Tire rods
Steering link
Ball joints
Bent wheel

If you are not mechanically inclined or inclined to do this yourself, as mentioned before a reputable frame and alignment shop that specializes in trucks can check these items for you. Also take the technician on a test ride. He would probably enjoy and also get a feel for your concerns,

[Waipio Rim]

The fact that you feel it at very slow speeds says "tire" to me, here is another thread on an older Argosy with similar symptoms:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f160...ce-111136.html