Not sure if it normal, but I notice that when I take my vehicle on the freeway (fully rebuilt stock suspension & steering box rebuilt) my car is not stable when driving passed 55 miles. I notice car wonders a little bit would this be normal? Not sure, also would anybody know of any upgrades for stock suspension on a 57 Fairlane to improve drivability? Any advise would help. Thanks in advance.
Do you know what your alignment specs are? Caster keeps the car straight but it makes it harder to steer. Our cars are not designed for a lot of caster hence the wandering. There are things you can do to add positive caster to the car like putting aftermarket control arms on it. Not cheap....
Does the car have bias ply tires?
Is it in areas of the freeway that the concrete is grooved? Does it do it on a paved asphalt road?
I seem to remember the main freeway near his house in Rio Rancho is really nice, smooth, recently repaved asphalt.
I had the car aligned by an alignment shop that has been around for a long time. I remember when I installed new tires (radial Coker tires) suspension was rebuilt and aligned. It just does not feel not quite right passed 55mph. Freeway is pretty smooth where I live by.
Same here. Max caster and extra toe in. Although I drive 70 - 80 on the Interstate. I think its the nature of the beast. MY 55 Willys Aero actually wanders less but it does not have selector power steering which seems to always have looseness.
Problem here as I see it, is that it's pretty difficult for us to know, just by your description, if it's an actual problem, or as Thomasso stated, just the nature of the beast. You're not old enough to know what these cars handled like back in the 50s. There was always a bit of back and forth with the steering wheel just to keep them on course. It's nothing like the cars now where the steering wheel is always pretty much steady. That was one of the things I smiled about when I first drove my '57 before it became the project it did......there was always a steady movement with your wheel back and forth, and as soon as I remembered that from the past, it brought a huge smile to my face. Not having grown up with that, I could see where it might be a bit scary. Just a guess.
Like Rich said, these cars, even new, drive nothing like a modern car. My 59 has every suspension and steering component replaced with new ,as well as a rebuilt steering box, and radial tires, but it is still very different from a modern car. Also the slow, 4 turn lock to lock steering means more steering wheel movement is required to make a turn than a newer car. Also, what are you running for pressure in your radials?
Thanks for all the great feedback, I just wanted to know if it was "Normal" or I need it to do something else or I was missing something. I really enjoy driving the car in the freeway with the back & forth. I also hear that if I upgrade to a 1958-1958 steering wheel (column included) I should see an improvement in the way it handles.
'58 or new steering BOX
does your Fairlane have a Continental kit?
Does the rear set lower than the front?
Tires can make a big difference, at least on my wife's car. A high mileage. +40k mile, tire causes the rear of the car to shift back and forth like you're on ice.
Yup, the older suspensions just don't feel like the new stuff does. Friend had an early car (40 Olds) that would feel like it wanted to drive itself all over the road. He spent hours looking for a fix. After I put several miles on the car with him driving and me behind the wheel we finally figured maybe the caster was wrong. He got back to the house and looked at the alignment specs, sure enough, zero degrees.
After not finding a good solution and several more miles of me behind the wheel it became apparent he/me were "chasing the wheel". Turned out that if you simply held the wheel rather then trying to correct the car would settle back to where it was. So after all the "learning" was done he became very comfortable running 70 - 75 with the rest of us.