droptopford
10-10-2011, 11:01 PM
Hello,
I'm new here. I just found this forum and registered here this evening. I've been having a strange problem with my '59 Skyliner and thought I might get some ideas/suggestions from someone more knowledgable than myself.
This spring I bought a new set of Coker Classic WWWs (215 75R14s) for the car. One of the tires required more weight than I would have liked, but supposedly they're all balanced properly. I test drove the car at various speeds and didn't notice any issues.
A few weeks later, I drove the car again and noticed what I would call a 'hop' at around 50 MPH. It felt to me like a ply separation on one of the tires. I made plans to take the car to the shop and check the tires. On the way to the shop, the car rode perfecly smooth at all speeds.
Next time I drove the car it was 'hopping' at fifty again. It took me a while to realize it, but eventually I discovered that the 'hopping' only happens when the top is down. As soon as I put it back up, everything smooths out.
I figured it had something to do with weight-shift on the suspension, maybe too much weight on the rear or too little on the front. The shocks seemed to be ok but since they were the original equipment and more than 50 years old, I figured it couldnt hurt to replace them. I replaced all four shocks (with KYB gas type). The problem didn't change one bit.
I rotated both the rear tires to the front and fronts to the rear...still hops with the top down.
Any ideas/suggestions?
Clark
By the way, the car is basically a one-owner car, 38,000 miles, all original but the paint. Never restored, only maintained.
I'm new here. I just found this forum and registered here this evening. I've been having a strange problem with my '59 Skyliner and thought I might get some ideas/suggestions from someone more knowledgable than myself.
This spring I bought a new set of Coker Classic WWWs (215 75R14s) for the car. One of the tires required more weight than I would have liked, but supposedly they're all balanced properly. I test drove the car at various speeds and didn't notice any issues.
A few weeks later, I drove the car again and noticed what I would call a 'hop' at around 50 MPH. It felt to me like a ply separation on one of the tires. I made plans to take the car to the shop and check the tires. On the way to the shop, the car rode perfecly smooth at all speeds.
Next time I drove the car it was 'hopping' at fifty again. It took me a while to realize it, but eventually I discovered that the 'hopping' only happens when the top is down. As soon as I put it back up, everything smooths out.
I figured it had something to do with weight-shift on the suspension, maybe too much weight on the rear or too little on the front. The shocks seemed to be ok but since they were the original equipment and more than 50 years old, I figured it couldnt hurt to replace them. I replaced all four shocks (with KYB gas type). The problem didn't change one bit.
I rotated both the rear tires to the front and fronts to the rear...still hops with the top down.
Any ideas/suggestions?
Clark
By the way, the car is basically a one-owner car, 38,000 miles, all original but the paint. Never restored, only maintained.