shimmy in my pickle

[Chip]

I got a question for the masses and would appreciate any thoughts, ideas, or "hold my beer, try this" causes and cures for a small problem I got,,

in pulling my tear, it tracks great,, and the back end doesnt sway or move around but when looking in the side rear view I notice a bit of side to side movement,, almost a vibration movement,, its not over half to an inch but its still there about half the time,, it comes and goes fairly regular,, it will be there and then quit and then start back again,,, and this is only visible in the rear view, and not from behind the trailer,,

I have checked the alignment and the coupler to the outside of the axle is maybe a 16th difference,, tires measure aligned measureing from one tire to the other,, bolts are tight on the axle,,I have checked the obvious,,

I have a fairly long tongue and a light weight trailer(600lbs) give or take a little,, and close to 10% tongue weight,,,

Is this a problem and should I be concerned or is the pickle just excited to be on the road??

thanks in advance ,,

chipper

[mikeschn]

Chip, I just reviewed your build album, and nothing really jumps out at me.

It looks like you have a boat trailer. Have you check the torsion axle to see if there could be any side to side play?

Your walls look rigid enough... but could it be like a drum surface with the wind blowing across it? Or does your chassis shake too?

I know you wouldn't drive down the street with loose bearings, broken welds, or anything like that...

So therefore, I can only conclude that you've got a live pickle, and she's excited... I recommend some whiskey to calm her down! You could give her some pickle juice too, if you have enough left over!

Mike...

[Nitetimes]

how about a bubble on a tire or broken belts. If you jack it up and spin the tires you should be able to see if the belts are broken. The tread'll have a squigle to it.

[PaulC]

Sounds like harmonics to me. Does it only happen at a certain speed? Check wheel balance on your trailer and the rear wheels of your tow vehicle. An almost unnoticeable shimmy in your vehicle will be magnified at the end of your trailer. Could also be caused by slight misalignment of the rear axle of your tow vehicle.
Cheers
Paul

[SteveH]

I agree with Paul, have the trailer tires ballanced. It sounds to me like a trailer tire is shaking because of ballance and it would be amplified by carrying such a light load. Just my thoughts.

[PaulC]

By the way Chip, slightly unbalanced wheels only show up at certain speeds. chronically unbalanced wheels can make a vehicle undriveable at any speed. The prob I mentioned with the misaligned rear axle of your tow vehicle may only be very slight but add it to a very slight misalignment the opposite way on the trailer and bingo-- shakey-doo
Cheers
Paul

[madjack]

...unbalanced wheel/tire combo or broken belts in the tires...if you can get them spin balanced, I'd do that first(along with checking for that bubble Rich mentioned)...if that doesn't do the trick I'd turn the stereo up and adjust the mirrors out and up

[angib]

Chip,

As the trailer is light, how about experimenting with radically different tyre pressures (you could alter the tire pressures too....)? 5 or 10 miles with only 10psi isn't going to cause a problem and it would be interesting to know if the shimmy got better or worse. Or if you're already running low pressures, try switching to maximum pressure.

The change might only be temporary, but if it made the shimmy go away, then at least you'd know it was fixable.

Andrew

[PaulC]

...unbalanced wheel/tire combo or broken belts in the tires...if you can get them spin balanced, I'd do that first(along with checking for that bubble Rich mentioned)...if that doesn't do the trick I'd turn the stereo up and adjust the mirrors out and up

[Darren]

this is only visible in the rear view, and not from behind the trailer,,
chipper

Is your mirror loose?

[Chip]

I havent checked the balance on the tires,, guess thats an obvious I just havent done,,, Mike I am not sure about the frame since the box fits down over the frame and is bolted thru the 3/4 inch floor and into the frame with 1/2" bolts,, its solid,, I will check the tires and see if that works,, also I am running 14" car tires and about 20 to 24 lbs of air,, but I need to double check to make sure its even on both sides,, As far as the rear axle on the tow car,, the tires have about 50,000 on them,(75,000) tires and have a lot of tread left,, and they are not wearing odd at all,,I had one thought that some air buffeting off the car, or something else is causing the tongue to flex like a spring back and forth , just a thought on my feeble brain

got some things to look at,, thanks for ya'lls input

chipper

[subtearanean]

I have to agree with the idea of an inbalance.

Have you had the loose nut behind the wheel looked at?

[mikeschn]

subtearanean is in a mood tonight, can't you tell?

Mike...

[Chip]

Sub,, if its after 5 somewhere then the loose nut is definately being tightened,,, well getting tight,,,

heck I like the idea of adjusting the mirrows and bumping the cruise up another 5 mph,,, sure would hate to loose the trailer somewhere between here and thar,,

chipper

[Will Smith]

...unbalanced wheel/tire combo or broken belts in the tires...if you can get them spin balanced, I'd do that first(along with checking for that bubble Rich mentioned)...if that doesn't do the trick I'd turn the stereo up and adjust the mirrors out and up

my kinda fix! But where does the baling wire go?