Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Mark In New Zealand.
Acquaintance of mine has a 1928 Packard six,this is NZ 1928 maybe USA 1927, we had strange gags with models as the shipping ex the states and availability was not very regular.
This car has the bad steering shimmying of that era. What I would like to know is, any availability of,sketches, drawings,
in fact any info on the "Spring Trunnion Bracket" that was introduced by Packard(then copied by others)onto the 1928 Packard Six.
Mark.C.

Sorry, I don't have any specific data or engineering drawings of the trunnion block. But based on my 34 Eight which also has the trunnion, if your front end is tight, properly aligned, and tires balanced etc., you really should only experience shimmy in very unusual situations, like crossing poorly-laid railroad tracks that run at a diagonal to the road, or similar circumstances. If you experience shimmy at other times, I'd start checking for loose spring shackles, loose or worn tie rod or pitman arm ends, etc. If you find nothing loose, then think about alignment and wheel balance. Home this helps, keep us posted, others have had this problem and usually found something simple, like the U-bolts that hold the axle to the spring perches, or similar.

Unfortunately,our NZ roads have quite pronounced cambers with
undulating surfaces especially in Canterbury where the car is. Canterbury has large flattish plains going from the coast to the mountains,these plains were made by material washed down from the mountains and are not the best base for building roads on,hence the undulations.The steering remains OK until a hump or a hollow has to be negotiated, then the shimmying starts.

Quote:
G'day Mark,
to PackardInfo from a guy across the ditch! What's the chances of getting your friend to join PackardInfo himself and including his '28 in the Owner Registry together with a pic, any known history and how he acquired it? And is he a member of the NZ Packard Club, South Pacific Packards? There should be guys there who could help him.

A steering damper would help. This is a sort of horizontal shock absorber that bolts on between the steering and chassis. German cars use them, and they are sold as an accessory for 4 wheel drive trucks. The truck model should work on your car.

I know it's not 100% authentic but it should be possible to install one without modifying the car so it can be removed without leaving any evidence it was there.

Interesting and detailed thread over on the AACA Packard Forum started by Ken(Tbirdman). May help.

forums.aaca.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/553148/Can_you_say_shimmy#Post553148

Mark,

Are you asking about the trunnion because you need to repair yours, or because you want to add it to your car?

Tom

This car was acquired in bad condition with no trunion bracket, if we could see what one looks like and does then one could be acquired, bought or manufactured. The car has been restored.