Having a bad day ..please help

so .. 1954 chevy was driving and i heard a knock and a shake ... Here the weird part not so much shake of the wheel but the whole car ... i made it home. and got car in air to notice 2 of my tie rods were bend .... ok no problem ... 70 bucks put them in ... drove it .. just so i could say ...fixed ya sucker .. but i still have the shake( the whole car shakes ) when i accerate .

- facts
i replaced tie rods that were bent . but i dont think that was the real issue .

- when i back out of my drive way i heard a knock .

- i have a slight oil leak in the tranny but nothing major and there oil in it .
- i have a torque tube
- i adjust the shift linkage last week ....,but i drove it a few times with no issue ..

please help me problem solve . thanks to everyone . jake .
has this happened to anyone .??

keyword: torq tube, shakes, vibrations, tranny,

 

This isn't gonna help any, but when I read "a knock and a shake" it reminded me of the day I stuck a rod through the block on my old '57 Ford. It knocked, it shook, and then it puked up a bunch of oil and died. Hope you have better luck.

 

Broken Motor or trans mount?

 

thanks man ,, but at idle it runs like a top .. its when i accerate thats when i feel it ... i dont wanna mess with the linkage and add to the factors

 

i'm guessing tranny mount too!

 

Is the front suspension stock? A '54 still has kingpins; have you checked those?

 

i thought motor mount . but it doesn't vibrate when just sitting only in gear while accerating.. i have a torq tube set up ... what else ... anyone ...
... so keep the thoughts coming ...

 

stock front end .. but the shifter on column shakes just as bad during acceration

 

tranny mount make sense ..... what can cause this in the torq tube

 

Bingo!

 

Dude,

Tie rods don't just bend themselves. Did you hit something?
Is the engine knocking when the car shakes, or does the car shake when you press the clutch while coasting?

Shaking car could be driveline, or could be "death wobble" from front end possibly related to the cause of the bent tie rods.

I got nothing against Oprah, but why would you picture her in your avatar?

 

Check driveshaft ujoint inside the torque tube where it meets the transmission.

 

Could it be simply clutch chatter?

 

My 52 with the original 216 has side motor mounts, they look ok and it idles like butter BUT man go around a corner and the whole motor leans over, the column shift wiggles etc... Maybe your u-joint failed? There are bushings inside the torque tube that the drive shaft runs in too. My tranny mount was shot and I had some noise and vibs until I relaced it. You sure your trtanny has oil in it? It can puke all it's oil into the torque tube if the oil seal in the tube is shot. There is a combo bushing/seal you can get for these cars. Hopefully you did not break something in the tranny itself.

 

This might, or might not help... I'll throw it out there for consideration.
If nothing else, it's an interesting tale about one of the strangest things I've ever encountered.
O/T FWD minivan was doing the EXACT same thing.
Running, riding, driving perfectly. Even @ 70 mph, the ride was perfect, but as soon as you mash the acellerator, the thing would vibrate like crazy. I checked everything, but could find nothing wrong with it.
Had the tires ballanced, and the problem went away for a few weeks, then came back.
Took it to a front end shop, and they checked it over and found no issues.
Replaced both CV joints, but no change.

This went on for over a year, and every few weeks I'd have to go get the tires ballanced and rotated to keep the vibration in check.

Damn near drove me crazy!

One day I decided to fix the damn problem no matter what it cost. Started tearing the front end apart, and FINALLY found the drivers side McPhearson strut was the culprit.

The cup that sealed the shaft to the top of the tube had come out. The strut was still working perfectly, but every time I hit the go pedal, it would "load" the strut with just enough force to cock the shaft out of position. If the tire was out of ballance, the "cocked" suspension geometry would accentuate the vibration.

As soon as I let up off the gas, the strut would return to it's normal position, geometry would return to normal, and the vibration was gone!

Of course, none of this applies to you, but it's one of those things that makes you think, and grin.

Good luck! Hope it's something simple like a shock or out of ballance tire.

 

bent tie rods, seem to lead towards a impact by the front wheel,

engine vibration is a totally different venue, to disaster at the same time not likely, bu tif you hit something with the front wheels the back could have had the same impact.

even though you have a torque tube you still could have a broken or bad u joint up front this coule cause a vibration on accel. trans mount , motor and other could have failed during the impact.

again bent tie rods sounds like a impact

 

i think the tie rod were bent for years ..i was looking and came across that .

 

ok so far .. im thinking check tranny mount, check joint at rear tranny

 

not death wobble .. car drive straight as an arrow,.. just shakes apon accceration .. thanks you hambers .. and as far as avitar... im the guy with the ophra pic .... thanks for the brain storming

 

I would check motor and tranny mounts as stated above...also, the word is "acceleration".

 

Ditto what many others have said - either, or both, a bad engine mount or tranny mount. Either one of these would give you the exact instance you are describing of the engine running smooth at idle but bucks upon acceleration.

Think about what is happening. At idle there is very little torque acting upon the motor mounts or the trans mounts, but upon acceleration the torque increases substantilly and the engine is trying to twist itself out of the mounts. That is, in my opinion, why your car is bucking when you accelerate. You can observe this yourself by simplt revving the engine while the trans is in neutral. If the motor mount is bad you will see the engine try to twist itself out of the engine mount that is broken. A similar thing will happen if a trans mount is bad.

Good luck...

 

Easy check for motor mounts: Find a block or a big log or something, chock your wheels with it, open hood, put it in gear and give it some gas while watching through the hood. If the motor lifts or moves a bunch, a mount is bad.

I suppose you could have someone look underneath to see if the trans moves out of place while you do the same thing, but I'm not sure it will be as visible - while I'm sure it can move enough to give you a bunch of shake, it doesn't take much to do that. I suppose you could do something like chain the trans case to the crossmember and give a spin around the block, but if the trans isn't in place it's still going to shake.

 

Id say the same thing broken motor mount or trans ,Id lean towards motor mount .

 

Put a jack under that motor and slowly push it up. You'll know right away!

 

I'm thinking your bent tie rods were a sign of the problem.54 and earlier chevs used that center mounted idler arm-when an engine mount breaks and the engine goes down or forward guess what it hits-center link and tie rods!Your shake on acceleration is the rear end and torque tube trying to push the engine forward with whatever is left of the other mounts pulling it back.

 

Dude thats a great day considering how much worse it could be.

My brakes went out in my 61,' so to stop the car I had to destroy the powerglide automatic that I JUST HAD rebuilt, and had not paid for. Now i have to pay for new brake system, and two auto tranny rebuilds. That was my depressing day, but that kinda shit will happen.

 

Camel that made me feel a little better ....thanks guys and gal ...im gonna check it out 2mrow after work

 

How long after you R&R'd the trans did thid start happening?

 

Hey dude, crank your car up, if its a std., drop her in first, apply the emergency brakes and step on the brake pedal both, rev the motor slightly, putting a load to the trans and motor, everything to the rearend is gonna be stressed....if somethings loose or amiss....believe me, its gonna rear its ugly head at ya.....have someone looking under the car and under the hood too.

Doing this will tear up motor mounts and transmission mounts, ujoints, ring and pinions....so if you got a stout motor, don't go a snatchin and a grabbin.....or you'll be a pickin up parts!

Hope this helps.........

 

thanks guys checked motor mount... its on there but its just really worn ..the rubber is soft like cheeze! im gunna put a new one in . and see if it helps ... old cars suck some times ,...

hey torr . whats good? it started happening 2-3 months after ... The last issue was finding 2nd. not cuz of tranny but linkage ... which would also could be caused but worn tranny mount