vibrtation

[rxhvn]

Hi, I have a 1978 spider, it is new to me and appears to be in great shape but it seems to vibrate a lot. I feel it in the shifter and the gas pedal as well, although not as bad as in the shifter. I live in a small town and don't know anyone else that has a fiat that I could drive and see what is normal. I love the care but it doesn't feel safe above 60 mph at least not to me. Any advice would be great thanks! p.s. I would add a pic if I could figure out how....lol

[RRoller123]

This is a procedure that I have been developing for a little while on how to post pictures here in the Forum. Hope it is useful, and comments are always welcome.

HOW TO POST PICTURES IN FIATSPIDER.COM

Well that picture-posting thing sure is confusing. Took me forever to figure it out. Here is what I do:

First, you must post your pictures on photobucket.com or one of the similar competing websites. You can't post pics directly from your computer. So set up a free account there first. The instructions here reference photobucket.com.

Then in your FS.com post, look for the "Img" box at the top of the post, #9 from the left in the row of command icons.

Put the cursor where you want the pic to appear in the post (leave a few spaces after text is a good idea) and click the "Img" button/icon above.

Then go to the photobucket.com site (or competitor) and find your pic. Hover the cursor over the pic and a drop down menu will appear. Then click the "Direct Link" or similar button. In Photobucket, it will respond with a "copied" indication.

Go back to your FS.com post and make sure the cursor is EXACTLY in between the 2 Img boxes: [img](cursor%20in%20here)[/img] then right click and hit "paste" and the web link for the pic will show up in between the 2 img boxes. DON'T hit the IMG button a second time. MOVE your cursor out of the IMG info you just created before you hit enter.

Now when you post the post, the pic will be there!

Remember that if you delete the photobucket "master" pic, it will no longer appear in the posting here on FS.com

Also: there is a size limit to the pictures that can be displayed here, I think it is 750 pixels in width, someone correct me if I am wrong. So you may need to resize (typically downsize) the pics so that they fit properly and all of the pic is displayed and not cropped. What I do is really simple: I email the original picture to myself within AOL. AOL will automatically prompt you to see if you want the picture "optimized". Say "yes" and send this new pic to yourself. I then save it with a "small" addendum to the picture name and put this optimized picture up on photobucket. It works every single time like a charm.

[spidernut]

Your Spider should run smooth. It shouldn't vibrate. The cause of the problem will depends on the type of vibration. Does it vibrate at all speeds, does it grow worse at higher speeds, does it seem to be coming from the front suspension, rear or mid-car, is it more like a bounce (out of round or imbalanced tires), a shimmy (suspension or steering linkage), or just a vibration?

Here are some common culprits that are fairly easy to check.

1. Flex disc - if it is cracked, loose or damaged in any way it can cause a vibration. If it fails, the drive shaft can come loose and I've seen it tear holes through the transmission tunnel. It can be visually inspected from beneath the car.

2. Drive shaft support - look for tearing of the rubber or a failed bearing



3. Tire balance - out of round tires or tires out of balance can cause mild to severe vibrations

4. Loose wheels - check to ensure lugs are tight

5. Failing U-joints

There are many other possible causes. If you can provide some additional information I'm sure we can all help locate the issue.

[rxhvn]

It gets worse the faster I go, I will check the suggestions and let you know.....Thanks so much I really appreciate the help.

[azruss]

I agree with these guys. you are probably looking at a driveline issue. If you replace the carrier bearing, be aware that you need to keep the same orientation with the front and rear drive shafts. If the vibration goes away with the motor running and the car still, then the driveline is a good guess.

[bobplyler]

I would do the simple stuff first.
1- Make sure that the wheel bolts are tight.
2- Check the tire pressure
3- Check the wheel balance.

After that, it gets more expensive

[redcars]

You do not say where you are at. There may be a spider owner closer to you than you think. There are a lot of people here on the fourm that would be willing to let you see what a proper running spider is like if you are not to fare away. I myself am always looking for a place to take a drive to and it is getting closer to the end of the driving season here.

[rxhvn]

Im located in Port Angeles Wa. so if anyone is close that would be greatly appreciated, thanks

[rxhvn]

So I just finished putting a third member in my spider and that seems to have fixed most of my vibration, Im going to replace the flexible joint in the driveline tomorrow, I would have done it weeks ago but it has been in the body shop the last couple weeks due to a careless driver who changed lanes into me its all better now though I will let ya know how the drive line goes thanks again for all the advise I really appreciate it