Wobble in floor banking right turns only

[PhillySpider]

Hey Folks, like the subject says, I'm getting a wobblie, vibrating kinda knocking feeling from what feels like the middle of the drivers side floor pan. Nothing like this when banking a left turn, but consistant at any speed with any kind of moderate to hard right turn. Lugs are all tight on the wheels. Looking for you guidence of what to check and how. Thanks in advance!

[baltobernie]

Sounds serious. Structural rust, maybe? Place a floor jack at the pinch weld (Bottom seam of the rocker panel that runs the length of the body) at the mid-point of the car, aligned with the driver's door jamb. Begin jacking the car up, and watch the door gap for distortion. These are tough, stiff little cars compared with their British equivalents. You should be able to jack the side of the car completely off the ground, and the drivers door should still open and close.

Another possibility is rust along the seat rails, particularly the outboard ones. All roadsters leak water, and along this rail is the lowest point in the car, where the water is trapped. The rails (like just about everything else on this unibody car) are structural and critical to the integrity of the car.

Then there's shock tower rust, a topic well-rehearsed on this forum. But you'd feel that more in your hands than your butt.

Know anybody with a hydraulic lift? Perhaps an underbody examination will reveal all.

[baltobernie]

You had a front wheel wobble issue in a previous post. Did you get that sorted? Might this new problem be a recurrence?

[PhillySpider]

It's not at my butt, but at my feet. The car is practically rust free other than some minor surface rust on the undercarriage as you'd expect, with most of the original under coat in tact.

As mentioned in the OP, all wheel lugs are tight. Only feel this in the floor on right turns...

[klweimer]

Wheel bearing? Bubble in the tire sidewall?
Kirk

[PhillySpider]

Now I feel like a helpless noob . Jacked her up high w/jack stands on both sides and got under for a good visual after taking off the drivers front wheel. I found one loose bolt in the front drivers wheel well which was one of 3 used to mount something on the other side. What the something is, I don't know, but it had what looks to me to be part of the steering set up that turns the wheels. I could barely get a ratchet in and due to only being able to grip and move nanometers at a time I couldn't get it torqued down as tight as I'd have liked. I buttoned her up and went for a test drive through some nice S turns by my house. I thought it was gone, but did still feel a slight wobble in the floor after a few turns. I'll have to get back under, hopefully today, and snug things up a bit. On another note, I did discover about a 2" long x 1/4 to 1/2" spot where the transmission tunnel meets the floor pan that's rusted through .

[baltobernie]

Perhaps the steering damper? Good to hear that the problem was mechanical, with a high probability of satisfactory repair. (Now you know why the Owner's Manual says to tighten all the nuts and bolts on the car every 5,000 miles ).

Get that tunnel/floorpan seam welded up soon; it is a critical structural item. I've seen a car with the tunnel cut out for salvage purposes; the car folds in half like a paper toy when this part is removed.

[DieselSpider]

In the drivers wheel well with three bolts is the steering box while the idler arm with the damper is on the passenger side with two bolts.