[moneypit]

i have an 89 turbo targa. right now, its still stock. when i take the targa off, the car shakes as if the tires are not properly balanced at low speeds. around 45 mph the shake goes away. with the targa on, the shake is not there either. is this normal? is there anyway to fix it?

thanks
Ryan

 

[Rajunz]

Never heard of that one, your car may have been in a wreck before and wasn't fixed properly.

 

[hawkeye]

Go get an alignment. Mine shimmies a little just because of the loss of some structure, but its not that noticeable. Maybe invest in some targa tie bars.

 

[moneypit]

what are targa tie bars?

 

[hawkeye]

what are targa tie bars?

I'd yell at you to search, but I called them bars instead of braces so here ya go.

You can buy them here:
http://www.pacificnet.net/~isamu/TRP/TRP/targabars.htm
for 150 bucks.

And you can read about them here:
http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=90225&highlight=targa+brace

 

[mdcmotorsports]

Mine shimmies too... under hard breaking or accel with the targa off.... years of abuse and the body being soft without the targa.

 

[Kruso]

WTF, thats normal and is suppose to happen, thats the frame wobbling because thing about what it is thats keeping the front connected to the back. Pretty much the floor board. Normal.

Kruso

 

[moneypit]

thanks hawkeye.

however why would you yell at me to search....im still learning just like you did one day. i figured an easy answer from you wasnt a big deal instead of me spending time to look for something on here. after all, were all here to help each other out. so thanks alot for the links!! worth looking into.

ryan

 

[87Tmk3]

Moneypit, don't worry about the search thing. The only way to ride with the roof out and have no shimmies, is a full cage. You can try front and rear strut bars, but they want do much. By the way, our cars have sport roofs not targas. Would not someone yelling at you.
Dave

 

[Jeff Lange]

Well I guess it depends how bad it shakes. It's definitely noticable, but if it's really bad I'm not sure... there isn't really a scale for these kinds of things

 

[MrBoost]

Ok, educate me pls. Why is our roof not a targa? Cause it's hard and not a ragtop?

Are those targa bars really still in production? I thought there were not avail anymore. I still have a set from the first builder, they help the shimmy very much!

 

[Bishop92T]

Porsche's have Targa's, Supra's have Sport Roof's. According to official statements. It's the same damn thing, just a different official name.

 

[MrBoost]

Insert 'whoop-tee-doo' picture here.

 

[hawkeye]

I am really not sure if those bars are in production anymore. I'd PM John Carnes, but I think he got out of supras.. haven't seen him in a while. I know becauseican was working on a set, but I don't think those took shape either. Try PMing him too.

 

[AWIDESUPIE]

I call it Targa. The only difference that I could think of would be that Porsche targas have clips (pull/push lever to clip a hook on/off an attatchment bar).

Supras and Vettes have the roof screwed in by allen bolts.

The slight movement that you sense with the Targa off is normal. It kinda freaks me out when I ake the top off foir the first time in a long while ... but then I remember that this is normal.

We have a lot of front to back flex with te top off. Park with rear wheels on an inclined part of road (about 2 inches or more) while your front wheels are on a flat area ... try to put the top on .. it wont line up. If it is just a slant (hill) the top shouold still line up ... but uneven ground wont let it. <-- We have a lot of flex.

 

[romer]

mine shakes too. you barely notice it passed 80mph.

 

[drjonez]

SOME shake/shimmy is inherant to the chassis....the sport roof was an afterthought.....not enough structure to compensate for the lack of roof.

 

[AWIDESUPIE]

mine shakes too. you barely notice it passed 80mph.

Heh. This is a good point to ... shake to speed ratio.

Normally the slower I am going the more noticable any shake is.

Car feels stable at 140+ with the top off .

 

[romer]

yup.=)

try it one night moneypit,
just cruise on the freeway with the roof off. it feels good.

 

[Bishop92T]

If your car shakes on a smooth road then you've got alignment and or tire issues. My car is liquid smooth on good roads, it's only on the crappy roads that I get some targa wobble.