Mysterious front end shake at speed

[drthomas999]

I've got the same vibration problem where excessive shaking occurs approximately in the 60MPH to 75MPH range. I've had the problem from day 1 of buying the car and have tried dynamic road balancing of my wheels/tires three times with no measurable improvements. I also replaced one of the wheels and tires as it was questionable whether one of the Michelin tire was out-of-round. The front wheel was also replaced in the process as an idiot changed the tire and wreck the original wheel in the process. In summary, I've been struggling for two years with this car with no progress in resolving the issue (very frustrating)! After reading through the various cobra forums, I see a recurring theme with the shaking issue and yet many of the folks reporting the same problem are running wheel sets varying from 15" up to 18" ... so I'm not convinced it's a wheel/tire issue anymore.

To make matters worse, I've never raced or tracked the car or even spun the tires ... this car has been pampered it's whole life. And now the latest ... while driving 30 MPH down a crowded city street last Friday, my right front caliper and bracket somehow came off the car causing me to loose my brakes and almost have an accident. Fortunately, neither myself or anyone around me was hurt and I managed to get the car off the road with hitting or killing anyone. While all of the damage is still being assessed, I know that the right front wheel, the caliper of course, and possibly the upper control arm were damaged and will need to be replaced. For anyone out there with later model Superformance Mark III cobras, I recommend that you have your car checked over carefully as this kind of brake caliper failure at speed could prove deadly. Safe driving to all!