Front end shimmy.

I have a front end shimmy on my '79 super beetle cab. It begins at 62 mph and will continue to around 70 or more as that is where I slow down. It is quite disturbing, but does not feel dangerous.
I used the search feature and found one article. I checked the ball joints and they appear tight as do the tie rod ends (I can get them to move with channel locks).
Tires are balanced, wheels are straight, and the car does not do it when hitting a pot hole, etc. or at lower speeds.

Help?
Thanks,
GG

I am sure you have jacked up the car, grabbed each tire, and checked for play ?? Bearings, balljoints and pitman arm/steering box are the typical areas to watch. Have someone hold the wheel,, and then wiggle the wheel back and forth, while you look for play.

I had a very weird intermitant shimmy at speed problem once, in my Trans Am. Long story short, the tire shop had mistakenly injected a liter of water (compressor condensate) into my tire. It ran fine on the balancing machine,, but went squirrley at road speeds.

Alan Maguire

See other shimmy ~~ double post

George - I'm not sure if that model incorporates a steering damper on the front tie rod (looks like a small shock absorber). If it does, what you describe sounds like a bad damper (especially if the shimmy seems to be worse when you hit a bump in the road at speed).