Thread: Steering Damper

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Does anyone use one of these on their solid axle front ends? I was just reading about the ones So-Cal sells and it sounds like a good idea, although i must admit I don't know that I've seen a car that has one... supposedly helps to prevent twitchiness in the steering at speed, and basically "dampens" the steering when hitting ruts, bumps, potholes, etc. Just curious if any of you folks have any recommendations on adding or not adding this.

Actually I utilize 1 on my straight front axled 62 ford uni truck. What a difference!!!

I got my damper "kit" from LMC in cally via the internet.

I'll tell you prior to the install when I hit any inperfections in the road the truck was all over the place. Now it is managable until I replace the original box with a R & P unit.

I think I got 50.00 into it. Try it - it IS worth the effort. Took about an hour to install.

REGS

Whats involved in installing one? Where do they go? And can a novice thats never had a straight axle anything acomplish it?

Oh.......yes indeed it can be done by a novice.

It installs on the axle & the drag link.

I should come with easy to follow instructions - mine did.

Try LMC.com & see if they show a pic. It's to dark for me to get a pic & post.

Regs

Hey yeah, I would be interested in one of these too. The one at SoCal looks pretty easy to install.

If your front end is set up correctly, components are in good shape you don't need one.

Drive the car for a while and see what you think before you install stuff you may not need.

http://www.so-calspeedshop.com/whats...lpr.php?id=127

Here's the So-Cal press release from Pete Chaporis. It sounds like a cool product that can help even a car with brand new components.

They were factory installed on VW's and lots of 4WD trucks and 1-tons. They do work, but they're ugly!
Sometimes when wide wheels are offset from stock, hitting a hole will jerk the wheel. A damper works against that. But a well set up front end shouldn't really need one.

What C9x said.

Originally Posted by C9x

If your front end is set up correctly, components are in good shape you don't need one. Drive the car for a while and see what you think before you install stuff you may not need.

I agree with C9x. I think So-Cal likes them because their chassis are pretty flexible, so they need more damping to kill the vibration.

I agree with C9x. Never had to use one.


Don

I'll chime in here too... I was going to get one of these and install it on the Roadster when I first got it because it was driving so poorly. After talking to a few friends with straight axle experience and reading several articles on the supject I decided to re-adjust and re set up the front end... Once it was set up correctly it drives like a charm and never have had any other problems since...

I agree with the others that have said it is not needed...

Just my 2¢...

Dave Brisco

6 degrees positive caster - kingpin tops toward the rear.

3/16 - 1/8" toe-in.

Camber as it was with a new SuperBell tube axle.

Vega cross steer.

Front and rear panhard bars with a sway bar in back.

Depending on the tire - 26# -30# in front.
Present day 195/70R-14's are run at 30#.

Steering has minimal play at the wheel.

Frame is a Deuce Factory re-pro with an added 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" x .120 wall crossmember for roll bar laterals/seat belts and also has a 1 1/2" OD x .120 wall tubing crossmember with welded flanges that bolts to the frame ahead of the rear axle for muffler/tailpipe hanging, but it probably adds to the stiffness factor.

The Deuce Factory's 1 1/2" OD tubing crossmember setup is a good way to go, well braced etc.

The frame doesn't flex to any great degree when entering a steep driveway at an angle.
No skin pinch between door and quarter panel which is sorta the ultimate test....

Denny, sorry I was not more speciffic as I had already told Joe what I had done in a previous e-mail. My Roadster was originaly set up with about 1 degree of caster and was really difficult to drive at highway speeds, we changed the caster to 5.5 degrees and it drives like a dream.

I will also add that while not everyone is into running skinnys on the front I noticed a big difference when I changed the front wheel/tire combo to the smaller 4-inch wide wheels and smaller tires.

Joe, one way I could tell that the camber was way off when I first got the car is by looking at the four bar set up where the heim joints screw into the bars, I noticed that there was a noticable difference in the amount of thread that was showing on the top bars. There should be equil amounts of threads showing on the top and bottom bars if the camber is set close to where it should be.

Dave Brisco

Originally Posted by dangeroustoy

I will also add that while not everyone is into running skinnys on the front I noticed a big difference when I changed the front wheel/tire combo to the smaller 4-inch wide wheels and smaller tires.

Dave Brisco

Was the difference an improvement or just different?

I was wondering since my 31 on 32 rails project is running a skinnier tire on the front - and rear - than the 32 and the front ends are similar cept for the 32 has four bars and the 31 has radius rods which shouldn't affect the handling to any great degree.

When I first got the 32 running, it had 7" x 14" slot mags up front with a pair of 185/70R-14 BFG's.
It handled pretty good.

Later on, I found a pair of 5 1/2" x 14" slot mags and stuck on a pair of 195/70R-14 BFG's.

The larger tire due to I wanted a little more ground clearance.
That due to the 2nd pair of front tires - on the 7" wide wheels were metric - still 185/70R-14 and had a smaller diameter than did the original 185 non-metrics.

Handlling changes - if any - were imperceptible with any of the tire/wheel swaps.

Next set of front tires will be skinnier than the BFG's, but I'm not sure what brand yet.