tweetyduck Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 £64.03 or £13.21 What do you think? Anyone have any horror stories of Armstrong? One of the other forums had a couple of posts that said they are OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Armstrong have been around for a long time, nothing wrong with their dampers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlykepower Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Why are you limiting your choice to those two? I use Old Man Emu - brilliant. If I were in the market for one again, I would also consider TJM. You get what you pay for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweetyduck Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 Not limiting myself its purely because thats what LRSeries have in stock and i'm ordering as much as i can from one place. Used a few places and this time LRSeries are the only place with one of the parts (a stupid plastic clip) so i might as well get the lot there. Price is OK but no specific reason. Thanks Guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlykepower Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Cant say I agree with that reasoning if i'm honest Neill. Building an expedition vehicle is not an area I would want to be cutting corners on, and for the sake of a couple of quid in delivery fee's, the options I mentioned would be better suited for your planned purposes. Your going to end up spending a LOT of money at a good few suppliers, so I cant condone the reasoning of ordering lots of stuff at once from one supplier, just as its more convenient. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with Armstrong dampers, but I think this line of thinking so early on might end up costing you in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike4444244 Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 If you have something better to spend the extra money on spend it on that, defenders work perfectly well out of the box, there are plenty of stock defender driving around the world theres no need to shell out lots of money if you dont want too, also steering dampers are not mission critical, in the unlikely event that it dies its not going to stop you driving just my 2p Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruuman Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I've removed steering dampers from a few of my trucks now when they have been damaged, all running larger tires than standard. Can't say I've really noticed it missing. Used Armstrong before and just about to fit one to my current 90. Never had a problem. As Mike says it's not mission critical and if it does break just remove and continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicks90 Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 you dont need a steering damper if everything is set up correctly. Mine leaked all its oil out and i didnt notice until the next MOT Refitted a new armstrong effort to keep the MOT man happy ('if its got one fitted originally it must have one'was his argument) and tbh it didnt feel any different - even when doing RTVs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Nowt wrong with the original fitted damper. I fitted the lower priced one to my daughters Discovery and it's fine. The more expensive ones are just as prone to failing as any other one. That's what I think for ten bob ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litch Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Correct me if I am wrong but aren't OE dampers & shocks Armstong anyway (I think they were even if they aren't now)? I have used them in the past and they are excellent. Personally I now run a DC gas-charged steering Damper but only went for that as I was fitting DC gas shocks and I bought them all at the same time. It didn't make any difference to the handling over the original one so I would say you could fit an Armstrong one and be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragorn Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 The damper isnt really there to make it drive or handle any better on the road, its there to dampen large shocks on the steering, such as driving into a rock, making the vehicle easier to drive over rough terrain without it constantly trying to pull the wheel out your hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 The damper isnt really there to make it drive or handle any better on the road, its there to dampen large shocks on the steering, such as driving into a rock, making the vehicle easier to drive over rough terrain without it constantly trying to pull the wheel out your hands. Yep - as several have said now, you probably wont notice the lack of a damper for normal use and as the original is fine, why spend loads on an uprated one that wont do much (if anything) more than the cheaper original. Save your money for something else. Buy that jack you've always wanted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlykepower Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 My line of thinking when fitting my OME damper was that as its on an overland vehicle, and I would be travelling over mainly rough tracks for an extended period, it would be just giving me that extra peace of mind that it would be a bit less likely to break...as has been mentioned already, it makes it easier to handle the vehicle when hitting a rock for example....as the vehicle will already be very heavily laden, for the sake of a few quid....is something uprated not going to be better? The last thing I personally want is a stering damper failure causing me to put the vehicle on its side when i'm in the middle of nowhere, potentially bringing a trip to a premature end, or damaging equipment that (pardon the pun) dampens your experience. If I was looking to fit a damper to a non-expedition vehicle, then I agree.....OE would more than suffice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 £64.03 or £13.21 What do you think? Anyone have any horror stories of Armstrong? One of the other forums had a couple of posts that said they are OK. When the £64 one dies and leaks you get a more expensive stain on your drive. Other than that its a very close run thing as to if even needed... or which is best Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I thought the main role of them was to protect your steering box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heath robinson Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 When the £64 one dies and leaks you get a more expensive stain on your drive. Other than that its a very close run thing as to if even needed... or which is best Having watched a mate break his thumb while blatting round a forestry track (Truck hits root, root moves tyre, damper looses all it's fluid, tyre turns steering wheel, steering wheel makes a technical adjustment to the angle of his thumb), you can get more than a stain on yer drive if it fails. That said, his may well have been Britpart... and the damper on my truck is had been on it for a good while when I got it 10 years ago, is still on it now, and is an original armstrong. Jake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicks90 Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Having watched a mate break his thumb while blatting round a forestry track (Truck hits root, root moves tyre, damper looses all it's fluid, tyre turns steering wheel, steering wheel makes a technical adjustment to the angle of his thumb), dont drive with thumbs hooked in steering wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam001 Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Having watched a mate break his thumb while blatting round a forestry track (Truck hits root, root moves tyre, damper looses all it's fluid, tyre turns steering wheel, steering wheel makes a technical adjustment to the angle of his thumb), you can get more than a stain on yer drive if it fails. That said, his may well have been Britpart... and the damper on my truck is had been on it for a good while when I got it 10 years ago, is still on it now, and is an original armstrong. Jake. yeah that's a rookie mistake, I'm fairly new to all this, but I learnt to not do that in normal cars. Lesson learned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myocardial Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Having watched a mate break his thumb while blatting round a forestry track (Truck hits root, root moves tyre, damper looses all it's fluid, tyre turns steering wheel, steering wheel makes a technical adjustment to the angle of his thumb), you can get more than a stain on yer drive if it fails. That said, his may well have been Britpart... and the damper on my truck is had been on it for a good while when I got it 10 years ago, is still on it now, and is an original armstrong. Jake. I've always been taught that you shouldn't grip the steering wheel with your thumb inside for exactly that reason, as if you hit something hard enough no damper is going to stop the forces being transmitted through your thumb whether it's in perfect working order or not. One question I have in this regard is to self centering steering dampers, what sort of benefits do they offer for a road/expedition vehicles if any or are they just for challenge type vehicles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweetyduck Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 thanks all good advice. I'll have a hunt around to see what i can get for reasonable money. Sounds like Armstrong would be OK though, if thats the OE one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heath robinson Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 dont drive with thumbs hooked in steering wheel. Yeah, dad taught me that when I was first able to reach the peddles. There's a few driving things from when I was little that are burned into my brain. Shame for my chum's thumbs (Sorry ) that he didn't have a dis-used airfield to hand when a kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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