SolihullBeast Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Hello All, Yesterday I fitted a brand new terrafirma steering damper, I also removed and cleaned and refitted the steering damper mounting bracket and what I believe to be a harmonic damper on the base of the diff as they were covered in oil and muck. Today I took the vehicle for a drive and the steering judder was terrible, especially under engine braking and normal braking, worse when braking from around 60/70mph. Judder also occurred when I went over potholes. Prior to the fitting of the damper the vehicle behaved absolutely fine there was no judder and no other steering issues, which leads me to believe that I have fitted the steering damper incorrectly, or upset the harmonic damper when I cleaned it? The steering damper came with no instructions, I thought that the washer/bush layout would be the same as the land rover setup that was on the old damper, however the terrafirma unit provided me with three washers(discs the bushes sit in, not sure if I have used the correct vernacular!?) and two bushes as expected. The land rover unit I removed had four washers instead of three! So I am wondering whether anyone knows how the washers are set up on a terrafirma damper? I will upload some pictures of the kit I was sent to better explain what I mean. this is the entire fitting kit supplied with the damper these are the two types of washer provided, i received two of the left hand type, and four of the right hand type Additionally which way around should the damper be fitted? i.e. does the boot end attach to the axle? I am hoping that the judder is because I have got the steering damper fitting wrong, however could it be attributed to me messing around with what I think is the harmonic damper? does adjusting that cause judder? I loosened the bolts on each side of the unit when I cleaned it and rotated the damper to get at the gunk. Finally just to assure you all other variables are ok, the steering was perfect prior to my messing about yesterday! additionally it has had new panhard and hockey stick bushes and new TRE's all round recently and the swivel preloads are fine and wheels balanced. The vehicle is a '93 200tdi discovery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M&S Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Could you refit your old damper as a test? Why did you change it if all was well before hand? Providing you refitted the harmonic damper in the same way as before it should be fine. They work by having a set mass at a set distance. If you have altered these you may have caused the problem, but just cleaning mud off it wouldn't really count! Double, triple check that you haven't lost a wheel weight though - I found one missing last week, just after fitting lower shock bushes and a new steering damper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milliejasper1111 Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Ive just brought one of these TODAY! so will report any findings the next few days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teabag Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 I've read in the forums that some owners have removed the harmonic damper and have not had any issues as a result. Did you prime the your new Terrafirma steering damper before you fitted it?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBolton Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 When I fitted my QT diff guard I totally removed the harmonic damper as you can't fit it as well with no ill effects... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolihullBeast Posted May 17, 2010 Author Share Posted May 17, 2010 How do you prime a steering damper? Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantic Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 How do you prime a steering damper? Same way as a normal damper .. fullt extend and compress it a few times. First couple do it slowly, then a couple quickly then a couple slowly again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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