Disco-Ron Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 So, i've had a return to centre steering damper fitted to my 90 for a while, i recently swapped to a disco drop arm, and made up a bracket to fit to the front arm so i could still ise the trc damper.... trialling today is seems my bracket got mullered, and jammed on the way home..... so i unbolted it and removed the damper.... strange thing is, the truck almost drove better with nothing on it.... so, why do we have one...?? is it to iron out the wheel wobble, or make the steering slightly stiffer and more stable...??? And lastly, if it drives ok without one, is it ok to leave it that way.,.....??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSheds Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 I was thinking along similar lines - I will watch the replies to this post with interest... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 If everything is in perfect shape, a steering damper is not necessary. But wear, inbalance, bumps&holes etc will cause wobble to some degree, the main thing the damper does is make sure any wobble will be damped, so no resonance can occur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashtray Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 you'll soon realise you need it when you hit a pothole at speed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnip Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 On my 85 Defender 90 I had a seriously bad experience at the begining of the year. She is shod with Goodyear G90s and I was travelling at 40mph on a country lane when I hit a large pot hole, the following wheel wobble was so bad I thought I was going over the hedge, Ive been driving, motorcycling,trucking for 40 years and Ive never had such a bad one! and ive driven some rubbish! I stopped and was sure that a major steering component had sheared - but no! There was a lot of oil round the power steering box - whilst investigating I tried the damper - perfect either end but nothing for 2" in the middle. changed it and the problem has never re occurred - oh and the oil on the steering box was from the damper!! In short - in my opinion - get one back on and fast, because Im not a weakling, but even with power steering - I couldnt hold it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mal4936 Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 when you hit that big pot hole . bump .ect and brake those thumbs you will wish it was on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco-Ron Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 fitted an ome damper, and couldn't be happier, its so smooth now its great! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 With the old leaf sprung landies the damper was not so much a necessity as the railko bush intop of swivel hub provided damping. The move to bearings top and bottom made the steering much lighter, also tyres have become wider and more susceptible to deflection . With the advent of power steering as well the gear ratios (ie turns lock to lock) have decreased so more kick back is transferable , so all in all a damper is pretty well mandatory . I run two on my 110 V8csw as i was doing a lot of fast bush road driving ,I did not notice any deterioration in steering feel or control. JMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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