PSA - Steering Dampers

[Chris078]

Just found out the hard way (and Expensive).
If you have a PTO winch fitted, you cannot fit anything other than a standard size damper. No RTC dampers or ones with a bigger bore.
This is due to the fact that there is basically no clearance between the winch driveshaft and the damper.
Fitting a bigger bore damper or an RTC damper with the coil spring will result in it fouling on the driveshaft.

Luckily i realized this when trying to install it; something would have broken the first time I hit a bump.

Only $140 wasted :(.

[BadCo.]

I can help with that by removing your winch for you. Problem solved :)

What dampener were you trying to fit?

[Chris078]

I can help with that by removing your winch for you. Problem solved :)

What dampener were you trying to fit?

heh. My winch stays where it is!
This (http://www.toughdog.com.au/products/steering-dampers/rtc/) is what I was going to fit. The spring catches on the winch driveshaft.
Waiting to hear back from them if I can just remove the spring and use it as a standard damper, but I suspect it requires different bushings on one end to do that.

[BadCo.]

May I ask why you were going to use a RTC type dampener?

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[Tombie]

May I ask why you were going to use a RTC type dampener?

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All they do is mask other faults until such time as a failure occurs ;):o

[BadCo.]

All they do is mask other faults until such time as a failure occurs ;):o

Ffs shush you!

I have heard this about RTC dampeners all over the place and I wanted to know Chris's reasoning for wanting to use one. I haven't had any personal experience with them, but they look cool ;)

I'm surprised they are even legal in Australia! I think they are looking at outlawing them over here, or have done already.

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[Chris078]

Well in the end I contacted Tough Dog themselves and they checked with their engineering dept and they told me it's fine to fit it without the spring.
Still has more than adequate damping. After a bit of a drive over some bumpy tarmac, they seem to be correct. Feels much nicer and doesn't kick as much.

I just thought an RTC damper would make it a bit easier to drive. Didn't have any negative remarks when I was searching around for a damper.

Anyway, this one seems to have calmed down the front a bit - that's really what I was after anyway.

[BadCo.]

Did you have wandering before?

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[Chris078]

It wasn't wandering so much (though it does do that a bit; new tie rod ends and pitman arm balljoint are on the way from the UK to hopefully fit that)
but it kicked like a mule from even the smallest pebble.
A pot hole felt like a damn mine shaft, and the wider tyres I fitted just made things worse.
This has quieted that down quite a bit. Hopefully the other new parts will fix it up entirely.