Steering damper
Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 6:38 pm
These things seem to be a bit of a 'marmite' device as many seem to think they are useless and just make steering heavy, at least on a series, though LR engineers seem to think they are worth fitting to basicly any coil (or air) sprung model with a steering box and they seem to be a fairly popular original fitment on series models from the 70's too. Its therefore possable peoples opinions on them is based on ageing steering systems that aren't quite right in the first place which probubly isn't fair.
So, my perspective...
I've been driving series 1's for about 15 years. These don't have dampers fitted and Rover had a few attempts at getting the steering right as early models in particular were very poor and I don't think the really fixed it in the S1 era. Mine's a late model so its got a recirculating ball steering box (much lighter than worm and nut and basicly the same as a series 3) and its had the Ralco bush conversion done too, so again basicly the same as a series 3. The steering on it is nice and light and generally it didn't suffer from wheel shimmy though can obveously kick back when off roading or hitting a bit pot hole. Recently its started suffering shimmy but the bottem bush of the relay is failing so thats due a rebuild.
Enter the stage 1. This thing does have a damper fitted (Branded Woodhead, looks OEM) and the steering is really heavy making manovering really quite hard work in comparison. I've taken the damper off and its made it considereably lighter (though still not as light) but now it suffers a fair bit of shimmy when driving on the terrable roads of Sheffield. I've not yet had the steering rods off to conferm the swivels and relay have the right resistance but it certainly seems the damper is doing something useful even if its stiffness is undesirable (on the open road its much nicer with the damper than anything I've driven without!). Given that it'll reduice impacts reaching the steering relay, and the series 1 has proved that will obveosuly suffer over time I'm inclined to say they are worth having.
So, my question is what do others think and are there any upgrade units out there that work better than the seemingly quite stiff unit I currently have. It seems the unit used on series 3's is also the unit used on the track rod of Range Rovers and Discos, defenders use a bigger one but its in the same place as a series 3. I'm wary of compairing the views of people mounting them on coil sprung models though because as they are pritty much universally power assisted any weight increase from the damper will probubly be unnoticed on that setup.
As for the dampers of today there are many about all claiming to be much better than the original, which is plausable as damper tech and cost has changed a bit since the series 3 was designed, so something with a more fancy valve and not so specced on mass market cost of 70's BL accountants could well be better, though its also possable they are now optimised for the PAS setup of Discos and RRCs and simply sold for series 3's as they also fit, but don't quite suit.
The options seem to be:-
1) Undamped - Don't think I like this option long term.
2) Original - definately works (indeed it seems in good condition though I guess the oil will be a bit old and I don't know how that will effect it).
3) New pattern - cheep but who knows what quality - I don't want to keep changing it every year.
4) New OEM/genuine - probubly as expencive as a 'performance' one and if its New Old Stock it might not be any better than mine if its spent 20 years in a box.
5) Britpart performance - theres a few veriants of these all claiming what the proper brands do only 1/2 the price, I won't be buying one out of principle, if they do work they probubly won't last and when theres another option I don't like endorsing/substadising britpart as they I've had plenty of junk from them in the past.
6) Pro Comp = These are a popular budget performance brand but I've had their dampers on vehicles in the past and their build quality, in my view, is poor, they also seem to consider length as the primary spec and completely ignore anything about damping rates, seems you can do better for simular money.
7) Monroe - Had some shocks on a series 3 and they were great, not that expencive either.
Old Man Emu - cost is starting to rise but they seem to be well built and if they can deal with the outback (which from what I hear tends to distroy genuine LR shocks) that doesn't sound bad - will a 9 stage valve keep it light but still absorb big hits or higher frequencys?
9) De Carbon - Got one on a 90 at work, along with shocks, seem to work fine but its a gas damper so it extends to full length naturally, would this be noticeable on manual steering?
10) Bilstin - expensive but I had some shocks on a RRC and they were great, gas so naturally extend?
11) Koni - Simular price and rep to Bilstin from what I can see though I've not any expereance with their products.
Most annoyingly technical info and specs on any of the above seems non existant so so I can't really compare them on paper. Some of the posh ones boast how many stages the valves have but I don't know what the standard ones have so that might not be as impressive as it seems.
I know there are a few people on here from the Southern Hemisphere so I'm perticularly keen on your views as you lot seem to push damping and suspension components a bit harder than we do in Europe, as for me a long off road track is about 5 km, though the main roads round me are crap so its far from smooth tarmac for me (thats why I like Land-Rovers, busted tyres and cracked alloys is rarely a problem unlike in a car).
Glen
So, my perspective...
I've been driving series 1's for about 15 years. These don't have dampers fitted and Rover had a few attempts at getting the steering right as early models in particular were very poor and I don't think the really fixed it in the S1 era. Mine's a late model so its got a recirculating ball steering box (much lighter than worm and nut and basicly the same as a series 3) and its had the Ralco bush conversion done too, so again basicly the same as a series 3. The steering on it is nice and light and generally it didn't suffer from wheel shimmy though can obveously kick back when off roading or hitting a bit pot hole. Recently its started suffering shimmy but the bottem bush of the relay is failing so thats due a rebuild.
Enter the stage 1. This thing does have a damper fitted (Branded Woodhead, looks OEM) and the steering is really heavy making manovering really quite hard work in comparison. I've taken the damper off and its made it considereably lighter (though still not as light) but now it suffers a fair bit of shimmy when driving on the terrable roads of Sheffield. I've not yet had the steering rods off to conferm the swivels and relay have the right resistance but it certainly seems the damper is doing something useful even if its stiffness is undesirable (on the open road its much nicer with the damper than anything I've driven without!). Given that it'll reduice impacts reaching the steering relay, and the series 1 has proved that will obveosuly suffer over time I'm inclined to say they are worth having.
So, my question is what do others think and are there any upgrade units out there that work better than the seemingly quite stiff unit I currently have. It seems the unit used on series 3's is also the unit used on the track rod of Range Rovers and Discos, defenders use a bigger one but its in the same place as a series 3. I'm wary of compairing the views of people mounting them on coil sprung models though because as they are pritty much universally power assisted any weight increase from the damper will probubly be unnoticed on that setup.
As for the dampers of today there are many about all claiming to be much better than the original, which is plausable as damper tech and cost has changed a bit since the series 3 was designed, so something with a more fancy valve and not so specced on mass market cost of 70's BL accountants could well be better, though its also possable they are now optimised for the PAS setup of Discos and RRCs and simply sold for series 3's as they also fit, but don't quite suit.
The options seem to be:-
1) Undamped - Don't think I like this option long term.
2) Original - definately works (indeed it seems in good condition though I guess the oil will be a bit old and I don't know how that will effect it).
3) New pattern - cheep but who knows what quality - I don't want to keep changing it every year.
4) New OEM/genuine - probubly as expencive as a 'performance' one and if its New Old Stock it might not be any better than mine if its spent 20 years in a box.
5) Britpart performance - theres a few veriants of these all claiming what the proper brands do only 1/2 the price, I won't be buying one out of principle, if they do work they probubly won't last and when theres another option I don't like endorsing/substadising britpart as they I've had plenty of junk from them in the past.
6) Pro Comp = These are a popular budget performance brand but I've had their dampers on vehicles in the past and their build quality, in my view, is poor, they also seem to consider length as the primary spec and completely ignore anything about damping rates, seems you can do better for simular money.
7) Monroe - Had some shocks on a series 3 and they were great, not that expencive either.
Old Man Emu - cost is starting to rise but they seem to be well built and if they can deal with the outback (which from what I hear tends to distroy genuine LR shocks) that doesn't sound bad - will a 9 stage valve keep it light but still absorb big hits or higher frequencys?
9) De Carbon - Got one on a 90 at work, along with shocks, seem to work fine but its a gas damper so it extends to full length naturally, would this be noticeable on manual steering?
10) Bilstin - expensive but I had some shocks on a RRC and they were great, gas so naturally extend?
11) Koni - Simular price and rep to Bilstin from what I can see though I've not any expereance with their products.
Most annoyingly technical info and specs on any of the above seems non existant so so I can't really compare them on paper. Some of the posh ones boast how many stages the valves have but I don't know what the standard ones have so that might not be as impressive as it seems.
I know there are a few people on here from the Southern Hemisphere so I'm perticularly keen on your views as you lot seem to push damping and suspension components a bit harder than we do in Europe, as for me a long off road track is about 5 km, though the main roads round me are crap so its far from smooth tarmac for me (thats why I like Land-Rovers, busted tyres and cracked alloys is rarely a problem unlike in a car).
Glen