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Steering damper focus... Test and refit on Land Rover.(Partner article by Bastien Poursin)Please note: Euro4x4parts publishes this information for the benefit of clients but cannot be held responsible for any use or misuse of this advice.
 Technical summaryDegree of difficulty: too easy! Tools required:
Job time: 30 minutes including a tea break! Price: from 48.30€ for a standard model to 150€ for a heavy duty version! Part numbers:
Summary:E. Find the right steering damper to fit the job - easy! A. Introduction:The steering damper is often seen as the "ugly duckling" of the steering system, often forgotten or ignored even though it is a fundamental part of your vehicle. It directly effects the steering ability of your 4x4 contributes to your safety... All the more reason to pay it some attention! It's role is of prime importance, because it contributes in various ways to the safety of the vehicle and therefore your own safety! It's prime function can be seen as absorption and protection. It must absorb the pivot movements of the front steering mechanism so as to prevent swerving and other movement affecting the steering wheel. Indeed, just like the front wheel of a shopping trolley, the front wheels of a vehicle can act unexpectedly when encountering an obstacle. For example, when a front wheel hits a pot hole, a stone or indeed any object sufficiently big as to alter it's trajectory, it will tend to try to pivot on itself. This force of movement can engender a judder in the steering wheel, followed more often than not by a slight change in direction that you must correct. The steering damper is there to counteract this extraneous movement, to save you battling with the steering wheel. This applies to ordinary cars, but even more so to our off-road vehicles that we use across difficult terrain, where dips and bumps proliferate! However, the role of the steering damper is not just to make the handling more flexible and gentle, it also serves to protect your hands! Sometimes a wheel can encounter an obstacle that will engender a big shock to the steering system and will cause the wheel to abut. The damper acts as a buffer to prevent mechanical damage and violent steering judder that can break your fingers! Do remember that, when off-roading, you should always keep your thumbs on the rim of the steering wheel and certainly not on the inside of it! Genuine steering dampers are, generally speaking, are properly calibrated and work well under normal use. There are however reinforced models available for those that wish to go beyond "normal" use. These models are usually harder than the original damper and are recommended for drivers who drive fast on track or in competitions and rallies. Similarly, a reinforced damper is often recommended when significantly increasing tyre size because the load and the shocks are significantly increased as well! On Land Rovers the steering damper is is no exception and is particularly effective and long-lasting. As a matter of fact, this will only be the third steering damper change on our featured vehicle that has already been round the clock many times under demanding usage! B. Symptoms:Detecting a tired steering damper via the steering wheel is not an easy task. You really need to know vehicle's handling and you will often need to push your 4x4 to be able to detect any weakness in this area. On top of this, the symptoms tend to manifest themselves progressively making a proper diagnostic quite difficult.. It is very unusual for a steering damper to simply cease to function. Generally, the vehicle's directional stability starts to deteriorate and wheels "waver" and start to vibrate more and more frequently and loudly. In road use road use and even more so if bumpy, "kicks" in the wheel are more frequent, the direction becomes fuzzy and imprecise and the need to correct steering becomes more obvious... Despite this, because removal is so straightforward, you should not have any qualms about removing a questionable damper to test it manually . C. Method:Removing a steering damper is well within the reach of the least mechanically minded - no particular skills or tools are even required. However, even if the job is really straightforward, there's no need to take any risks....the first task should be to properly chock your vehicle! You are going to spend about 30 minutes lying in front of the wheels, so it's clearly worth taking care! The best way to start the job is to spray a small amount of degreasing oil on the two bolts that you are going to unscrew. It only takes a second and certainly makes the job in hand easier. The steering damper is attached at one end to the chassis and at the other end to drag link. At the chassis end, the fixed part of the damper is held in place by an assembly of bushes held in position with nuts along the threaded shaft of the damper. On the drag link end, the free moving end of the damper moves around a bolted axis. As you will have noticed, dismantling the damper isn't exactly rocket science! Start by unthreading the nut and the locking nut at the chassis end whilst holding the damper in position by using a small flat spanner on the flat section at the the end of the threaded section designed exactly for this. Occasionally these nuts might be so firmly stuck that the flat section gets burred. ! If this happens, it's the pipe or chain wrench that will come to the rescue... These tools are very effective when trying to hold tight a reluctant part but can be somewhat heavy-handed and might leave a few scar marks! With the two nuts removed, clear the damper away from the chassis by compressing it. All that remains is to unthread the axis at the steering link end using two flat spanners in unison. Now you have removed the damper, its time to test it. Once again this is nothing too complicated. Just compress and release the damper by hand to try and detect any lack of pressure, a little soft spot or a roughness when switching between compression and extension. You need to remember that an original steering damper will be quite soft and the fact that it can be pumped by hand is perfectly normal! Check out the condition of the bushes which may have deteriorated or split. The best way is obviously to compare them with a new set. If you conclude the the damper still has plenty of life in it, give it a quick clean and then refit. If you have any doubts then replace it. Standard dampers are not expensive parts so don't hold back. Even if you can detect any noticeable change in handling it will still do a power of good to your 4x4! When fitting a new damper, remember to prime it by pumping it before installing. Refitting is no more complicated than removal. Start at the drag link end and then position your bushes correctly before relocating the threaded end in the chassis eye. Tighten the first nut so your bushed are sufficiently held in position but don't crush them! Then complete the job with the locking-nut. Job done ! D. Step-by-step photos:These are the sort of conditions where your steering dampers will really be called to action.      Often black and often forgotten ! The steering damper is frequently overlooked.  Chassis end attachment.  Drag link end attachment.  A new steering damper, straight out of the box.   A reinforced damper often sports a larger body offering harder action!     Starting off with a small squirt of degreasing oil won't do any harm!  The small flat spanner holds the damper in position.  A pipe spanner will stop any part from rotating.  Having removed the nut and the locking-nut just compress the damper to pull it clear.  Pull off the bushes.   Use two flat spanners in unison to detach the axis at the drag link end.  Chassis eye mounting point.  The steering damper can now be tested by hand!  A reinforced damper will be considerably harder! No, of course we're not over exaggerating!!  RefittingFirst step is to relocate the axis at the drag link end.  Then the threaded shaft in the chassis eye.   Tighten the first nut.  Then the locking nut.   The old one is now off to the scrapyard!  E. Find the right steering damper to fit the job - easy!Browse directly in the "Steering damper" section, and see what we have on offer for the majority model from the following makes: Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Jeep, Suzuki / Santana, Hyundai, Land Rover... Of course if you need any help the just contact us! Euro4x4parts, all the parts you'll ever need - just grab a wrench!  |
  
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