My first Model A didn't have a steering damper and it shook bad at 60 to 65 mph. Added the So-Cal damper and no more shake! All my hot rods run one now!
Yup, I bought one from JimA, just in case I need it later. Great guy, glad we have the SoCal hookup on the HAMB!!!!
What are the clamps off of for these? I got one and put Ford tie rod end clamps on and they won't fit around my 7/8" tie rod and radius rod. ??
I put one on my Model A tudor and it smoothed things out nicely. But if you have serious shakes, wobbles or shimmies, I would sure find out why and not use the damper as a band-aid. You should see the one I put on my '55 F100 - it's as big as my arm! Damned truck has always been "quivery" no matter what I tried - a damper smoothed it out. I picked one up at the CHRR for my Austin, haven't installed it yet. I'm a believer.
Drove my 31 coupe about a year with no problems, then hit a very small bump in a parking lot travelling about 5-8 mph, thought the front end was going to shake apart. Ordered/installed the SoCal dampner and have never had another issue, even over 100 mph. Small aircraft have used shimmy dampners for decades, for a reason, and worn out parts is not the reason, as the aircraft are delivered new with shimmy dampners.
I used a vintage Schwinn seat post clamp on mine. They are very tough! I made an angle iron bracket to fit the bottom of the spring clamp and used the seat clamp on the drag link out by the right tie rod end. The $39 VW damper from Autozone made the car handle like a go-kart.
Before you buy 1 check how far your tie rod travels vs. how much travel the damper has , you may find the damper will severly limit your turning radius... dave
I had some bad wobble last year and did a lot of work to the front end over last winter. New Kingpins, changed the steering box to another one with zero slop in the bushings, new Heims...reset the toe and dialed in 6* caster. This summer...perfect. UNTIL...the last run I was on. Took a long sweeping downhill left at about 40-45mph...wheel turned just enough for the box to be off the tight spot...and when I touched the brakes to slow for a turn off I got the old wobble back a bit. Lovely. Anyway...checking it out at home everything is tight...but the box is of course a bit loose off center. I think that is where the problem lies for me, but you can't adjust that out. There are only two older Heims left so I will replace them anyway just because, but I'm gonna order a shock along with them. I'm on the highway a lot and I just don't need to have the thought of the wobble starting back up always at the back of my mind.
Dave, the damper has been used for years before we figured it out. (1975 VW) We just figured out how to do it a little cheaper. I use a Vega box with '40 Ford spindles on a 4" dropped Ch***is Eng. beam and 27" hairpins with plenty of travel. The spindle stops should be the only thing that limits the turning radius.
Do you have a panhard bar? You are probably experiencing spring shackle wobble if you don't have a panhard bar. Those shackles will wobble with cross steering. Henry made the shackles very tight to avoid the wobble. We tend to use poly bushings and make them loose.
IIRC , my tie rod travels 9+" stop to stop , I think the vw damper only travel 6+" dave So far , I haven't needed a damper.... was able to "tune" it out w /tire pressure
Definately not shackle wobble. Mine are tighter than a 45* angle and I also added new bushings and shackles when I did the front end. Also, I have draglink steering with a reversed Corvair box...not cross steer.
Bought the So-Cal unit, but did not care for the design of the mounting brackets so designed my own. Radius rod mount is shared with the panhard bar and uses the bushing end of the damper. . Tie rod mount is billet steel and clamps to the tie rod and has a heim style end mounted in it for the bolt style end of the VW damper. Easily made from a s**** of steel, a bolt, angle grinder and drill press. VW damper no.s are: Cofap 22001 1704 4-A-06 1960-77 VW Beetle (MOOG MOSSD8) Just my take on installing a damper. Canuck
Have one mounted on my 30 pickup, it came with it so I have no comparison without it, but it rides and steers great. When I see all the complaints about poor ride and handling when running Firestone bias ply tires, I wonder if the damper is what makes the difference, because I have no complaints with the ride and handling of my PU.
They work great, you can get 'em from Summit etc for $40 or less, made a different car outa may model A!
When we initially set up my g***er willys it had a nasty "death wobble" I got rid of the ribbed front tires and it got WAY better......adding a so-cal stabilizer made it perfect
Scored at the Swap meet for $15 Bucks. That's my neighbors discarded / re-cycled / re-inforced bed frame leg. Works Great - even at dwindling speeds up at 55mph!
I guess Houdaille shocks weren't the hot set up for a steering dampener! LoL Then again...why didn't Henry use hydraulic brakes? I agree they are kind of a band-aid...but sometimes a little band-aid can make life much more comfortable. If you have some major/consistant wobble you should definately look for anything that could contribute to causing it BEFORE you just toss on a dampener. They are not meant as a cure all. But as a band-aid for a small wobble that shows up now and then? I don't see a problem.
People don't seem to be interested in finding out why their car has the low speed death wobble, they just want a quick "fix" ("band aid") If a car front end that never had a damper, now has one to cure wobble, then something is wrong. Spadaro never used them, and never would agree with guys that thought they had to. The information highway sometimes sends people the wrong way, just like the foolish "caster is supposed to be 7". That is nonsense; caster needs to be figured in with many issues like weight bias, tire type and sizes, steering ratio, etc. Picking a figure out of thin air shows lack of knowledge
Just to be clear...I wouldn't even consider trying a steering shock as a cure for actual death wobble! Thats worn or loose parts...or a badly designed system. The wobble I'm talking about in my case is a very controllable steering wheel shake that only shows up now and then. Its irritating but wouldn't make me stop driving. I've experienced death wobble on an older van with a worn suspension. THAT will make you stop the car (if it doesnt actually fall apart from the shaking first) and change your shorts!!! Agree on the caster stuff you mention 100%.
A few years back I had a 59 Mercury 1/2 ton and it had the wobble. I replaced the kingpins and frontend was good and still had it. I then went from bias ply tires to radials and it was much better but the right bump at the right speed and it was still there. One day I happened to see a steering damper on a jacked up 4wd. I found one and installed it, never had a hitch after.
Hackerbilt, does your T have the correct Ackerman angle built into those steering arms in front of the axle? Are your friction shocks actually tight, or are they a bit loose? Your spring looks really short as well, and might not be really stable on a wide front axle. These are all things that could contribute (or cause) funny handling and shimmys.
Jimmy can't quite tell in the pics you attached, did you drill the heim through the wishbone? if you have another pic of that attachment, would be nice to see. on the socal site they mention it only for hairpins or four bars unless i missed something.
No, it absolutely does not have correct Ackerman. (Not that you can't have good Ackerman with the tierod out front...but this car doesn't.) It's not an issue to cause this little wobble I'm getting though. Having said that, I still intend to fix that issue this winter as, besides just bugging me because its wrong, it does cause the car to drag a tire pulling into a parking spot or backing up and turning etc. Ackerman angle has an effect on the spindles that increases as the turn sharpens...but the wobble the car developed is just a smidge off straight ahead, in other words before any real amount of Ackerman effect can take place. Remember...this car has had this Ackerman angle issue for approx 30 years. My wobble last year was much more noticeable than this year and was getting to the point I feared full on death wobble would soon develop. Over last winter I replaced kingpins (one noticeably bad), an obviously worn out steering box and 2 worn Heims on the drag link. I still have a slight bit of movement in the tie rod Heims (I bought new PRO 1 Heims from Speedway. ABSOLUTE JUNK. The original ones were tighter at 30 years old so I reused them for this season as time was tight!) This winter those old ones will be replaced with Speedway Precision lined Heims like I used in the drag link. Those seem great. The Pro 1's SEEMED like a good idea on the main tierod as they are supposedly stronger, but loose Heims are garbage no matter how strong they might be. I should mention I used new shackles as well...along with all new quality fine thread G8 bolts and locking nuts and also replaced the Hairpin Clevis ends just because they were getting old. All new bolts for the hairpins as well and the Heims were excellent. The friction shocks I made myself and use working friction rubber on both sides, along with spring preloading. They work excellent with the wider stance from last year and the slight tramping at highway speeds the car used to have is completely gone. Really pleased with those...although I may sculpt the shape of the arms just a bit to give them a lighter look. No change to the mechanical aspect needed. The spring is short but mounted tight with no shackle rock possible. I also added some spring straps to keep the leaves in line as they tended to walk out of line previously. With the closer bolt spacing at the reconfigured perch and the straps it hasn't changed at all this year. Surprisingly the spring and hairpins allow decent articulation...well...as much as you can expect from a T anyway! LoL All in all...the little Roadster handles like a slot car on the street or highway! Just that last run, I got that little wobble in the steering wheel...and it just pisses me off because the car is so damn good! Always possible something loosened up a bit on me and I will be checking EVERYTHING of course over the winter.
No shocks needed! Even on bumpy dirt roads...I think the spring is too tired...see shackle angles. Damper...second best...didn't want ti drill or weld on the axle...plan on dropping it later..
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