Steering Damper - Again!!

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Russ280
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I’ve just replaced my steering damper with a Bilstein B6 Gas Damper (Discovery II fitment) and first impressions are excellent. Lighter and better feel to the steering, no shimmy.

I had started to suffer with intermittent steering shake which seemed to be set off by long sweeping right handers.

I’ve always had the opinion that the original MB one is over priced and not up to the job. You only have to search this forum and P3 to confirm that. The one I’ve just replaced had maybe 30k miles on it. A few thousand of those off road but I don’t abuse my cars. Yes it was the 50mm one!

Best bit is the Bilstein was £49.95, around half the price of the MB one. Only slight mod. required was longer bolts as the bushings are more substantial on the Bilstein.

Russ

phileas
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

Hi Russ,

Thanks for sharing that information: I agree with you about the standard MB article. To be fair to MB, I've found on all the 4x4s i've owned (RRs, LRs and LCs) that the standard OEM parts were always inferior to the good quality after-market suspension/steering dampers available. Glad about the cost of the Bilstein part as my steering damper is showing signs of deterioration (I'm running on 285/75s and have done about 20k - about 2, maybe 3k off road).....not impressed with the standard part!

Ph

hus55
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

hi russ. thanks for the tip mate ! my cabrio G runs on 35's and i fitted the fat damper  [ 463 463 code numbered] i think the oversized tires killed my damper in only 3 years !!

how much was the disco version you fitted russ ? is it a direct replacement mate?

rgds hus

LEEU
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

 Your timing is great Russ! I fitted a new MB 50mm damper on Friday, and it sucks. It took most of the vibration away, but as soon as I go over 80 it is there again, although very little.

Chears for the info in any case.

Russ280
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

Hi Huss,

It was £49.95 plus delivery but you can get uprated Britpart ones for around £20.

Direct replacement apart from longer bolts due to the larger bushings.

Went for a longer drive on Sunday and I’m really impressed. Because these things deteriorate slowly you don’t appreciate how nackered they are until you change them.

Russ

prwales
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

tyres/ wheel balance?

LEEU
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

 Taken it to 3 different places for balancing, and even had the rims checked. It's not bad, but I know it is there, and I don't like it.

hus55
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

thanks for the info !

Pistonhead
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

Hello LEEU,

If you have, had the tyres balanced three times, it is time you checked out the basics, starting at the tyre wear pattern on the wheels, swap the tyres front to rears, check the wheel bearings in particular check for hub play, the bushes on the hockey sticks.
 
Check the prop.shaft UJ's. Do not forget the rear wheel bearings. Check the track rod joints,  
All these being fine, then check the wheel alignment.  I favor four wheel alignment, this is a little more costlier but in my opinion worth it.  Note, the rear wheels alignment is not adjustable, but the front wheels are aligned in relation to the rear axle.  Do make sure the wheel alignment chappies check and adjust the tyre pressures before they do any checking and have the vehicle unladen, any junk in the vehicle, have that removed before the vehicle is taken to the station, have the fuel tank at half full, at minimum.

Important to have the coil springs checked out so they are not broken otherwise you will be wasting your money on alignment.  There rear coil springs need checking thoroughly, top and bottom, these are easily missed - better still have the rear body jacked up when checking for the springs.  ENSURING at all times that the body; whilst jacked, up is safely supported with axles stands at the sills.

Cheers, 

gib
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

I could be way of beam but High speed Loaded shimmy i.e slight lock either way is usaly due to ball joints. If you go for a 4w alignment get them to do a sweep test ( may not be the correct name).
Set up as normal for a 4w alignment but monitor the castor and effective toe from dead straight to a few degrees ethier side. If you have a crap ball joint it will settle dead striaght and not show up but as soon as you add a bit of lock the wheel angle will not change as it should side to side.

BTDT but oinly on road cars

LEEU
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

 My next move is going to clean out all the grease nipples by pushing some heating oil through them and then refill them with clean grease. I will take the prop shafts off and clean them properly to.

Whenever I take my car off road through deep mud or water it gets jet-washed and greased afterwards, I think that over time there might be to much grease in the front prop.

The vibration is very little, and I don’t often drive my car very fast, so I could just leave it, but I would prefer to sort it out, I want my cars to be 100% at all times.

Thanks for the advice, I will also check the ball joint, although they feel pretty solid to me, and my suspension is an ORC upgrade, so no problem there.

hus55
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

Thanks for the advice, I will also check the ball joint, although they feel pretty solid to me, and my suspension is an ORC upgrade, so no problem there.

well it seems your problem lies in  the last seven words if you ask me...

i had similar issues until i removed the orc springs and swapped them with the springs on my lwb 463.

bet you a doner kebab i am right too !

been
there
seen
it
done
it

mate...!

LEEU
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

 You're on Huss. I can't believe anything can be wrong with them, they are the best I have ever had or driven.

dentsmithy
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

Well i'm feeling left out!!!!!!!!

1  -   I have a broken rear left spring
2  -   I have a broken rear left shock absorber
3  -   I have a 33 year old steering damper that was bust 5 years ago when I inherited it
4  -   I have michelin 750x16 XZL tyres that have never been balanced
5  -   original (33 year old) bushes and bearings

When I do 75 (downhill) with my sad little 240 gd engine I have absolutely no steering vibrations. Given the right conditions it can skip a bit on 30mph bends due to the spring but nothing on the steering wheel.

please help ;)

Addendum  -  I know this is a shocking state of affairs for a G Wagen but it will all be fixed soon - I promise.

LEEU
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

 Question is, are your ready for the vibrations yet? There are probably so many other things distracting your attention, you just don't notice the wheel vibration. 

dentsmithy
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

In your dreams:)

unless I'm distracted by the sound from the cracked exhaust manifold

hus55
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

well chris , you've just answered so much....

your G is stock, as it should be, as mb made it to be. why chabge a good thing ? [i just got too carried away with the whole modification issue. ]

hus55
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

ORC coils are the best, your right. but, they perform best on a lwb G. they seem to cause vibtrations due to a change in the shft angles from the  lift they give. i had this issue which stopped when i changed them. i reckon you have the same issue.

i hope i am wrong mate.....

did you  the vibration problem before the ORC coils were fitted ? or before the roll ?

dentsmithy
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

I agree with you there Hus but once that fettish for oversized rubber gets you it's a wobbly road ahead:)

....except on my 230 with white springs and 35x12.5x15s:)

hus55
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

hi christo .

here is a simple teset you can perform to see if i am right.  [this is how i found out that the orc's coils were the problem , for me that is.]

get the G fully laden, 5 people and stuff in the boot. the orc springs i very hard and it takes alot of weight to get them down a bit...

see if the vibration stops...

keep me posted !

reddevil
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

Hi there,

My mechanic has just fitted a Bilstein Discovery 2 damper to my G463, but he is not happy with the fitment.

Fitted the same way round as the damper that came off the car, he says it will foul one of the arms, so has fitted it the opposite way round. Obviously unless this is a 50/50 damper this could cause problems.

Has anyone else with the Bilstein damper fitted experienced problems?

Thanks!

Chris

 

Stuckmojo
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

On 2nd replacement damper too. The OEM part was very flimsy. I bought the beefy one and the car rides a lot better. 

g wagon g
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Re: Steering Damper - Again!!

I tried a terrafirma. Dont know if you guys use a different bracket or they are lhd. Mines rhd and it hits the damper before it hits the steering lock stops on full rh lock

So guess what. I modded it and it was ok . Not good for quick lock to lock steering action as the spring puts extra effort on the p/s . Good to just let go of steering wheel and it sorts itself once the damper spring is set correctly to centre

The larger heavy duty mercedes steering damper is just fine. Mine has suffered much off road use and is still fine. I rate them as good even if more expensive. Are they in the 120 region. I forget

No issues een 30k miles after fitting. Always in mud and road use too and fit straight on

I see who makes the part but its the same with the auxillary belt shock damper. Buy the same part from XXX but it does not last one fifth of the time the same mercedes part lasts. Same code same supplier but the cheaper ones dont last at all

Best bodge is a mercedes sprinter rear shock. Its still working fine on my other g wagon with a small bracket mod

I will keep you posted just ask