I run one and find it not only presents with the engine idling smoother, it'll also wind a little higher, easier when pressed.

 

Thanks for all the replys

Glenn

 

The only thing I found on the Web that was negative about fluid type dampers is:

DAMPERS WITH MOVING INERTIA WEIGHTS,Fluid,*****,springs,inertia rings with rubber O-Rings,etc.Canyou balance a wheel on your race car if the tires are flat???? Howcan your rotating assembly be balanced if to quote one manufacturer,“These units (Dampers) should not be on the crankfor balancing as the inertia weight may not be centered until the engine starts.”NEWS FLASH!!!! Centrifugal force will always take the inertia weight off center no matter what RPM.Your assembly is never balanced.TELL TALE SIGN!!!! Metal transferred on nose outside diameter and damper internal diameter ...A fatigue crack starts.SNAP!!!! The crank breaks.

This was found at www.scatcrankshafts.com in their fall 2006 newsletter.

Also found this:

"A word about vibration dampers
In our conversation, Tom Lieb gave us some great (though sure to be controversial) information about a subject directly related to the crankshaft and its survival in a race engine: vibration dampers. He was quick to point out that a very common cause of crankshaft failure is using the wrong damper, and is especially leery of any damper that has moving parts. "A damper is supposed to balance an engine. How can you do that when you have something moving on the damper?" Lieb went on to say "Any damper with moving parts, whether it is fluid or mechanical, is not recommended in a drag race engine. Anything that moves in the damper has inertia. When you quickly accelerate or decelerate the engine, that moving part of the damper slams one way or another and puts a lot of stress on the crankshaft. For an engine that runs in a very narrow rpm band and with very little change in engine speed, like an 18-wheeler or a car that drives on the highway at a constant speed, a damper with moving parts is fine, because it will find the frequency at a constant rpm and dampen the vibrations. But with a drag race engine that accelerates and decelerates fiercely, the engine will only have certain vibrations for a millisecond." For a drag racing engine, Lieb recommends the lightest, smallest damper possible, with an elastomer-type construction. "The rubber will sit there and hum, but it won't change location."
Basically, Fluidamper = BAD I'm currently reading up on some stuff for the 460, and it seems there's quite a few people that have had surface crank problems running SCAT Series 9000 cranks with a Fluidamper.. One guy even broke the crank in half between the front snout and the #1 rod journal..."


I have already ordered a Fluidampr Myself.


2NGlenn

 

Our engines typically see from 1000 rpm to 3000 rpm. Thats a pretty short powerband. They use the analogy about balancing tires. There are tire balancing beads, as well as those bolt on balancers (centramatics?), which all seem to work better than standard balancing techniques.

You mention you were reading up on 460 stuff. Have you compared a 460 crank to a 5.9 crank? I had one of each side by side, there is no comparison in the amount of beef in the 5.9. Rod journals are close to size, but thats about it. I actually just threw out the 460 crank, I should've taken some pictures of it first.

 

FWIW, the fluidamper type of harmonic balancer is stock/OEM equipment on many of the industrial engines and is stock on the marine 370 engine if I'm not mistaken.

 

Don't get me wrong, In fact I am Installing a Fluidampr this very minute (took a break) but after searching the web for info both pro and con, I figured I would it put the information here to see what other forum members might say about it.

 

Very interesting, thanks for the posts and info, it can make one think about it on a race engine where the rpm's are extreme [for a cummins] in both directions.

 

I maybe wrong-

But I thought the Bilsteins are adjustable- you have to colapse them and rotate, but I maybe confusing them with Koni's. While ppl have always raved about them, I have always prefered Koni shocks. But, they make Bilsteins look inexpensive. I'd be currious on how the dampening rates for rebound align with the factory specs. On VW's someone tested and opened up a bunch of struts to try and understand the differences. Ones that were soft or harsh was rebound rates vs factory were way different.

Michael

 

The Bilsteins are not adjustable.