question about torque damper

thispecialk · Joined: 03 Nov 2007 Posts: 193

can u really notice a difference in power with a torque damper? also i read it makes alot of noise by it self and also it gets even louder when ac is on. so does this mean ac is useless? why does a/c affect the noise level? last question is will it be okay to have torque damper and strut bar or can u only have one or the other since it uses same bracket. is this item well worth the money? id like to hear peoples review that actually have them

paulky_2000 · Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 1105 Location: Bowling Green, KY

All the torque damper will do is allow the energy that is generally wasted by engine movement to be transfered through the drivetrain. Yes, it's a bit "louder" due to the added vibrations felt through the chassis. That can be minimalized by using a vibration deadner between the damper plate and the strut tower. Your a/c will work just fine.

As for using both the damper and a brace at the same time? I'm not really sure....kind of curious about that myself!

thispecialk · Joined: 03 Nov 2007 Posts: 193

i read that ppl have the damper then the strut bar on top of it . cant it be the other way around so u dont have to try and add washers on the driver side to balance the strut bar out. wat happens if u do have it un even will this do long term damage? to the body

paulky_2000 · Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 1105 Location: Bowling Green, KY

I'm not sure it would matter if the bar was a bit uneven. Perhaps someone that has tried this could chime in?

kirk212 · Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Posts: 236

you dont really notice a power difference, but its more of an overall performance and I guess a suspension difference. With higher hp tCs you get alot of wheel hop during take off from a dead stop. The torque damper elminates most of it by keeping the enigine more stabilized, as well as much smoother shifts coming in and out of gears at high rpms. I look at it as a sacrifice. Sometimes you sacrifice performance for comfortabilty, but in this case, its the other way around. You def loose alot of comfortablity (noise) by the perfromance you gain (stiffer motor). It does make alot of noise and theres not much you can do about it. Your basicallly hooking up your engine to your front right strut and body which sends all the noise right into the front right side of the cabin. I put down 2 layers of dynomat to help it, which it did, but its still noisy. Its louder w/ the AC on because theres a much bigger load on the motor with the compressor being on. The noise is only loud when the car is at idle. When your driving, you dont really hear much. Maybe something like the sound of an owl or a whoosh noise. It is very capable to have the TD and a strut bar. Its just the strut bar has to go on top of the TD bracket. It wont fit right if you try to reverse it. I did notice that if you remove the strut bar and just had the TD (w/ dynomat) its not that loud.

Overall = If you dont get headaches easily, and you dont mind some rattle at idle.... its well worth sacrificing a little confortablity for crazy burnouts and wheel hop.

By the way..... there are alot of threads about this already. But I was bored and thought Id just give you my opinion.

kirk212 · Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Posts: 236

Quote: read that ppl have the damper then the strut bar on top of it . cant it be the other way around so u dont have to try and add washers on the driver side to balance the strut bar out. wat happens if u do have it un even will this do long term damage? to the body

Ive had my strut bar "uneven" for a long time and I dont notice any ill effects. I dont think it matters all too much or takes away from the stability factor.

TeeCizzle · Posted: 8/17/08 8:52AM Post subject:

I wouldn't recommend the ETD....I had the Ingall's ETD on my car for about 5 months or so....It just vobrated the car badly when going in Reverse & while the A/C was on....

I did feel a slight smoother acceleration going around corners and Entering onto the freeway though!

paulky_2000 · Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 1105 Location: Bowling Green, KY

I barely even notice mine anymore...

thispecialk · Joined: 03 Nov 2007 Posts: 193

i thought TD was more for dealing with wheel hops not cornering and handling. less wheel hop means better traction on the ground correct? isnt the strut bar for the cornering?

kirk212 · Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Posts: 236

Yea your right. Its not for cornering, its for engine stability under high loads....... eleminating wheel hop. Strut bars are designed to help eliminate body roll during cornering / turning.... same as sway bars.

Dr_Isotope · Joined: 05 Mar 2005 Posts: 1599 Location: SoCal, USA!!

Fab your own. I did. Couldn't be happier with it. The Ingalls, Weapon R, and NST are all awful to their own degrees. Every single person I know that's tried one has taken it off and sold it in less than a month. One buddy didn't last a week.

My damper setup has been in the car for almost 3 years.

kirk212 · Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Posts: 236

Do you have this available for sale...? I didnt see it on your site. Can you post any clear pics of it?

Dr_Isotope · Joined: 05 Mar 2005 Posts: 1599 Location: SoCal, USA!!

Fabricated an upper bracket from 1/8" aluminum and a lower bracket out of 3/16" steel. The damper is a 7.5" Marzocchi Roco Air R, with variable damping adjustment. I don't offer them for sale because the Roco Air alone retails for about $190 (I can just get them cheaper).

I tell people, if you want a decent ETD, buy that cheapo on eBay for like 40 bucks, throw away the shock that comes with it, and put in a decent air damper. You can find entry level Fox, RockShox, and Marzocchi dampers all over eBay for under $100. So even with the $40 kit (just for the brackets) you can put together a respectable ETD for under $150, and it won't piss you off by making your car chatter like an insane typewriter.

thispecialk · Joined: 03 Nov 2007 Posts: 193

can u show a different angle picture. is this on ur tc or a different car

sc_irony · Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 119

:clap: Well done on the home made damper, thats pretty ingenious

kirk212 · Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Posts: 236

Nice. Maybe Ill replace my Ingalls piston with an air shock.

Dr_Isotope · Joined: 05 Mar 2005 Posts: 1599 Location: SoCal, USA!!

thispecialk wrote: can u show a different angle picture. is this on ur tc or a different car

tC, yes. Forgive the old, dirty pic.

RCZDesigns · Joined: 04 Mar 2007 Posts: 762 Location: Peoria, AZ

It's a mod for a true driving enthusiast, if you don't drive spiritedly at times it will be more of an inconvinience for you. If you like the fact that it puts power down and eliminates wheelhop, go for it.

If you're picky about cabin noise (deadening barely helps) and especially vibration, this isn't a mod for you.

To me it's a great mod. One of my best once I got used to it's con's.

tcCAlI · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 1328

i love all the vibration. makes the car feel all together.

paulky_2000 · Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 1105 Location: Bowling Green, KY

I truly don't even hear mine anymore....but then again:

My other car is a Mini and rattles ALL the time!