Engine Torque Damper Install
02-12-2007, 03:59 AM
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Engine Torque Damper Install
With considerations for TRD Strut Tie Bar install, TRD Supercharger install and several methods to reduce sound transferred to the passenger cabin.. and it's more complete than the other 20 page thread which is wrong
The other thread about install of the Stiffy on the Scion tC is wrong, takes until page 13 where I tell you the washers are set incorrectly, doesn't show people how to adjust the units, and people still have questions. There is a lot of misinformation out there, people are overtorquing their strut bolts. Cats and dogs living together. It's complete chaos.
Not knocking the other thread completely..it is a little better than the instruction sheet provided by Ingall's.
So here is a go at a full tutorial.
Some of the information contained here has been from reading the experiences of others, my own experience with the equipment, my personal discussions with Ingall's Engineering and my personal preferences. I believe this to be a solid unit that performs solid function. However I may be more picky than the next person when it comes to noise introduced in the passenger cabin. I do drive with about 2 layers of sound deadening material throughout the entire cabin, hatch and floor if that tells you anything about my ride expectations.. I also have a forced induction car. Being subjective I may experience more sound than the next person simply because:
If your Stiffy started rattling as soon as you slapped it on, it was not installed properly. Most people do not realize that there is a mandatory adjustment required prior to install. This is the overall length of the bracket! This is not the 'pre-load' adjustment for stiffness of the damper, that is a different and optional setting. Although it is important to note that ANY change in the damper pre-load will require an additional adjustment to the overall length of the damper. Sure, the ball joint rod ends will rotate in order to allow movement and insertion of the bolt, but if that's how you installed it no wonder you have tons of vibration and noise.
Tools:
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1. Remove Engine Cover & Windshield Fluid Reservoir
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Remove the Engine Cover
This step will provide extra room to access bolts, and keeps you from scratching it up
1. Use a 10mm socket wrench to remove the 2 bolts holding the engine cover
2. Remove engine cover and place on the side
3. Use 10mm socket on windshield reservoir bolt. Simply lift and move forward in the engine bay to provide clearance to work
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2. Remove Strut Bolt Nuts & Tower Brace (if installed)
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Prepare the windshield shroud
1. Remove 3 plastic rivets for windshield shroud, either with a small flathead screwdriver or your fingers. Pull lightly and try not to scratch the plastic
2. The first is attached to the rubber molding on the edge of the shroud
3. The second is a push clip a few inches above.
4. The third is closer to the center of the shroud. Make note of this third one. If you have the TRD Strut Bar installed, we will be coming back to it later for modification.
5. Once the plastic pins have been removed, slightly lift the shroud to allow your wrench to access the strut bolts.
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Remove the strut mounted nuts. If you have the Strut Bar, your setup will look like this.
6. Using a 14mm socket wrench, remove the nuts.
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7. Lift strut brace off on passenger side (if installed)
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3. Reposition the Radiator Hose Brackets (if TRD Supercharged)
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If you have the TRD Supercharger installed, you have two additional metal brackets for hose routing. These must be removed. This one is the rear attachment closest to the strut tower.
1. Use a 10mm socket to remove the small 1/2" extension bracket.
2. Reseat the original bracket and screw tight
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This one is to the right of the engine.
3. Use a 10mm socket to remove the angled brace.
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4. Using a screw driver, loosen the hose clamp on the rubber spacer where the rubber hose mates with the metal nipple. Do not remove.
5. Reset the rubber spacer as necessary due to new positioning
6. Screw the hose clamp tightly to set
7. Screw the angled brace in place. Best positioning would be to keep the top part of the "L" shape parallel with the engine.
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Image of correctly set hose bracket.
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4. Repositioning of Hoses (with considerations if TRD Supercharged)
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Reroute the front of the hose for Bracket Clearance
This step is required regardless of TRD Supercharger install in order to ensure that the rubber hose does not touch a vibrating metal bracket causing wear to the bracket. However, this will have special consideration in order to clear the supercharger pulley assembly.
1. Notice the position of this rubber hose above the engine mount, and just under the radiator hose. It will be directly over one of the bolts.
2. Using a zip tie, tie it tightly to the closest metal line, drawing it away from the engine mount (where the bracket is soon to be installed)
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3. The font of the radiator hose gets zip tied to the top of the alternator assembly.
4. Shown pictured is the hose clearing the S/C pulley assembly (if installed).
5. Add 1 or 2 more zip ties to hold the hose firmly in place.
As you can see, there is plenty of clearance for the pulley and the hose is routed far from the new metal bracket.
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4. Ingall's Strut Bracket Mount Prep & Install
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As you can see, the strut tower is not a flat surface. It has recesses and raised areas. Notice the strut brace is molded for fitment with the irregularities of the strut tower. The rear of the strut tower is slightly lower than the front of the tower.
However, the Ingall's strut bracket is a flat piece of metal. Properly torqued nuts will hold it in place, but in order to achieve a perfect mating of surfaces, we will add sound deadening material to the underside of the bracket. The sound deadening material is soft and will fill the recesses perfectly once squashed in place with our wrench. This will also reduce the travel of engine sound harmonics to the passenger cabin.
There is no need to go overboard with the material. It is only necessary to cover the portion that might have metal-metal contact with the strut tower.
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1. With pen & paper, trace the strut mount to make a template.
2. Cut your sound deadening material, and add up to 3 layers. More can be added if no Strut Bar is installed.
3. Leave about 1/2" from the edge of the bracket. This will allow for the deadening material to squash without seeping too much and leaving an ugly mess.
** Note: Install the sticky side of your material to the bracket. Do not install to your strut tower **
The reasons for this are two-fold:
a. If the material seeps from the edges when you toque it down, you won't have an ugly aluminum mess. It will look like black and gluey and will match the tower color
b. If you ever wish to remove your Ingall's Stiffy you will not have to chisel sound deadening material off of your strut tower.
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As the rear mount of the strut tower is slightly lower than the front (you can test this by placing the bracket on the tower and notice light 'wobble' without any of your nuts screwed down), we will add a cloth washer to the rear.
4. Add a cloth reinforced washer on the back threaded stud
5. Place the bracket onto the stud mounts
6. Replace the strut bar (if you had one)
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7. Screw both bolts down with a 14mm socket. Torque to 40 ft/lb
8. If any deadening material seeps out, you can carefully remove it with a utility knife.
Pictured: Properly installed strut mount with strut tie bar
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5. Modification for Windshield Shroud Replacement (required for TRD Strut Brace)
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Note: Only necessary if TRD Strut bar is used.
The strut bar hits a deep spot in the shroud preventing the center plastic retaining clip from reaching the metal hole below.
The difference in clearance is about 1/8" of an inch, and it is possible to lower the strut brace by tightening the strut mounted nuts harder, but Toyota requires 40 ft/lbs max on those studs. Therefore, other modification is required.
We will be doing slight surgery on the plastic under the shroud to make a 'channel' for the highest part of the strut bar to fit. We will also lift the metal retaining hole about 1/4" so it can meet the retaining clip
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1. Note the exact location where the shroud meets the bar.
2. Carefully heat the area and firmly press down to reform the plastic. You can use a solder iron or a heat gun.
** Be very careful with this process..you just want to skim off about 1/16" ...go slowly and do not go thru the plastic! **
I used a soldering iron and simply pushed the heated barrel against the plastic for a second to get the shape correct.
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3. Notice the area on the metal lip with the hole meant for the plastic retaining clip.
4. Take your pliers or something that gives you leverage and (using it as a crow bar) angle the metal shroud with the hole upwards...about 1/4" should do it. Using locking pliers you can also grab the lip and bend it upwards.
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A properly modified lip mount. This is raised high enough in order to meet the retaining clip. Your surgery will not be seen.
5. Replace the windshield shroud, and the three retaining clips.
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6. Ingall's Engine Bracket Mount Prep & Install
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1.Add 1 or 2 layers of sound deadening material on the underside of the engine bracket mount.
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1. With 14mm socket, 6" or greater ratchet extension and ratchet, Remove the rear M10 nut (looks like a Top Hat)
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2. Replace the standard M10 Hex Nut with 17mm socket, torque to 38 ft/lb
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3. Remove the forward bolt with 14mm socket and 6" or greater ratchet extension
4. Add large gold washer over the Hex Nut
5. Place large spacer over the hole
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6.Prepare your new long engine bolt (provided in the Ingall's kit)
7. Add a metal washer, and then a cloth reinforced rubber washer
8. Place some Blue Loctite material on the threads
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9. Place an O-Ring over the rear engine mount
10. Place the locking nut over the O-Ring and screw down
11. Place the prepared long bolt in the forward hole of the bracket.
12. Torque both to 38 ft/lb
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7. Adjusting the "pre-load" of the Stiffy
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Adjustment of the preload is not required. However, it is listed first because final adjustment of the damper unit (overall length) must be done AFTER this process. Most Ingall's Stiffy's are shipped from the factory at 14mm of 'stiffness'. They can be adjusted anywhere from 10mm to 15mm. The lower the number, the stiffer the unit. The higher the number, the more travel is allowed for the engine.
If you have no plans to modify the 14mm setting from the factory, you can jump to Step 8. However, as mistakes can and often do occur, you should know how to measure the stiffness setting to ensure it is somewhere between 10mm and 15mm. Any other setting from that window may cause severe engine noise, binding or damage to the unit.
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There are two large nuts closest to the plunger unit of the Stiffy. Measure the distance from the top of the preload, to the bottom of the set screw. In this image you can see a distance of 14mm.
With the unit assembled, you can adjust this by loosening the large nut closest to the thick plunger component.
Once that is loose, screw clockwise or counterclockwise on the second nut to close or expand the distance.
Remember to measure and only stay in the window of 10mm-15mm.
**Note:
This is simply a screw mechanism, so you can get a measurement that falls anywhere in between, like 13.5mm if you desire.
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If you are hardcore, just take the screw completely off and measure the distance with superior accuracy.
That's just how I roll. Actually, it only made sense since I disassembled the entire unit to exchange heim joints (more on that later).
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Now you can get a superior reading for exact measurement.
** Note:
This install is for an automatic. Shifting and engine movement is not terrible, so it is possible to set the Stiffy for race. I have driven at 14mm as well as 12 mm with little difference in driving. With a stick shift and hard high-RPM shifting your results may vary.
I do suggest that if you plan to swap the heim joints for the ones I used you go no lower than 12mm. The overall thread length on the male end of the joint is smaller by 2mm. I wanted to ensure that the same minimal amount of metal meat was in the Stiffy. (Did I just say meat and Stiffy in the same sentence?)
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If you use the method described above, once you have the distance set, you need only screw the entire component back into the Stiffy.
Once the closest set screw touches the Stiffy plunger mechanism, tighten it down to a max of 35 ft./lbs
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8. Adjusting the length of the Stiffy
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This step is required. The distance of the engine torque damper must be exactly the length of the distance between the two brackets you just installed in your engine bay.
Ingall's sells these units for a variety of cars, not just the Scion tC. The only thing that changes is the brackets. Because of that, and because measurements in an engine bay may not be exactly the same (to the millimeter), you MUST do this adjustment.
If you ever change the "pre-load" stiffness you MUST adjust the length of the Stiffy.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The length is tested with a test fitment in the car. However, tightening of the lock nut must be done off of the vehicle. With one end of the Stiffy bolted to a bracket you can easily throw off the tightening you did in step 7, or you can easily overtorque the unit...with only your hand..Yes! Because the bracket bolt would be acting like a vise. Loosening is bad, it causes excess vibration and noise. Hard is bad, it can cause product failure.
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Notice the heim joint. It has a sphere to allow for awkward movement while still maintaining a strong connection. It has enough travel and so does the other end, so you could simply slap this unit on direct from factory. But that would be wrong.
If you attach the rod ends at their most extreme length, they are left with no room to "play" forward or back.
So you want to line them up with the eyeholes in the brackets in such a way so the ball joints are perfectly straight. Then when the engine moves they have the proper amount of slack, and you get less rattling.
I don't measure with string, I measure with a test fit. It takes longer because we are going to place the Stiffy on the car, take it off and replace it, but we can make it mate perfectly with no noise.
1. While clamping on the pre-load nuts with a wrench, loosen the locking jam nut I am pointing to. You want to hold onto the pre-load nuts because you can easily loosen them as well doing this. That would be wrong.
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Once loose, the male end of the heim joint has room to travel by using a clockwise or counter clockwise motion.
2. Mount the Stiffy to the strut tower bracket using the 10M bolt and locking nut. It is not necessary to torque down tightly. We just need to hold it in place.
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3. Holding the Stiffy in place, try to line up the engine mounted side to the engine bracket.
4. Simply use a screwing motion (clockwise or counterclockwise) to extend or shorten the length of the component.
5. When the spherical ball joint is lined up with the eyehole of the bracket while straight, you found the correct length.
6. You can also play with the damper at this point, to get the logo 'just right' if you want it to display a certain way during install.(straight up, to the side etc)
** Note:
You will notice that the "plunger" end has a small bit of natural travel (about 2.5mm). I adjusted the length with the plunger extended, as in the Scion tC, revving and hard shifting cause the engine to buck backwards towards the firewall.
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6. Remove the Stiffy from the car.
7. Tighten the lock nut, to a max of 30 ft/lb torque.
[row:5528e575e8]9. Install the Ingall's Engine Torque Damper
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Let's make a Stiffy sandwich!
1. Take an M10 bolt and place a O-Ring on it
2. Thread it through the Stiffy (engine mount end)
3. Add a cloth reinforced rubber washer
4. Thread through the engine mount bracket
5. Add a cloth reinforced rubber washer
6. Add a Metal washer (supplied)
7. Tighten down with the supplied locking nut (nut is 15mm, bolt head is 17mm)
**Tip:
Tighten down on the 17mm bolt end, rather than the nut. This will keep the rubber washer from shredding as you lock it down.
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8. For the strut bracket mount, use the same procedure as above.
** Note:
With the Strut bar installed it may be easier to install with the bolt facing upwards (as shown). This is because it will be impossible to get a 17mm socket wrench on the bolt as it is too close to the bar. It is too close even for the 15mm, but by holding that still with an open ended 15mm wrench, you should be able to reach the bolt head below with a 17mm open socket and torque down tightly.
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9. Reinstall the engine cover
10. Reinstall the windshield washer fluid reservoir.
11. Turn on the car and test it out. Run the car for a bit, drive around. Turn the car off and check your Stiffy..er, the torque damper I mean..for loose bolts.
Problems? Noise or vibration?
Check out the next 'Extreme Sound Damping' or Troubleshooting
[row:5528e575e8]10. Extreme Sound Damping (Optional)
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Using the methods above I get no vibration or rattling in the cabin. But there is some additional cabin noise (from the engine) and transferred by the metal Stiffy. After damping most connections with rubber and sound deadening material, the only thing left is the heim joints.
I found some joints from McMaster Carr that have a polyurethane race element. This prevents a metal-metal contact. It's not a complete panacea since it needs to be a specific density to support loads, but if it makes you feel better to have absolutely no metal to metal contact between parts, this is for you.
These are injection molded and thrust rated at over 1000 pounds, but more importantly they are radial load rated at over 4700 pounds. That should be able to handle a great deal of engine movement. If the engine can produce more torque by moving during shifting that is greater than the actual weight of the car...we're all in trouble.
The part numbers are 8411K331 (female end) and 8411K131 (male end) and you can order either or both from www.mcmaster.com. I'm hardcore so I got both. They cost about $9.50 each. I ordered on Thursday at 4pm and it was waiting for me at home on Friday!
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The female rod end is exactly the same length as the Ingall's component. The male end, however, is 2mm smaller. For safety's sake I did not go below 12mm of preload adjustment to allow for the 2mm margin of error on the minimum pre-load allowed by Ingall's
1. Loosen the locking jam nut
2. Completely unscrew the male heim joint and remove it (retain the small black locking washer)
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3. Remove the preload screw system
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4. Your Stiffy's naked!
5. With the preload removed, you can see the flathead screw that holds the female heim joint end in place
6. With a flathead screw and a locking wrench on the heim joint end, loosen the screw
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7. Once sufficiently loose, you can unscrew the female heim joint (do not loose the black locking washer).
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8. Screw on the new female rod end
9. Using the flathead screwdriver and your wrench, tighten the unit down
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10. Reinstall the pre-load screw system. Remember to torque down to spec.
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11. Add the male rod end and tighten down the lock nut, with the black locking washer beneath it.
12. Do not forget the torque specs.
13. Install in the car using the previous methods for exact measurement.
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Enjoy your new custom setup.
Realistically this reduced the overall cabin noise by about 30% from the install method above. The $20 was worth it to me, and gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling. It may or may not apply to you, and you may not care all that much (about a slight reduciton in cabin noise)...I know you DO care about my warm and fuzzy feelings, don't you?
[row:5528e575e8]11. Troubleshooting
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I live in the Northeast and we see extreme temperature change from winter to summer. You may get some slight chatter on a cold day (below 30 degrees). This will go away after the car (and the elastomer in the Stiffy) warms up.
Chatter beyond that? Check your pre-load..it may be too weak. Going stiffer may actually solve your problem since you don't allow the plunger to move as much at idle or low RPM.
Periodically check your bolts for loosening and/or wear, and Stiffy for binding.
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For more images and pics, check out my blog posting:
http://blog.scionxtc.com/blogs/archi...ue-damper.aspx
The other thread about install of the Stiffy on the Scion tC is wrong, takes until page 13 where I tell you the washers are set incorrectly, doesn't show people how to adjust the units, and people still have questions. There is a lot of misinformation out there, people are overtorquing their strut bolts. Cats and dogs living together. It's complete chaos.
Not knocking the other thread completely..it is a little better than the instruction sheet provided by Ingall's.
So here is a go at a full tutorial.
Some of the information contained here has been from reading the experiences of others, my own experience with the equipment, my personal discussions with Ingall's Engineering and my personal preferences. I believe this to be a solid unit that performs solid function. However I may be more picky than the next person when it comes to noise introduced in the passenger cabin. I do drive with about 2 layers of sound deadening material throughout the entire cabin, hatch and floor if that tells you anything about my ride expectations.. I also have a forced induction car. Being subjective I may experience more sound than the next person simply because:
- forced induction is louder than stock
- with a sound deadened cabin, any new noise will be louder as the ambient outside noise is no longer available to partially drown it out
- I have an aftermarket stereo system (it may be louder/lower than yours)
If your Stiffy started rattling as soon as you slapped it on, it was not installed properly. Most people do not realize that there is a mandatory adjustment required prior to install. This is the overall length of the bracket! This is not the 'pre-load' adjustment for stiffness of the damper, that is a different and optional setting. Although it is important to note that ANY change in the damper pre-load will require an additional adjustment to the overall length of the damper. Sure, the ball joint rod ends will rotate in order to allow movement and insertion of the bolt, but if that's how you installed it no wonder you have tons of vibration and noise.
Tools:
- Socket wrench & sockets sized (10mm, 14mm, 15mm, 17mm)
- 6" or longer ratchet extension
- Open ended wrench (15mm/17mm) required for install with strut tie bar
- Torque wrench
- Flathead screwdriver
- Philips screwdriver
- a locking wrench
- Utility Knife
- Ingall's "Stiffy" Engine Torque Damper Kit for the Scion tC (available from http://www.dezod.com/)
- Zip Ties
- Blue Loctite
- Sound deadening material (like Raammat, dynamat, etc)
- Cloth reinforced rubber tank bolt washers available from Home Depot
- Small rubber O-Rings available from Home Depot
- Polyurethane Ball Joint Rod End - Female (McMaster Carr Part#8411K331)
- Polyurethane Ball Joint Rod End - Male (McMaster Carr Part#8411K131)
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1. Remove Engine Cover & Windshield Fluid Reservoir
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Remove the Engine Cover
This step will provide extra room to access bolts, and keeps you from scratching it up
1. Use a 10mm socket wrench to remove the 2 bolts holding the engine cover
2. Remove engine cover and place on the side
3. Use 10mm socket on windshield reservoir bolt. Simply lift and move forward in the engine bay to provide clearance to work
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2. Remove Strut Bolt Nuts & Tower Brace (if installed)
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Prepare the windshield shroud
1. Remove 3 plastic rivets for windshield shroud, either with a small flathead screwdriver or your fingers. Pull lightly and try not to scratch the plastic
2. The first is attached to the rubber molding on the edge of the shroud
3. The second is a push clip a few inches above.
4. The third is closer to the center of the shroud. Make note of this third one. If you have the TRD Strut Bar installed, we will be coming back to it later for modification.
5. Once the plastic pins have been removed, slightly lift the shroud to allow your wrench to access the strut bolts.
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Remove the strut mounted nuts. If you have the Strut Bar, your setup will look like this.
6. Using a 14mm socket wrench, remove the nuts.
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7. Lift strut brace off on passenger side (if installed)
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3. Reposition the Radiator Hose Brackets (if TRD Supercharged)
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If you have the TRD Supercharger installed, you have two additional metal brackets for hose routing. These must be removed. This one is the rear attachment closest to the strut tower.
1. Use a 10mm socket to remove the small 1/2" extension bracket.
2. Reseat the original bracket and screw tight
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This one is to the right of the engine.
3. Use a 10mm socket to remove the angled brace.
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4. Using a screw driver, loosen the hose clamp on the rubber spacer where the rubber hose mates with the metal nipple. Do not remove.
5. Reset the rubber spacer as necessary due to new positioning
6. Screw the hose clamp tightly to set
7. Screw the angled brace in place. Best positioning would be to keep the top part of the "L" shape parallel with the engine.
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Image of correctly set hose bracket.
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4. Repositioning of Hoses (with considerations if TRD Supercharged)
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Reroute the front of the hose for Bracket Clearance
This step is required regardless of TRD Supercharger install in order to ensure that the rubber hose does not touch a vibrating metal bracket causing wear to the bracket. However, this will have special consideration in order to clear the supercharger pulley assembly.
1. Notice the position of this rubber hose above the engine mount, and just under the radiator hose. It will be directly over one of the bolts.
2. Using a zip tie, tie it tightly to the closest metal line, drawing it away from the engine mount (where the bracket is soon to be installed)
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3. The font of the radiator hose gets zip tied to the top of the alternator assembly.
4. Shown pictured is the hose clearing the S/C pulley assembly (if installed).
5. Add 1 or 2 more zip ties to hold the hose firmly in place.
As you can see, there is plenty of clearance for the pulley and the hose is routed far from the new metal bracket.
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4. Ingall's Strut Bracket Mount Prep & Install
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As you can see, the strut tower is not a flat surface. It has recesses and raised areas. Notice the strut brace is molded for fitment with the irregularities of the strut tower. The rear of the strut tower is slightly lower than the front of the tower.
However, the Ingall's strut bracket is a flat piece of metal. Properly torqued nuts will hold it in place, but in order to achieve a perfect mating of surfaces, we will add sound deadening material to the underside of the bracket. The sound deadening material is soft and will fill the recesses perfectly once squashed in place with our wrench. This will also reduce the travel of engine sound harmonics to the passenger cabin.
There is no need to go overboard with the material. It is only necessary to cover the portion that might have metal-metal contact with the strut tower.
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1. With pen & paper, trace the strut mount to make a template.
2. Cut your sound deadening material, and add up to 3 layers. More can be added if no Strut Bar is installed.
3. Leave about 1/2" from the edge of the bracket. This will allow for the deadening material to squash without seeping too much and leaving an ugly mess.
** Note: Install the sticky side of your material to the bracket. Do not install to your strut tower **
The reasons for this are two-fold:
a. If the material seeps from the edges when you toque it down, you won't have an ugly aluminum mess. It will look like black and gluey and will match the tower color
b. If you ever wish to remove your Ingall's Stiffy you will not have to chisel sound deadening material off of your strut tower.
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As the rear mount of the strut tower is slightly lower than the front (you can test this by placing the bracket on the tower and notice light 'wobble' without any of your nuts screwed down), we will add a cloth washer to the rear.
4. Add a cloth reinforced washer on the back threaded stud
5. Place the bracket onto the stud mounts
6. Replace the strut bar (if you had one)
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7. Screw both bolts down with a 14mm socket. Torque to 40 ft/lb
8. If any deadening material seeps out, you can carefully remove it with a utility knife.
Pictured: Properly installed strut mount with strut tie bar
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5. Modification for Windshield Shroud Replacement (required for TRD Strut Brace)
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Note: Only necessary if TRD Strut bar is used.
The strut bar hits a deep spot in the shroud preventing the center plastic retaining clip from reaching the metal hole below.
The difference in clearance is about 1/8" of an inch, and it is possible to lower the strut brace by tightening the strut mounted nuts harder, but Toyota requires 40 ft/lbs max on those studs. Therefore, other modification is required.
We will be doing slight surgery on the plastic under the shroud to make a 'channel' for the highest part of the strut bar to fit. We will also lift the metal retaining hole about 1/4" so it can meet the retaining clip
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1. Note the exact location where the shroud meets the bar.
2. Carefully heat the area and firmly press down to reform the plastic. You can use a solder iron or a heat gun.
** Be very careful with this process..you just want to skim off about 1/16" ...go slowly and do not go thru the plastic! **
I used a soldering iron and simply pushed the heated barrel against the plastic for a second to get the shape correct.
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3. Notice the area on the metal lip with the hole meant for the plastic retaining clip.
4. Take your pliers or something that gives you leverage and (using it as a crow bar) angle the metal shroud with the hole upwards...about 1/4" should do it. Using locking pliers you can also grab the lip and bend it upwards.
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A properly modified lip mount. This is raised high enough in order to meet the retaining clip. Your surgery will not be seen.
5. Replace the windshield shroud, and the three retaining clips.
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6. Ingall's Engine Bracket Mount Prep & Install
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1.Add 1 or 2 layers of sound deadening material on the underside of the engine bracket mount.
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1. With 14mm socket, 6" or greater ratchet extension and ratchet, Remove the rear M10 nut (looks like a Top Hat)
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2. Replace the standard M10 Hex Nut with 17mm socket, torque to 38 ft/lb
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3. Remove the forward bolt with 14mm socket and 6" or greater ratchet extension
4. Add large gold washer over the Hex Nut
5. Place large spacer over the hole
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6.Prepare your new long engine bolt (provided in the Ingall's kit)
7. Add a metal washer, and then a cloth reinforced rubber washer
8. Place some Blue Loctite material on the threads
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9. Place an O-Ring over the rear engine mount
10. Place the locking nut over the O-Ring and screw down
11. Place the prepared long bolt in the forward hole of the bracket.
12. Torque both to 38 ft/lb
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7. Adjusting the "pre-load" of the Stiffy
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Adjustment of the preload is not required. However, it is listed first because final adjustment of the damper unit (overall length) must be done AFTER this process. Most Ingall's Stiffy's are shipped from the factory at 14mm of 'stiffness'. They can be adjusted anywhere from 10mm to 15mm. The lower the number, the stiffer the unit. The higher the number, the more travel is allowed for the engine.
If you have no plans to modify the 14mm setting from the factory, you can jump to Step 8. However, as mistakes can and often do occur, you should know how to measure the stiffness setting to ensure it is somewhere between 10mm and 15mm. Any other setting from that window may cause severe engine noise, binding or damage to the unit.
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There are two large nuts closest to the plunger unit of the Stiffy. Measure the distance from the top of the preload, to the bottom of the set screw. In this image you can see a distance of 14mm.
With the unit assembled, you can adjust this by loosening the large nut closest to the thick plunger component.
Once that is loose, screw clockwise or counterclockwise on the second nut to close or expand the distance.
Remember to measure and only stay in the window of 10mm-15mm.
**Note:
This is simply a screw mechanism, so you can get a measurement that falls anywhere in between, like 13.5mm if you desire.
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If you are hardcore, just take the screw completely off and measure the distance with superior accuracy.
That's just how I roll. Actually, it only made sense since I disassembled the entire unit to exchange heim joints (more on that later).
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Now you can get a superior reading for exact measurement.
** Note:
This install is for an automatic. Shifting and engine movement is not terrible, so it is possible to set the Stiffy for race. I have driven at 14mm as well as 12 mm with little difference in driving. With a stick shift and hard high-RPM shifting your results may vary.
I do suggest that if you plan to swap the heim joints for the ones I used you go no lower than 12mm. The overall thread length on the male end of the joint is smaller by 2mm. I wanted to ensure that the same minimal amount of metal meat was in the Stiffy. (Did I just say meat and Stiffy in the same sentence?)
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If you use the method described above, once you have the distance set, you need only screw the entire component back into the Stiffy.
Once the closest set screw touches the Stiffy plunger mechanism, tighten it down to a max of 35 ft./lbs
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8. Adjusting the length of the Stiffy
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This step is required. The distance of the engine torque damper must be exactly the length of the distance between the two brackets you just installed in your engine bay.
Ingall's sells these units for a variety of cars, not just the Scion tC. The only thing that changes is the brackets. Because of that, and because measurements in an engine bay may not be exactly the same (to the millimeter), you MUST do this adjustment.
If you ever change the "pre-load" stiffness you MUST adjust the length of the Stiffy.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The length is tested with a test fitment in the car. However, tightening of the lock nut must be done off of the vehicle. With one end of the Stiffy bolted to a bracket you can easily throw off the tightening you did in step 7, or you can easily overtorque the unit...with only your hand..Yes! Because the bracket bolt would be acting like a vise. Loosening is bad, it causes excess vibration and noise. Hard is bad, it can cause product failure.
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Notice the heim joint. It has a sphere to allow for awkward movement while still maintaining a strong connection. It has enough travel and so does the other end, so you could simply slap this unit on direct from factory. But that would be wrong.
If you attach the rod ends at their most extreme length, they are left with no room to "play" forward or back.
So you want to line them up with the eyeholes in the brackets in such a way so the ball joints are perfectly straight. Then when the engine moves they have the proper amount of slack, and you get less rattling.
I don't measure with string, I measure with a test fit. It takes longer because we are going to place the Stiffy on the car, take it off and replace it, but we can make it mate perfectly with no noise.
1. While clamping on the pre-load nuts with a wrench, loosen the locking jam nut I am pointing to. You want to hold onto the pre-load nuts because you can easily loosen them as well doing this. That would be wrong.
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Once loose, the male end of the heim joint has room to travel by using a clockwise or counter clockwise motion.
2. Mount the Stiffy to the strut tower bracket using the 10M bolt and locking nut. It is not necessary to torque down tightly. We just need to hold it in place.
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3. Holding the Stiffy in place, try to line up the engine mounted side to the engine bracket.
4. Simply use a screwing motion (clockwise or counterclockwise) to extend or shorten the length of the component.
5. When the spherical ball joint is lined up with the eyehole of the bracket while straight, you found the correct length.
6. You can also play with the damper at this point, to get the logo 'just right' if you want it to display a certain way during install.(straight up, to the side etc)
** Note:
You will notice that the "plunger" end has a small bit of natural travel (about 2.5mm). I adjusted the length with the plunger extended, as in the Scion tC, revving and hard shifting cause the engine to buck backwards towards the firewall.
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6. Remove the Stiffy from the car.
7. Tighten the lock nut, to a max of 30 ft/lb torque.
[row:5528e575e8]9. Install the Ingall's Engine Torque Damper
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Let's make a Stiffy sandwich!
1. Take an M10 bolt and place a O-Ring on it
2. Thread it through the Stiffy (engine mount end)
3. Add a cloth reinforced rubber washer
4. Thread through the engine mount bracket
5. Add a cloth reinforced rubber washer
6. Add a Metal washer (supplied)
7. Tighten down with the supplied locking nut (nut is 15mm, bolt head is 17mm)
**Tip:
Tighten down on the 17mm bolt end, rather than the nut. This will keep the rubber washer from shredding as you lock it down.
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8. For the strut bracket mount, use the same procedure as above.
** Note:
With the Strut bar installed it may be easier to install with the bolt facing upwards (as shown). This is because it will be impossible to get a 17mm socket wrench on the bolt as it is too close to the bar. It is too close even for the 15mm, but by holding that still with an open ended 15mm wrench, you should be able to reach the bolt head below with a 17mm open socket and torque down tightly.
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9. Reinstall the engine cover
10. Reinstall the windshield washer fluid reservoir.
11. Turn on the car and test it out. Run the car for a bit, drive around. Turn the car off and check your Stiffy..er, the torque damper I mean..for loose bolts.
Problems? Noise or vibration?
Check out the next 'Extreme Sound Damping' or Troubleshooting
[row:5528e575e8]10. Extreme Sound Damping (Optional)
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Using the methods above I get no vibration or rattling in the cabin. But there is some additional cabin noise (from the engine) and transferred by the metal Stiffy. After damping most connections with rubber and sound deadening material, the only thing left is the heim joints.
I found some joints from McMaster Carr that have a polyurethane race element. This prevents a metal-metal contact. It's not a complete panacea since it needs to be a specific density to support loads, but if it makes you feel better to have absolutely no metal to metal contact between parts, this is for you.
These are injection molded and thrust rated at over 1000 pounds, but more importantly they are radial load rated at over 4700 pounds. That should be able to handle a great deal of engine movement. If the engine can produce more torque by moving during shifting that is greater than the actual weight of the car...we're all in trouble.
The part numbers are 8411K331 (female end) and 8411K131 (male end) and you can order either or both from www.mcmaster.com. I'm hardcore so I got both. They cost about $9.50 each. I ordered on Thursday at 4pm and it was waiting for me at home on Friday!
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The female rod end is exactly the same length as the Ingall's component. The male end, however, is 2mm smaller. For safety's sake I did not go below 12mm of preload adjustment to allow for the 2mm margin of error on the minimum pre-load allowed by Ingall's
1. Loosen the locking jam nut
2. Completely unscrew the male heim joint and remove it (retain the small black locking washer)
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3. Remove the preload screw system
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4. Your Stiffy's naked!
5. With the preload removed, you can see the flathead screw that holds the female heim joint end in place
6. With a flathead screw and a locking wrench on the heim joint end, loosen the screw
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7. Once sufficiently loose, you can unscrew the female heim joint (do not loose the black locking washer).
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8. Screw on the new female rod end
9. Using the flathead screwdriver and your wrench, tighten the unit down
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10. Reinstall the pre-load screw system. Remember to torque down to spec.
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11. Add the male rod end and tighten down the lock nut, with the black locking washer beneath it.
12. Do not forget the torque specs.
13. Install in the car using the previous methods for exact measurement.
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Enjoy your new custom setup.
Realistically this reduced the overall cabin noise by about 30% from the install method above. The $20 was worth it to me, and gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling. It may or may not apply to you, and you may not care all that much (about a slight reduciton in cabin noise)...I know you DO care about my warm and fuzzy feelings, don't you?
[row:5528e575e8]11. Troubleshooting
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I live in the Northeast and we see extreme temperature change from winter to summer. You may get some slight chatter on a cold day (below 30 degrees). This will go away after the car (and the elastomer in the Stiffy) warms up.
Chatter beyond that? Check your pre-load..it may be too weak. Going stiffer may actually solve your problem since you don't allow the plunger to move as much at idle or low RPM.
Periodically check your bolts for loosening and/or wear, and Stiffy for binding.
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For more images and pics, check out my blog posting:
http://blog.scionxtc.com/blogs/archi...ue-damper.aspx
02-12-2007, 06:33 PM
#6
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Louisville, CO
Posts: 11
Bravo...I know our instructions are rather confusing (I'm working on that one) especially to the novice user. I'm glad the polyurethane lined Heims worked well for you. Also, I just wanted to point out that we (Ingalls Engineering) don't do direct sales. Like you noted Dezod can take care of any Ingalls product orders and has good customer service. I'm honestly thinking about linking to this from our website for any tC questions, thanks for taking care of your/the tC community with such a great write up.
05-04-2007, 07:30 PM
#11
Member
DeepSouth Scions
SL Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: State College, PA
Posts: 83
Thanks for the great DIY! Just installed it last weekend in about an hour. I did everything in the DIY except for swapping out the heim joints and I only used two layers of dynamat under the strut tower bracket and none under the engine bracket.
I have it set at 12mm and at idle, you can barely hear it with all the windows up. During normal driving, it’s at its “loudest” from first through third, after that, the noise is minimal. I’m definitely really happy with this mod. It performs like it should.
Thanks again for the great write-up and props to Dezod for getting me the product so fast.
I have it set at 12mm and at idle, you can barely hear it with all the windows up. During normal driving, it’s at its “loudest” from first through third, after that, the noise is minimal. I’m definitely really happy with this mod. It performs like it should.
Thanks again for the great write-up and props to Dezod for getting me the product so fast.
06-15-2007, 10:17 PM
#13
Senior Member
1UP Crew
SL Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Elgin, IL
Posts: 658
Great DIY! Made my install sooooooooooo much easier. Few questions though:
1) At idle, and especially with the air conditioning on, the front of the car shakes like a madman now... I assume this is normal, or is the damper set too firm? I didn't touch the damper setting out of the box.
2) Under moderate throttle, there's a "resonance" or very high frequency vibration from the damper area that makes it's way into the passenger compartment...this is normal as well?
3) Am I correct in understanding that there will be vibration transferred to the passenger compartment as a "necessary evil" of this mod?
Thanks again for the DIY!
1) At idle, and especially with the air conditioning on, the front of the car shakes like a madman now... I assume this is normal, or is the damper set too firm? I didn't touch the damper setting out of the box.
2) Under moderate throttle, there's a "resonance" or very high frequency vibration from the damper area that makes it's way into the passenger compartment...this is normal as well?
3) Am I correct in understanding that there will be vibration transferred to the passenger compartment as a "necessary evil" of this mod?
Thanks again for the DIY!
11-28-2008, 10:52 PM
#14
I just looked at your instructions and step5 isnt too clear. Its dark right now so I cant go outside and look but im not sure what step5 is saying? So your bending/melting a piece to make room fro the wrench? is that correct?
11-28-2008, 11:42 PM
#15
Senior Member
SL Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Westchester, NY
Posts: 1,434
no, if you are referring to the bending, that is to make room for the TRD strut bar. I used the wrench to grab the metal, then bend it upwards about 1/4".
if you don't have the trd strut bar you don't need to make this modification.
if you don't have the trd strut bar you don't need to make this modification.
12-21-2008, 12:21 AM
#18
Senior Member
SL Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Lynnwood, WA
Posts: 2,982
just used this for my install..
one small correction. when you said that the radiator hose needs to be re-positioned.. its not the radiator hose, its the A/C line
other than that great write up!
one small correction. when you said that the radiator hose needs to be re-positioned.. its not the radiator hose, its the A/C line
other than that great write up!
