As the title states, vibration dampers I know nothing about. Meaning, one, how does one know when it should be replaced as preventive maintenance? I just hit 200K on my 21 year old damper and I read somewhere that VD's are a maintenance item on these cummins engines. Are there any of you still running the original damper on your trucks? I've read a few posts on how much better the truck runs, meaning smoother. Second, If I do replace mine, should I just go back to an OEM Cummins Damper? As far as leaders in the after market there is Fluidamper and ATI that I know of. If I went with either of those two I would like to save up and get the Fluidamper but the few posts I read on those that went with FD their were problems of shimming, relocating the crankshaft sensor, and being too far forward to possibly hit the cooling fan. Anyone use the ATI super damper? Am i correct in saying the FD brand has those problems? havent heard anyone using the ATI one so no comments on that one. Please advise on pros and cons of the two aftermarkets vs OEM, and advise also on when those things should be considered to be replaced. Thanks, all

 

While my truck is a 2nd gen 24v I replaced mine not long ago. My truck had approx. 290k on it when I replaced mine. As far as did it need to be replaced well yes I guess it did. I have read that you are looking for misalignment of the index marks on the front over X inches (fraction of inch) iirc 1/8 inch mine was out by about 1/16th inch. The next thing to look for is bulging of the rubber ring either on the front or rear. The front of mine looked ok in that respect. The back side while not terrible was bulging in a couple of areas but wasn't real bad. I had already bought one figuring after 290k on it it would do no harm to replace it. I went with the FD unit. I had no issues with fitment nor did I have to relocate any sensors etc but I wasn't expecting any fitment issues due to the year of my truck and no reported issues with that model year. I did not notice any drastic improvement, I think it is a bit smoother but again nothing drastic. Upon reflection a stock one which the original had lasted 290k probably would have been fine but I got sucked in by the reported benefits of the FD unit. While I am not disparaging the FD unit as it definitely is a nicer unit and many report a significant improvement I personally on my truck did not notice anything drastic. However my original one was not trashed either it was really just getting to the point of needing replacement. I chose the FD over the ATI for two reasons one the FD unit had a lot of feedback that was positive. I found little feedback of any type on the ATI unit. And secondly the ATI unit was a multi-piece unit and frankly it just sounded like it would be harder to install due to the two stage process and room is tight down there. I suspect a stock damper on a stock or mildly modified hp truck would be fine though I have no doubt that the FD unit is a nicer/better unit. Just my 2 cents

 

I installed a FD on my 91 to try and reduce the vibes from my dual disc clutch, it helped.

I did have to shim the fan towards the rad, the FD is thicker than stock so shimming is most likely needed. I think you can get around this by using a 2nd gen fan though.

I dont have a crank sensor so no issues for me their.

 

Convenient then throw in the CPS bracket.
http://www.xtremediesel.com/Fluidamp...er-960311.aspx

I just had mine off and was thinking the same thing. I didnt realize they wear out. Ive wanted to do one just to get a smoother idle and run, nowI guess I need to really look into it.

 

I went with a Fluidampr, originally used on my Non-IC 89 motor. I was running a 2nd Gen fan and clutch...I did not require any shimming to clear the fluidampr.

But when I moved the fluidampr to my IC 93 motor, I had to use the CPS relocation bracket, and shim out the fan by a good 1/4". And even then I still had one fan blade that would make slight contact at higher RPM's.

I tried the OEM 93 clutch and Fan, it hit badly. Tried 2nd Gen fan and clutch, it hit badly too. I ended up using the 2nd Gen fan, with the 1st Gen clutch. What ever the reason I ended up with about 1/8" or so more clearance with this combo.