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fluidamper ?

4758 Views 46 Replies 21 Participants Last post by  kip4234, 
savvy1
Does anyone have experence with this product, is it worth the price tag. How hard of a install is it.
Thanks in advance for your input.
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savvy1
Much thanks for all the input. Chirstmas gift to myself.
great web site !!!
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T
jtharvey said:
Where the heck is Nick? I figured he'd be here by now.
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I speak to him pretty regularly. I guess he's just too busy with..............., uh..........Hmm...........:doh:.
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jtharvey
LOL Joey!
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OptimusStroke
TerminatorEngineering said:
I speak to him pretty regularly. I guess he's just too busy with..............., uh..........Hmm...........:doh:.
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Too funny, but true.........
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TerminatorEngineering said:
Actually it's already promised to some dude in Kansas. The guy that fell off the planet. He goes by the name: Nick Gerard.:poke:
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Where the hell has Nasty Nick been hiding? I talked to him a few months ago.....
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savvy1 said:
Does anyone have experence with this product, is it worth the price tag. How hard of a install is it.
Thanks in advance for your input.
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IIRC i read that people running the fluid damper on 6oh's were trashing lpop gears. I konw our engines arent the same, but for some reason that sticks out in my mind. FWIW i do not run one of these on my built engine. It snaps right up to 4500rpms and is smooth as silk. Im skeptical on how much it helps, maybe on a unbalance engine it can help some but on something that is balanced i dont see how it can be beneficial. I'll save 500 bucks and spend it somewhere else.... hmm i do need a fuel system lol.
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lukecline said:
IIRC i read that people running the fluid damper on 6oh's were trashing lpop gears. I konw our engines arent the same, but for some reason that sticks out in my mind. FWIW i do not run one of these on my built engine. It snaps right up to 4500rpms and is smooth as silk. Im skeptical on how much it helps, maybe on a unbalance engine it can help some but on something that is balanced i dont see how it can be beneficial. I'll save 500 bucks and spend it somewhere else.... hmm i do need a fuel system lol.
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How can you say that til you try it :poke:

I know where you're coming from on a built, balanced engine, but I sure would love to smooth mine up.

I think it helps engines live too, easier on the crank, rods, etc.
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PwrStrokinDually
Is there a satisfaction or your money back guarantee? :D
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gregrob said:
How can you say that til you try it :poke:
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Well if it doesnt work as advertised and trashes my bottom end like it has done to some 6oh's i'll be a little upset to say the least. I'll stick with the stock balancer :D
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lukecline said:
Well if it doesnt work as advertised and trashes my bottom end like it has done to some 6oh's i'll be a little upset to say the least. I'll stick with the stock balancer :D
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That's never happened on a 7.3, and it doesn't trash the bottom end, just breaks the LPOP gears.

It's not our fault 6.0's are weak china toys :D
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PowerstrokeJunkie
Well no matter how good of a balance job you get, you still won't balance out those harmonic pulses when every cylinder fires, kind of torques the crank up and exerts torque every 90* of crank rotation. The kind you don't feel but it's there, and the fluidampr is built to smooth that out.
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DarkShadowDiesel
lukecline said:
Well if it doesnt work as advertised and trashes my bottom end like it has done to some 6oh's i'll be a little upset to say the least. I'll stick with the stock balancer :D
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that issue is specific to the 6oh, dennis and others have discussed this at length in other threads, i forgot what the issue is exactly but it is only on the 6L's.
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Strictly Diesel
There is still NO proof that the FD is the actual cause of the LPOP gear failures!

LPOP gears have failed in trucks that only ever ran a stock damper.
LPOP gears are still running strong in a bunch of trucks with the FD (including mine).
There is a lot more in common with the trucks that had LPOP gear failures than just the FD...most had extreme power tunes, injectors, raised RPM limiters and most were used in drag racing or pulling or some other form of competition. I suppose none of those items could have anything to do with the failures???

FD is looking into the issue because they want to understand what is going on, but not because they feel that their product is at fault...they're doing it because they're tired of being blamed.
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6
If any of you doubt that a Fluid filled damper is worth it look at just about any high performance diesel in industrial/automotive/off-road/power-gen, etc. They use them frequently in those applications. Anyone ever run a gaspot race car, Alky, Nitromethane? All the ones I've run get dampers even though they are balanced.

Regardless of how well the engine is balanced, once it's running and in a vehicle there will be harmonics, and they are bad.
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Strictly Diesel
I think part of the problem here is terminology. This item is not a STATIC BALANCER...it's a Harmonic Balancer or Harmonic Damper. It has little to do with the balance of the rest of the rotating assembly. You balance your rotating assembly with a KNOWN GOOD stock damper and then install the FD because it does a better job of dealing with the harmonics than the stock elastomer type.
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ITPDiesel said:
I think part of the problem here is terminology. This item is not a STATIC BALANCER...it's a Harmonic Balancer or Harmonic Damper. It has little to do with the balance of the rest of the rotating assembly. You balance your rotating assembly with a KNOWN GOOD stock damper and then install the FD because it does a better job of dealing with the harmonics than the stock elastomer type.
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Good post Dennis.

Thanks
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That's why I keep saying Fluid Dampers are used widely, not necessarily Fluidampr's though.

Fluid dampers also last much longer than the stock elastomer type dampers as well. The stock type will deteriorate from hours of service and environmental conditions, in some cases to the point of de-bonding which makes a real mess.
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PowerstrokeJunkie said:
Well no matter how good of a balance job you get, you still won't balance out those harmonic pulses when every cylinder fires, kind of torques the crank up and exerts torque every 90* of crank rotation. The kind you don't feel but it's there, and the fluidampr is built to smooth that out.
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Im not a engine guy, but with your extensive mod experience i'll trust your word. I have one on the way.:ford:


Ok internet sarcasm is hard to detect. I do not have one on the way, but might soon.
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ITPDiesel said:
There is still NO proof that the FD is the actual cause of the LPOP gear failures!

LPOP gears have failed in trucks that only ever ran a stock damper.
LPOP gears are still running strong in a bunch of trucks with the FD (including mine).
There is a lot more in common with the trucks that had LPOP gear failures than just the FD...most had extreme power tunes, injectors, raised RPM limiters and most were used in drag racing or pulling or some other form of competition. I suppose none of those items could have anything to do with the failures???

FD is looking into the issue because they want to understand what is going on, but not because they feel that their product is at fault...they're doing it because they're tired of being blamed.
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Dennis, i thought id remembered reading most of the lpop gears were broken running a fluid damper. I could be wrong, i have been known to be wrong before. I'll think about it, but i MIGHT just buy one and see how it does. Dennis I will let you know by the end of next week whether i need one or not.
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Luke, it can't hurt! My engine is not balanced, but it sure idles smoother now.

Of course, I did change a few things.;)
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