fiat steering damper article - DCFiats.org

1 Fiat 124 steering damper Overhaul and SubstitutionSmall cars have a tendency to develop and transmit steering shakes. The Fiat 124 sedans were fitted with a simple dry steering damper attached to the idler arm and serving as its pivot on the passenger side of the engine compartment. Friction washers in the damper helped to absorb vibrations. Spiders and coupes came with a more complex hydraulic damper . Pininfarina Spiders from 83 on 1reverted to the dry style. Today most Fiat vendors sell a third style referred to as "ball bearing" style that substitutes real bearings for the plastic bushings. This article describes each style and the rebuilding of the original dry style. The picture below shows the dry style on the left and the hydraulic or wet style on the dry damper was salvaged from a late Spider. Notice that the dry damper has a smooth shaft. The wet damper has a splined shaft. The idler arms are unique to each style and cannot be interchanged.

2 Aftermarket ball bearing dampers are made to fit either idler arm the dry style, the damping is done by the rubber washers you can see at both ends of the shaft. Machined washers squeeze them against the body. The upper washer moves with the 2013 Richard Ridge p1 of 3 The hydraulic dampers works by moving vanes attached to the shaft through heavy gear oil. It fails when oil begins to leak from the bottom. If not topped off with fresh oil it will eventually stiffen and finally freeze up, breaking its chassis mounts. The oil fill hole is the center bolt head on the top of the hydraulic damper third type of steering damper is the ball bearing type shown on the right above. It is strictly an aftermarket piece that was not used on any version of the Spider, though it may have been used on some Lada models. The bearings are dry. The large washers on either end of the shaft are there to deflect water and, unlike the stock dry style, they serve no damping function.

3 The damping friction is created by tension on the two ball bearings inside the this picture clearly shows, the mounting ears on this style are deeper and require longer bolts for mounting to the chassis box section. The bolts removed from a stock damper will not fit. The mounting bolts used on the steering gearbox are the correct steering damper sits in close proximity to the exhaust downpipe. The dry style dampers eventually fail due to the combination of rubbing wear, aging rubber and plastic parts and the heat of the the nearby exhaust. The good news is that they are relatively simple to rebuild and the parts are available and inexpensive. The picture below shows Copyright 2013 Richard Ridge p2 of 3one disassembled. The pieces that require replacement are the two plastic bushings that press on to each end of the shaft and the circular rubber washers next to them.

4 Any sign of play when you try to wiggle the idler arm up or down is an indication that the bushing are failing. Note that the castilated nut goes on the top of the shaft. A self locking nut goes on the original Ricambi replacement bushings were made from oil impregnated plastic and have a finite shelf life before they begin to disintegrate. Get the freshest replacement bushings you can hydraulic style dampers fail when the hole in the bottom of the cast housing wears and the increased clearance allows the damper oil to escape. There is no conventional seal on the bottom of the shaft, though some enterprising owners have found ways toretrofit a seal. Another approach that s been tried is to fill the damper with grease. New hydraulic dampers are not available. Replacing a failed hydraulic damper with the earlier dry damper has no real impact on the steering behavior of the car as Pinninfarina discovered in 1983. Be sure to get the matching idler arm before going 2013 Richard Ridge p3 of 3