what's this and do i want it?

[jerry]

anyone know what this shock absorber is for? i've never seen one on an 02 before.

is this something to be saved?

i suspect it was added to dampen some steering wobble or misalignment because i've removed the front subassembly and it's somewhat dinged. i will compare it to a good condition one i have to decide whether the subframe is worth reconditioning or not.

i did notice that the control rods were replaced along with the linkage at some point. still had the OEM stickers on em. the steering box is nice and tight too.

i was wondering if i'd want to move this steering shock to my ti-clone to be?

btw, this car was formerly owned by boardmember DavinSF

[wurlyvalve]

Yep, that is a rather interesting steering damper. First up, don't fit them rear wheel drive cars! It overcomes all the correction that the castor can generate to self centre the car when the tail comes out. Secondly, does it work laid horizontally? You have to spend quite a bit on dampers to get ones that work (properly) when laid flat. Other than that I like the setup.

Cheers,

Glen.

[rogerspeed]

I think it's only to be saved for the '02 monster truck.

[c.d.iesel]

KONI steering dampner

take it to your local PORSCHE or Mercedes-Benz swap meet

and sell it for $40.

[DavinSF]

'Course I never got around to doing any suspension work on the car, and I didn't even have a garage at the time so I rarely got to even lift the car up. Wow, that's wild Jerry. Glad to here you're making progress. Keep it up!

[jerry]

davin,

do you recall how this particular car handled wrt to steering.

although it wasn't obvious at first, this car had a nose-job and one fender replaced. the front support looked a little beat up in places. i think someone added that stabilizer as a quick fix then perhaps ultimately replaced both control arms and steering linkage.

all the rust you see is because this was a greasy mess when i got it and i cleaned and pressure washed it and then let it sit under cover for the past 18 months. removing the grease was not a good idea, considering.

anyhow, i'm squeezing this work in between my main project as i want to get this car running again. i've never driven it and i have an engine for it. i will swap out all that is rusty and replace with freshly sandblasted and painted goodies.

[NickVyse]

Looks just like the set-up on my 1992 LR Discovery. I'd throw it away if I were you.

[H_Krix]

I used to have some nonsense like that on my 1995 Jeep Cherokee... Of course, it had 6 inches of extra lift and a set of 30" tires on it...

Those steering dampers make a big difference when you're off-roading and something whacks against the wheel. With a shock there, its less likely to rip the wheel out of your hands. But on an 02? I dont see the point.

[TobyB]

Yup- had one on the Mitsu, too- took it off that, did I...

t

[DavinSF]

...in the wheel, but other than that the steering was basically fine as I recall. It's hard to tell what the damper felt like because it was the first car I'd ever owned without power steering, and it came with 15x7 wheels and 195/50 tires. I never knew it had a nose job either, interesting.

Also Jerry, I managed to find the original shift knob from the car (pretty beat up, but cool nonetheless). I'd like to get it to you somehow, drop me an email. Cheers!