So... I'm pretty sure I'm not the only guy who's been here. Back at Christmas I was working on the Disco with too much stress and not enough sleep. I wasn't careful enough when trying to take the steering damper off. I managed to round off the flats on the end of the damper that allow you to react torque and undo the nuts.
The damper was otherwise still good, so I didn't throw it out. That should tell you something about my garage, but never mind.
Now I need a steering damper. I could go and buy one, but I've got one that is perfectly functional - apart from the rounded-off end. So, in the spirit of combining junk parts to make something functional, I dug out an old hub nut and wire-wheeled it until it was shiny...
Then MIG welded it to the top of the steering damper body:
Be sure to have the damper fully extended, to stop heat travelling down the damper into the seals. The welding wasn't very pretty, but I'm not worried about it falling off:
Tidy it up, then paint it with something to keep the weather out, and you're done:
I don't think it will struggle to react the torque associated with tightening the little nuts up - no rounding off this time!
Replacement steering dampers are cheap, but that's not always the constraint (and hey, this could equally have been a +6" competition shock absorber, were I to possess such a thing). This didn't take too long, feels kinder and more reliable than Stilsonning it to death to tighten it, and might be a good option if the parts place is closed, two hours away, or you just don't want to throw away a usable part.
The damper was otherwise still good, so I didn't throw it out. That should tell you something about my garage, but never mind.
Now I need a steering damper. I could go and buy one, but I've got one that is perfectly functional - apart from the rounded-off end. So, in the spirit of combining junk parts to make something functional, I dug out an old hub nut and wire-wheeled it until it was shiny...
Be sure to have the damper fully extended, to stop heat travelling down the damper into the seals. The welding wasn't very pretty, but I'm not worried about it falling off:
Tidy it up, then paint it with something to keep the weather out, and you're done:
I don't think it will struggle to react the torque associated with tightening the little nuts up - no rounding off this time!
Replacement steering dampers are cheap, but that's not always the constraint (and hey, this could equally have been a +6" competition shock absorber, were I to possess such a thing). This didn't take too long, feels kinder and more reliable than Stilsonning it to death to tighten it, and might be a good option if the parts place is closed, two hours away, or you just don't want to throw away a usable part.
