Viscous
dampers past present and future
The best dampers on the market are manufactured in the U.S.A.
by Horschel Motorsports, an ISO 9001:2000 certified facility. Horschel Motorsports
is continuing the tradition that started in 1946, when the first
viscous damper was invented. Over 4 million viscous dampers have
been made for heavy duty diesel, drag car, stock car, street machine,
race boat and other high performance engines. Looking
into the future, Horschel Motorsports promises to manufacture the
best dampers available as well as engineering new solutions for
developing engine technologies.
The fluid in a Fluidampr…
It has been rumored that the fluid in a Fluidampr
turns to gel over time. Here’s a news flash, its gel when
we pump it into the damper. That is how the technology works. The
silicone gel inside the damper keeps the flywheel in place and functioning.
So to put all of the competitions claims to rest, it is a gel, always
and forever. Maybe we should have named them Geldamprs .
Let’s talk about rubber
Other dampers on the market use rubber or “elastomer”
as the insulator for the internal flywheel. Rubber deteriorates and wears down from repeated movements. In layman’s
terms, the more you work it, the weaker it will get. The inertia
ring that balances an elastomeric damper becomes unstable when the
o-rings start to wear. Think of it this way, what does a car wheel
feel like when it looses one of its balancing weights? How would
a fan missing a blade function? A damper with worn o-rings can unbalance
a crankshaft and destroy it.
The reason
car manufactures install elastomer dampers at the factory is not
for performance but for cost. The “rubber” dampers are
cheaper and easier to make. |