| Author |
Message |
    
Douglas McMillan (Mcmillan)
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 03, 2002 - 06:14 pm: | 
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Mounted on the right hand side of the steering Damper is a rubber wheel (behind the front Differential). Does anyone know what this is for? |
Mike B.
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 03, 2002 - 07:21 pm: |
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It's called harmonic balancer. It's supposed to to help limit vibrations.
Thanks,
Mike B. |
Clif Ashley (Cta586)
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 03, 2002 - 10:07 pm: |
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I was mentally preparing to post the same question... do you know how it works? Thanks! |
Alan Bates (Alanb)
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 03, 2002 - 10:25 pm: |
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Did a search and found this:
The Chevelle Engineer
Harmonic Balancer
Ahh, the mysterious harmonic balancer.
What does a harmonic balancer do:
Crankshafts vibrate with a twisting motion due the torque variation that results as each cylinder fires. This vibration is at its worst at some critical RPM. On a V8, this RPM is typically in the 4-5000 RPM range. If you operate the engine at this critical RPM without a harmonic balancer excessive vibration will eventually BREAK THE CRANKSHAFT. DON'T LEAVE IT OFF.
A harmonic balancer modifies the vibration characteristics of the crankshaft and flywheel assembly. They are made from of a heavy steel ring mounted over a thin layer of rubber on the outside of a center hub. The rubber acts as a spring. The ring twists on the rubber to cancel out crankshaft torsional vibration. Some energy is removed as heat in the rubber but the balancer's primary function is to store energy and return it to the crankshaft at just the right time to suppress vibration.
Dynamic Vibration Absorber
For you more technical types, this is a classic "dynamic vibration absorber". These are sometimes used other places in the car to solve vibration problems. Typically, if you find large chunks of steel with no apparent purpose at the rear of the transmission or at the front of the differential above the pinion, this is a dynamic vibration absorber used to solve some vibration problem. If you leave these off, you probably won't break anything but you might not like the car much for the street. Many FWD cars with manual trannys have an absorber in the center of the RH drive axle to suppress torsional vibration. |
muskyman
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 03, 2002 - 10:27 pm: |
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because it is much less dense then the metal that is vibrating it absorbs and slows the vibration cycle as it passes through the rubber part
it seams to be one of the many band-aids the front drivline necesitates
to bad LR did not just align the front output flange and the front driven/pinion flange correctly?...then no band-aids needed |
Jeff Conrad (Jwconrad)
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 02:42 am: |
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Take it off, you'll never notice and if you don't remove it, a rock on the trail will. |
Mike B.
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 07:51 am: |
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Alan Bates:
Wrong harmonic balancer dude! That harmonic balancer you refer to is actually for the engine. I'm sure that there were lots of other applications, but here is one that I am familiar with: On the old Vega engines, it came in the form of a counter-rotating cam shaft. When first introduced in vehicles many years ago (mid 70s), the four cylinder engines produced a lot more vibration that the V8s, thus the introduction of the harmonic balancer to smooth out the vibrations. It was an attempt by the automobile makers to make the 4 cylinder engines more palatable to the American public. The one referred to in the original post is for the steering components.
Thanks,
Mike B. |
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