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what's that thing stuck on the front struts?

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Selden
#2
The tasca diagram calls it a "damper": https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-part...maWVzdGEmeT0yMDE1JnQ9c3QmZT0xLTZsLWw0LWdhcw==

Wondering since I'm about to install b6s, and the video I saw said that we should transfer that over to the new strut.
Supposedly is dampens out road vibrations. Everyone just chucks them when they install new upgraded suspension and nobody can really tell much of a different. Not mission critical and at the very least you are lessening unsprung weight by removing it.

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OP
faust
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Thread Starter #4
thanks guys. yeah, it seemed weird to bolt on more unsprung weight!
 


Jabbit

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#5
thanks guys. yeah, it seemed weird to bolt on more unsprung weight!
It's possible Ford says "hey we have all this scrap to get rid of, let's melt it into blocks and bolt a few to each car we sell. It will be gone in no time! We will tell people they are dampers and that they help with NVH" and some suit got an award for the "idea".
 


jmrtsus

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#7
Ford spends lots of money to address vibrations in their cars. FYI, 337K US Fiestas were sold in '14 to '20 and @ $20 per pair (1/4 of parts price retail) on the car just the cost of these damper parts alone would be about $6.74 Million not counting other costs involved just on the American cars. I'll bet they were on all models in the world the cost would be in the $25 million range or more for these parts. No car maker spends that much money unless it is needed by the developers to meet internal or external standards. I'm sure Ford would have liked not spending the money so it must have been very important to Ford to have them on the cars. Removing something that you don't know what it does makes little sense to me. If you want to keep vibrations to a minimum as designed, leave the dampers alone, they are not hurting a thing and keeping what Ford designed them to dampen dampened. If "nobody" can tell a difference with removal it is entirely probable the tuning on them could be very low frequencies masked by road vibrations, subsonic or even high frequencies to dampen engine harmonics for example. I can't find info on what they are dampening. Because you cannot butt feel what it's doing does not mean it does nothing, I trust Ford did not spend many millions for devices that do nothing.
 


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#8
Ford spends lots of money to address vibrations in their cars. FYI, 337K US Fiestas were sold in '14 to '20 and @ $20 per pair (1/4 of parts price retail) on the car just the cost of these damper parts alone would be about $6.74 Million not counting other costs involved just on the American cars. I'll bet they were on all models in the world the cost would be in the $25 million range or more for these parts. No car maker spends that much money unless it is needed by the developers to meet internal or external standards. I'm sure Ford would have liked not spending the money so it must have been very important to Ford to have them on the cars. Removing something that you don't know what it does makes little sense to me. If you want to keep vibrations to a minimum as designed, leave the dampers alone, they are not hurting a thing and keeping what Ford designed them to dampen dampened. If "nobody" can tell a difference with removal it is entirely probable the tuning on them could be very low frequencies masked by road vibrations, subsonic or even high frequencies to dampen engine harmonics for example. I can't find info on what they are dampening. Because you cannot butt feel what it's doing does not mean it does nothing, I trust Ford did not spend many millions for devices that do nothing.
Perfectly valid point. And my counter is this. Manufacturers develop parts all the time to meet nvh ratings. That's not stopping most of the guys in this forum from installing poly/solid motor mounts and rattling their fillings out. If nobody is noticing a difference and you can't quantify what it is doing yourself, then your argument is equally null. Not to mention aftermarket options will just straight up not have a mounting point for this mystery weight. So regardless, you got a point, but who cares.

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#11
I installed B6's about a month ago and I did NOT put the dampers back on. Maybe THAT is the reason why I feel like I totally wasted my money on those shocks....I doubt it....
 


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Western NY
#12
Ford spends lots of money to address vibrations in their cars. FYI, 337K US Fiestas were sold in '14 to '20 and @ $20 per pair (1/4 of parts price retail) on the car just the cost of these damper parts alone would be about $6.74 Million not counting other costs involved just on the American cars. I'll bet they were on all models in the world the cost would be in the $25 million range or more for these parts. No car maker spends that much money unless it is needed by the developers to meet internal or external standards. I'm sure Ford would have liked not spending the money so it must have been very important to Ford to have them on the cars. Removing something that you don't know what it does makes little sense to me. If you want to keep vibrations to a minimum as designed, leave the dampers alone, they are not hurting a thing and keeping what Ford designed them to dampen dampened. If "nobody" can tell a difference with removal it is entirely probable the tuning on them could be very low frequencies masked by road vibrations, subsonic or even high frequencies to dampen engine harmonics for example. I can't find info on what they are dampening. Because you cannot butt feel what it's doing does not mean it does nothing, I trust Ford did not spend many millions for devices that do nothing.
I do agree with what you are saying, but as soon as you swap out oem parts I feel like the gloves are completely off anyway....
 


OP
faust
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Thread Starter #14
I do agree with what you are saying, but as soon as you swap out oem parts I feel like the gloves are completely off anyway....
Yeah, I'd think that as soon as we switch to non-OEM tires, there go whatever specific resonances they were tuning for. Not to mention changing the stock strut for another make!
 


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#15
They feel too similar to stock to me.....nice units and very beefy like but I don't think adding the dampers will change the ride quality and make me glad I bought them. I was just being sarcastic and making a joke at myself that's all. I've wanted to kick my own ass for buying them instead of saving the money towards something else (hybrid turbo)
That's all I meant.
 


Dpro

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#16
They feel too similar to stock to me.....nice units and very beefy like but I don't think adding the dampers will change the ride quality and make me glad I bought them. I was just being sarcastic and making a joke at myself that's all. I've wanted to kick my own ass for buying them instead of saving the money towards something else (hybrid turbo)
That's all I meant.
If Koni had a rear adjustable damper that did not require taking it off the car to adjust it I might have done Koniā€™s. For the cost of Koniā€˜s and springs or Bilsteins and Springs it was not hard to justify a few hundred more to get some true coilovers. Ones that had ride height adjustment not from the Spring perch but from the lower pickup point. ( i.e. does not fuck with your preload) . Ya I can resoundinly say MeisterR are a pretty damn great bang for the buck for under 1k. Designed and tested on our Cars in the UK.

Oh and screw the assumption because Ford put the damper on your strut it must be wise because Ford. Ford also put an over dampend suspension on cars that rides like a washboard stock. Ya they stuck that damper on there because it was already bouncy from being too stiff and they were trying to smooth it out a bit for ride comfort vs re engineering the whole suspension setup. Which they actually did in the MK8. Oh and ya they did soften it a bit after 2016 for the U.S.
 


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OP
faust
Messages
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Location
Minnesota
Thread Starter #17
They feel too similar to stock to me.....nice units and very beefy like but I don't think adding the dampers will change the ride quality and make me glad I bought them. I was just being sarcastic and making a joke at myself that's all. I've wanted to kick my own ass for buying them instead of saving the money towards something else (hybrid turbo)
That's all I meant.
do you have a 2016+? On my 2015, the rear Bilsteins ride much, much better. I understand Ford toned down the rebound in '16 and newer.
 


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#18
do you have a 2016+? On my 2015, the rear Bilsteins ride much, much better. I understand Ford toned down the rebound in '16 and newer.
Mine is a 2017 so there might be something to what your saying....kind of makes sense though that through the years of production Ford would make slight changes to lots of different things that most don't even realize.....glad your bilsteins made a difference for you though.(y)
 


jmrtsus

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#19
I do agree with what you are saying, but as soon as you swap out oem parts I feel like the gloves are completely off anyway....
Not if the parts meet oem specs, that was the main purpose of the M-M Act. If you mess with emissions you are done.
 




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