damper on Differential / diff pinion

[urban]

hey guys the damper on the diff . is it an pressed on bushing type of piece ? pretty sure it is.
ive never had to replace one . or locate one . or recycle one . can i even pull one off another diff?
whats years fit a 99 open ?
whats the correct name? Pinion damper

any gurus have the info ?
thanks

[urban]

http://www.miata.net/garage/diffguide/index.html

[urban]

its a replaceable flange the entire flange /w damper needs to be replaced.

ive been reading that its possible to remove , but creatiing nvh. im sure it will increase the death of my diff.
removing the flange ( end of pinion to diff ) from the diff will require readjusting the lash.

im going to remove it , and see what it feels like.

btw . i noticed the prob at 70 mph with mass vibration.

most helpful link so far
http://www.miataturbo.net/suspension-brakes-drivetrain-49/what-breaks-companion-flanges-66412/

[urban]

does any one have any exp on this .
or do I really need to depend on MT.net :fp:

[etikoner]

Yeah, I wish I knew about any of this shit. lol

Thanks for posting the links though, I'm sure it'll help someone in the future lol.

[EMMI]

ask daniel for a blow up of it

[Caoboy]

What happened to your OEM one?

[urban]

the rubber tore . it spun freely. im sure most na's should be failing by now.
i ended up cutting it off. not sure of the effect kn the drivetrain yet . but vibration is gone.2

[urban]

http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr237/urbanofsocal/2012-09-14170459.jpg

http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr237/urbanofsocal/2012-09-14170610.jpg

[GatorXTi]

I swapped a VLSD from an open in my 1990 recently and have noticed a violent vibration around 70mph, no shimmy believe me. So this looks like a possible culprit. How easy to cut off? Thoughts on cons? NVH reducer for the scarf wearing Miata drivers?

[Thumper13]

I posted earlier re: drive train vibration. The harmonic balance weight does separate more than we see. BSI ( a spec shop ) has my car now fixing that and a fused throw out bearing. The bitch was so fused tight they needed a come along to get the transmission out of the car. We did discuss this weight at length but decided mine was ok so they left it on the drive shaft.

BSI removes this weight from every Spec Miata they build. According to the engineers at Mazda in Japan the Miata has an inherent vibration that would irritate the average driver so for "creature comfort" they added that balance weight.

[kung fu jesus]

Leonard, I have seen them fail/break, spin free. I have no experience with them, but I know race teams won't install a diff that has that damper missing or damaged. I haven't heard any positives or negatives to running without one, though.

[GatorXTi]

Not on 1.6s so now Im off for a precision balance

[Thumper13]

Kind of related

Seems that our NB drive shafts and the NA shafts without the replaceable U Joint can develop a flat spot and cause vibration at steady speeds of low 60's to mid 70's and smooth out just like a poorly balanced tire at 80 mph. They also over time will develop a really noticeable vibration during declaration The fix.....a new or good condition drive shaft replacement.

Heavy sigh,ask me how I know :grey:

Clutch,harmonic weight balance on drive shaft in front of the diff AND a new drive shaft,not to mention a fused pilot bearing on the input shaft. Too many Dragon, Snake,and Kamikaze runs I guess. Yes,I am hard on my car and drive her at 11/10ths on those rides.

[GatorXTi]

^^^good info thx! Now to call Esteban if tire balance doesn't work :rolleyes:

[kung fu jesus]

good pricing:

http://949racing.com/Miata-Driveshaft.aspx

Thumper - That falls in line with what I was told by a very experienced Mazda tech about the 1.6 diffs. The driveshaft u-joints go bad/stiffen and starts sending all that NVH through the pinion. Then it just goes south from there.

[Thumper13]

good pricing:

http://949racing.com/Miata-Driveshaft.aspx

Thumper - That falls in line with what I was told by a very experienced Mazda tech about the 1.6 diffs. The driveshaft u-joints go bad/stiffen and starts sending all that NVH through the pinion. Then it just goes south from there.


I'm just waiting for Emilio to call me back before pulling the trigger. I'm just curious if he expects the U joint to hold up as long or longer than the OEM piece.

[Thumper13]

^^^good info thx! Now to call Esteban if tire balance doesn't work :rolleyes:

Huh ? Tire balance is not an issue.

[Pfunk]

I'm just waiting for Emilio to call me back before pulling the trigger. I'm just curious if he expects the U joint to hold up as long or longer than the OEM piece.

I picked one up from him and installed it a couple of weeks ago; my thinking was that for the price, which even with shipping was less than the OEM shaft, it was a good deal, even if if didn't last quite as long, since it can be rebuilt. I will say that compared to my '98OEM piece there is less NVH, so I'm happy.

[Thumper13]

Yup,I'm pulling the trigger tonight along with a new bushing set and stainless brake lines. I'm still on the fence re: the stainless clutch line and the BP5A cam. I might be able to source the cam locally for less $$.

Emilio has gotten some coin from me recently. Hmmm,too bad I can't combine all my purchases for the last 5 months, I'd get that 5% discount and then some.

[kung fu jesus]

Make the order. I know the shop may be closed for a few days in a week or so. They are making a short trip to Germany just to drive the Nurburgring soon.

They won't sell anything they wouldn't put in their own cars...race or street.

[Thumper13]

Make the order. I know the shop may be closed for a few days in a week or so. They are making a short trip to Germany just to drive the Nurburgring soon.

They won't sell anything they wouldn't put in their own cars...race or street.

The order may have just gotten a lot bigger.......I am blowing oil past the rings and I have appealed to my bride of 40 years,the same woman that bought me the Xida CS,end links and Carbotech pads that I n ow need to rebuild my motor,it HAS to/Must have ( or it will not work ) a .040 over bore,shaved head,decked block,and of course new pistons, rods and a BP 5A cam. Oh yeah,it will also need the new Megasquirt PNP for the 00NB to make the whole deal work. So far she's willing to ante up $3500.00. This on top of the new drive shaft stainless lines and new bushings...after all the car needs to be refreshed after 13 years of trouble free life.:burnout:

[GatorXTi]

Huh ? Tire balance is not an issue.

Pumped tires to 40psi from 30psi post last Geneva autocross. No issues at all on I-4 60_90mph. Tires must have high stops. Got to love your wife... :-) $$$

[Thumper13]

Pumped tires to 40psi from 30psi post last Geneva autocross. No issues at all on I-4 60_90mph. Tires must have high stops. Got to love your wife... :-) $$$

40 psi :shocked: Maybe if I put Helium in the tires at 40 psi she could float home :mrgreen:

The vibration problem ( s ) plural , by concurrence of the Spec Miata shop,my local Tires Plus ( really great guys ) and my Magic 8 ball are: A flat spot on the drive shaft and a questionable harmonic counterweight at the diff. The weight is coming off and a new drive shaft will be ordered some time today.

[kung fu jesus]

SWMBO = she who must be obeyed. I am extremely fortunate I met my wife through Miatas, so she has an unusual high tolerance to my tinkering.

[Doward]

I've seem 3 of these pinion dampers tear off locally. All three were on turbo cars. Too many torques?
Never heard of the spec guys cutting them off.

[Pfunk]

Today on the freeway in 6th I noticed the car was smooth until 100kph, a small bit of buzz at 105, real thrumming/buzz at 110 and then smoother again at 120kph. Hmmm...

[GatorXTi]

SWMBO = she who must be obeyed. I am extremely fortunate I met my wife through Miatas, so she has an unusual high tolerance to my tinkering.

I too got lucky as my boss drives a Forester with a STi swap and FMIC. Got to love the love cemented in speed. :D

[Thumper13]

I've seem 3 of these pinion dampers tear off locally. All three were on turbo cars. Too many torques?
Never heard of the spec guys cutting them off.

If you were making the trip down to our EPIC/Really huge meet you'd get to speak to Stu from BSI personally about him removing them from all of his track day rental fleet plus his customer builds.

You can always e mail him.