hey guys. So I was scrolling through a Genos catalog and came across the dampner for our trucks. I got to thinking about what the signs of failure were, and did a little research. Looking at mine, I see the rubber has been squeezing its way forward and looks to be getting old, 260k miles, but when idling, it doesnt wobble off balance at all. By comparison, my dads 99 looks really good, almost newish. I don't know if it was replaced at some point, but he's had the truck since 02 I believe and hasn't replaced it himself.

 

 As they fail, I've heard you get more vibration through out the motor, but sometimes its real gradual that you may not notice it over time. If the rubber is squeezing out, is that another good sign of needing replacement soon?

 

To be honest, I think this is sometimes an over looked part that should be inspected when you do the occasional rounds of inspection on your motors, i know I haven't checked it enough.

 

The first picture is mine, the other two are my dads. You can still read the numbers on his.

 

 

That's the way I have always diagnosed it is to inspect the rubber bead.  If cracking, bulging and/or missing any rubber...bad.  If not perfectly symmetrical while spinning...bad.

 

It almost looks like yours has a 1st gen balancer on it...they were built with a bulged rubber ring.  And the bulge on your balancer looks almost perfectly symmetrical.  Any bulging on our balancers that are bad is usually asymmetrical...higher in some places and lower in others.  The rubber itself is looking pretty suspect though.  I'd have to see more of it to tell for sure but it looks like you could use a new one. 

Edited May 15, 20204 yr by Bullet

I see what you mean. Ill try to get a better look at it today. I'm thinking of either just the oem replacement or maybe the fluifampr one, but that's a bit more expensive. 

Wonder if new stock balancer needs balanced to the rotating assembly. I always took my balancers and flywheels to machine shop with block and crank when building crap back in the day. 

I can see how a fluid one will be just field as it balances itself every time 

55 minutes ago, Alexio Auditore said:

I'm thinking of either just the oem replacement or maybe the fluifampr one, but that's a bit more expensive. 

From what I remember the fluiddamper is great for motors where harmonics are increased due to higher horsepowers and/or higher rpm's.  I have no experience with them personally...just passing on what info I remember hearing.  Otherwise stock balancer is just fine for stock apps. 

 

I still have my original on from 02 and my horsepower and rpm levels have been higher than stock for years and haven't noticed anything negative.  Mine is still looking good after 205k miles. 

I was reading the same thing..I dont know what the previous owner put into my truck technically, but he said something like 60 horse injectors, I've put the edge ez in, so the truck definitely gets up and goes, but I've never noticed anything odd in reference to the harmonic dampner. 7 years ago, I took it to hunting for horsepower here in coeur d alene, and it came in at 400 hp! I have my doubts, but a few years later I did it again for kicks, it was closer to 360. So I figure in between these numbers. Again, never noticed anything with dampner issues. I know the fluidampr weighs a bit more than stock and is a bit bigger in size too.

 

@Dieselfuture, as far as I've read up, its just a bolt in and go application. The harmonic dampner I believe has nothing to do with balance of the motor as much as dampening vibration through out. I think theyre internally balanced.. (correct me if im wrong, this is just the research I've seen thus far, I could be totally mislead, but I hope not) 

 

Last picture is a top view of dampner. Its pretty even the way the rubber is buldging out, but definitely cracked...

 

just a quick off subject question, is there a way to tell if the vp44 is stock? I'm curious about mine, it would be pretty awesome to have a stock one still lol

 

"the fluidampr weighs a bit more than stock and is a bit bigger in size too."

 

 and what I understand the glacier fuel boss has a real hard time fitting in with the fluid dampener, if you have or want one.  Not positive just throwing this out there I could be wrong

I replaced mine a while back with a stock one. Bolted it on and drovd off with it. No balancing needed.

15 hours ago, Alexio Auditore said:

I was reading the same thing..I dont know what the previous owner put into my truck technically, but he said something like 60 horse injectors, I've put the edge ez in, so the truck definitely gets up and goes, but I've never noticed anything odd in reference to the harmonic dampner. 7 years ago, I took it to hunting for horsepower here in coeur d alene, and it came in at 400 hp! I have my doubts, but a few years later I did it again for kicks, it was closer to 360. So I figure in between these numbers. Again, never noticed anything with dampner issues. I know the fluidampr weighs a bit more than stock and is a bit bigger in size too.

 

@Dieselfuture, as far as I've read up, its just a bolt in and go application. The harmonic dampner I believe has nothing to do with balance of the motor as much as dampening vibration through out. I think theyre internally balanced.. (correct me if im wrong, this is just the research I've seen thus far, I could be totally mislead, but I hope not) 

 

Last picture is a top view of dampner. Its pretty even the way the rubber is buldging out, but definitely cracked...

 

just a quick off subject question, is there a way to tell if the vp44 is stock? I'm curious about mine, it would be pretty awesome to have a stock one still lol

 

360-400 is definitely higher than stock but I was thinking more of like 550+ when I refer to high horsepower and rpms above 3500-3800.

 

I can't tell if your VP is original by looking but the yellow "VOID" sticker seems like a dead giveaway that it has been replaced previously.  Altering/removing/breaking the seal of the sticker would be an indicator to the company where it was purchased that the pump has been tampered with (tapped) which will automatically void any warranty they offered on it.

 

It does look like the bulge is a little asymmetrical in that pic and the rubber is definitely degrading like you mentioned.

12 hours ago, 015point9 said:

 and what I understand the glacier fuel boss has a real hard time fitting in with the fluid dampener, if you have or want one.  Not positive just throwing this out there I could be wrong

Yep that's what I was told when I purchased my Fuel Boss too.  Surely somebody out there has tried to overcome that.  And I'm not sure about Fluidampr's compatibility with other brand mechanical fuel pumps.

The void sticker is factory. Might be the factory pump.

The only photo I didn't see is the alignment mark on the dampener face. There is a tick mark for the weight and then a tick mark for the center they should line up.

5 hours ago, dripley said:

The void sticker is factory. Might be the factory pump.

I didn't know that...mine is still the original VP and I didn't remember seeing it the one or 2 times I've had that view of it.  It might still be there just don't remember seeing it.  Also can't remember how many beers I had on those days...

@dripley did you notice a difference in anything with the new compared to the old?

 

I'm glad i was told about the mechanical pump issue with the bigger dampner. If and when my raptor decides to die, I'll be goin mechanical. 

 

I'm hoping to have the vp last a while, especially if it is stock. Maybe set a record lol. But I just did an ac test on my alternator yesterday, and its jumped up to. 07-.08, up from .03 a year or so ago... Plus the ear where it bolts to the bracket is broke, so it need done. 

Seems to be a fix one thing, 2 more things pop up kind of deal. 

 

What do you mean about the photo with a tick mark for a weight and center line up?

I had a small vibration at idle and it stopped it. I was also in the front motoer to reseal the gear case cover and replacing a damaged bumper, Figured I would replace it while I was in there. It did have 400k on it. The tick marks are on the inner and outer steel and should line up with each other. They are small and very difficult to see in the engine bay. 

If you look at the new on the left you see them on the left side at the 9 o'clock position. That is the back side

On 5/16/2020 at 8:41 AM, dripley said:

The void sticker is factory. Might be the factory pump.

Mine had a void sticker and po said dealler changed it under warranty

Edited May 18, 20204 yr by Dieselfuture

1 hour ago, Dieselfuture said:

Mine had a void sticker and po said dealler changed it under warranty

Mine was changed under warranty but l cant remeber whether the sticker was still intact afterwards. But it was there when l bought it.

1 hour ago, Dieselfuture said:

Mine had a void sticker and po said dealler changed it under warranty

Dreams crushed.... maybe. Should do a vin check to see any work done from p.o.

 

As far as dampners go, thanks for the info. Ill stick with stock, appreciate images as well.

 

 

1 hour ago, dripley said:

Mine was changed under warranty but l cant remeber whether the sticker was still intact afterwards. But it was there when l bought it.

Probably just a dealler thing then new or warranty, guess mine does say remanufactured on top of psg cover. Maybe that's the difference. 

11 minutes ago, Dieselfuture said:

Probably just a dealler thing then new or warranty, guess mine does say remanufactured on top of psg cover. Maybe that's the difference. 

I think any of the ramans say it somewhere. Never looked on this newest one from DAP. But there is nothing on the cover of this one.