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If you’ve been involved with racing for any length of time, you’re familiar with Fliudampr’s [3] line of harmonic balancers that utilize an inertia ring suspended in a silicone fluid to control unwanted vibrations, rather than an elastomer band. While they have significant advantages over conventional dampers, the one thing you haven’t been able to do with them is balance a rotating assembly with one installed. Because a standard Fluidampr’s internal inertia ring will shift slightly during the process, race engine builders would have to leave the damper off while balancing.
Now, the new CT Gold dampers for small and big block Chevy applications employ a new centering technology that allows a crank to be balanced with the damper installed. That’s not the only benefit, though – the same technology improves control of torsional vibrations above 6,000 RPM. The CT Gold series is intended for circle track and drag racing applications where high-RPM balance and smoothness is critical.
[4]Fluidampr balancers use an internal inertia ring suspended in a silicone fluid with precisely-controlled viscosity.
Here at the 2011 SEMA show, we also got a look at three new diesel applications from Fluidampr (available January 2012), adding to their already-lengthy list of oil-burner dampers. The 2011 6.7l and 2008-2010 6.4l Powerstroke engines and the 2011 6.6l Duramax join the existing roster of Dodge, Chevy, and Ford trucks that can benefit from Fluidampr’s technology.
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Fluidampr claims that they control torsional harmonics as much as 80% better than a conventional elastomer damper, with a system that will never wear out, separate, or slip.