New BHJ and stock Ford damper alternative is here!

B

BT Motorsports

Registered User
Details to follow tomorrow morning, for now, here is a teaser pic:
new_damper1.jpg


Paul
 
What is the wait on the details for? Your enjoyment? That is TOTALLY wrong. So..........how much does it weigh? I can see the bolts on it but what are they for? Is it two piece? Filled or Solid? SFI? Ya know...the basics...HOW MUCH????????????

Chris
 
This maybe coming at the right time. Could throw the BHJ I got for my race car onto the show car, and go with something new on the race car. But we need some details.

I noticed the lack of an elastomer. How might it dampen vibrations, is it gonna be a rattler?
 
seawalkersee said:
What is the wait on the details for? Your enjoyment? That is TOTALLY wrong.

Chris
Click to expand...
The wait is because I had to go to my regular job which demanded 14 hours of my life today. I will be doing it all over again tomorrow and Sunday for 15 and 16 hours respectively so you will have to be a little patient with the timeline.

Some quick answers, I will try to get the rest of the finer details up tomorrow sometime after work.
Early and late style are both SFI approved and there is Mustang specific piece as well for the V6. At the moment (it may end up lighter, we are evaluating how much weight could be lost if any), weight comes in right around the same as the regular BHJ which puts it 1lb lighter than the SFI approved BHJ. The hub is billet steel and the outer is billet aluminum. It does not have an elastomer, it uses a friction material to dampen harmonics. It is designed to acheive 100,000 mile rebuild intervals and comes with a 1 year/unlimited mileage warranty against failure or defects. After that, a rebuild option will be available should the unit ever need it. It will come anodized, the hub will be black, the outer will be available in black, blue and red. It is a hone to fit piece like the BHJ, however, due to its modular design, the hub can be installed first without the outer section to ease installation. As a result, once the proper interference fit is acheived, you can heat the hub up and install it without the need for an installation tool. Price is to be announced in an upcoming group buy but I will say that regular pricing will be cheaper than the BHJ.

BTW, the part shown in the photo is a first article. It took just 4 weeks from the time I entered into an exclusinve agreement to have these manufactured for the Ford V6 units, till I received the first article. We are just now at the 6 week mark and barring changes to the design to lighten it, it is ready to begin production.

Paul
 
Dahoopd said:
Paul,

What is the reason for rebuild? What would cause the need?
Click to expand...
Just like any other product which uses a friction material (transmission, clutch rear differential etc), the friction will eventually wear out. How long it lasts really depends on the actual balance condition of the engine. A race engine which has had the rotating assembly properly balanced could effectively have a longer rebuid interval than a stock engine. As I said earlier, we have designed this piece to have a 100,000 mile minimum lifetime, that certainly does not mean it won't or cannot last longer.

Since the damper is actually 2 pieces that are bolted together, should a rebuild ever become needed, you would simply send in the outer section which contains the friction material and leave the hub installed on the car. A core exchange may even be possible, I will have to look into how that would or would not effect SFI approval.
Those who will be racing their vehicles often, will have the option of sending their damper in for a yearly inspection for a very low fee if they so choose.

Paul
 
Paul,

I'm not familiar with balancers that use friction material instead of an elastomer ring....can you explain how that works. Trying to visualize the mechanics of it and I'm drawing a blank.

David
 
David Neibert said:
Paul,

I'm not familiar with balancers that use friction material instead of an elastomer ring....can you explain how that works. Trying to visualize the mechanics of it and I'm drawing a blank.

David
Click to expand...

The inner part is stationary and the outer section is allowed to slip (a limited amount of course) with the friction material being in between the two components. The friction absorbs the harmonics and dissapates the engery in the form of heat. I will give a more detailed idea of how it works tomorrow when I have more available time.

Paul
 
I've talked to Paul about the specifics of this new damper and I feel that this is a product that BHJ should have provided us years ago for a couple of reasons.

First off, this balancer is SFI certified. Not a big deal to many of us but with the faster and faster our SC's get this is becoming more relevant. I don't expect to ever see a BHJ come apart but knowing that the balancer is certified is definitely reassuring and worth a few extra $$. SFI certification is not just a stamp or sticker, it reflects a design that is proven to hold up at high rpm (12,500rpm for 1 hour is the test).

Another plus is that this balancer will be nitrided on the steel surfaces and annodized on the aluminum surfaces. Anyone who has a 1-2-3 year old BHJ knows what I'm talking about. How crappy is it to pay big bucks for a balancer only to have it rust on you? The coatings on this balancer will be much tougher than paint and should keep the unit rust free over it's lifetime.

This damper was never intended to be an ultra cheap OE replacement, but rather it is intended to be a less expensive yet superior alternative to what we already have available. If you've been waiting for a better alternative to be offered, this may be just what you have been waiting for...
 
Wont the outer hub spinning around affect its balance? any idea on the price range? Arent they usually filled with liquid?
 
So the biggest question remaining...

How much lighter is this going to make my wallet over stock? :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top