Updated on 10 May 2006 - I got a request for more info, so I have added the part numbers to the parts list below.
The parts arrived from J.C. Whitney and I managed to get the steering damper bolted up on Saturday!
Here is a photo showing a view of the finished assembly. The steering damper itself is for a '74 VW Super Beetle. They are pretty cheap and you can buy them almost anywhere.
This is the clamp and ball joint on the fork end. The clamp came from J.C. Whitney and the ball joint came from McMaster-Carr (I love that catalog!)
This is the clamp on the other end. It's also from J.C. Whitney.
Total parts required:
VW Beetle Steering Damper
1-7/8" Chrome Clamp from J.C. Whitney (part number 021131)
1-1/8" Chrome Clamp from J.C. Whitney (part number 064726)
(2) 10mm bolts
(4) 10mm nuts
(1) 10mm jam nut
assorted flat and lock washers
10mm ball joint from McMaster-Carr (part number 59935K74)
aluminum shim stock (both clamps were a little large)
It was a pretty easy bolt up. Mostly I had to figure out the right placement for the ball joint so the steering damper would allow lock-to-lock travel for the steering without going over-center.
Adding a steering damper has improved the low speed handling immensely! I can take one hand off the bars now without becoming concerned that it's going to go into a tank-slapper.
I highly recommend this easy addition if you have low speed steering wobble on your rig.
