Tough Dog RTC Dampers

Post by **clm434** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:23 pm

Are these any good? I've been noticing bad reports on their other gear so I thought I'd do xome research before spending the hard earned.

What is there performance and longevity like?

Or is there another brand thats better bang for buck?

Post by **blkmav** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:25 pm

They're a wank

Post by **chunks** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:33 pm

Some people love them, some bag them. I know 4way Suspension sell a LOT of these so they must be doing something right. I have fitted a few and never had a complaint, but that's not to say they may not suit some people.

If you don't want an RTC damper just a normal 35mm Tough Dog damper will work well.

Post by **Nelso** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:59 pm

clm434 wrote: Or is there another brand thats better bang for buck?

Anything that is not a RTC damper is better bang for your buck.

Post by **mule75** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:51 pm

what are the reasons that make them shite????????!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by **MART** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:59 pm

If you have worn steering components it can exaserbate steering wobbles or steering shimmy , especially with big tyres , if you have power steer I would stay away , but if you don't they might help with RTC , Cheers Paul.

Post by **mule75** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:15 pm

i just ordered one!!! now i have second thoughts

i thought with big tyres and dished rims it would help a bit with the big hits and on fast tracks........... well i've paid for it so i'll wait see

Post by **hammey** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:27 pm

mule75 wrote:i just ordered one!!! now i have second thoughts i thought with big tyres and dished rims it would help a bit with the big hits and on fast tracks........... well i've paid for it so i'll wait see

bugger...... you could have had mine ''POS'', i just took it off and replaced it with a procomp

Post by **clm434** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:35 pm

Bugger forgot to mention I DO have power steering and it's a '92 Triton. Only got 235/70/r16 at the moment but will be lifting it probably 2" as a start and going 31" or 32" tyres later. Along with a 3.8 commy v6 convert and beefed up torsion bars very soon. Steel bullbar has already killed the tb's after 12 months.

Post by **Ol'40** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:55 pm

Nobody has mentioned yet how much your turning circle is stuffed up.....

Post by **mule75** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:19 pm

can you pull the spring thing of and make it a normal damper??????

Post by **oondy** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:11 am

mule75 wrote:can you pull the spring thing of and make it a normal damper??????

Without the spring on there, you can move the damper in and out piece of piss, they're crap IMO.....try moving a "cheaper" alternative like TJM, OME, Pro Comp, Dobinson and you can barely move the damn things at all.

RTC are purely bling IMO.

cheers

OONDY

Post by **Dee** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:24 am

I put one on my GU.

Took it off a week later.

Post by **rezpkt** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:06 am

I fitted mine a few weeks ago after running a ridepro dampner beforehand.
The ridepro seemed delayed at dampening.

There are pros and cons to these RTC.
1) I would definately say a minimum 33" tyre is nessecary.
2) They actually aid your steering and make it alot easier to turn and work alot better offroad.
3) They are shit on the blacktop travelling over 80km/h and hitting a few bumps.
4) Extra strain on steering pump (although iv'e found it easier turning) and 'mask' those offroad bashes throwing your steering off centre. Although you will probably feel it pulling against you.
5) Possible that turning circle is effected.

They are probably not the best option, especially if your handling or steering isn't upto scratch.

I will be takeing SuspensionStuff advice and fitting an EFS or Ironman dampner later down the track.

Post by **Harrow** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:21 pm

Dont go a RTC. I have a 9 way adjustible Tough Dog steering dampner and it seems to be doing really well. when you do have a problem to cover up temporaly untill you fix it just wind the dial up a little. then once you have fixed it wind it back down

Post by **TURBOMQ** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:30 pm

i got one on my mq and i havent had any problems with it, really helps the sterring on mine

Post by **GRPABT1** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:06 pm

It works alright on my sierra, didn't really notice a difference except for reduced bump steer.

Post by **Zute** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:43 pm

Ive got one on my Zook. It does'nt fit as well as the OE one. Was a real bugger to set up right. I cant say that the spring is even noticeable. I think the 15 year old dampener I took off was just as good.

But it does look very BLING.

Post by **Nev** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:17 am

I've got one on my sierra (no power steer) and despite the comments I reckon it is fantastic. Wouldn't want anything else on there. Does an awesome job at controlling the bump steer, especially at speed which can be a problem in the zook. Was going to fit one to my GU soon but I'll do a bit more research first as the power steering does seem to take alot of the bump steer away anyway.

Post by **... rick** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:37 am

I just went and checked our sales figures on RTC's. We have sold over 1000 of these, and I reckon I could count the number of "comebacks" or gripes on one hand.
My guess is if it isnt working properly for you , it may be installed incorrectly (which is VERY easy to do).
If they were as crap as some say, we would be very busy processing warranty claims and refunds, but i cant even remember the last time one came back.
As Harro says, the new adjustable damper is the ducks nuts, maybe check it out?

Rick.

Post by **Sixty's Guy** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:28 am

I have one too on my 60 series with 35z. I noticed no difference at all from the old Enforcer damper that I had. Save your dosh and just buy a 'standard' type from OME, TJM, Ironman etc

Post by **Rocky8** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:09 am

got one on my rocky and i love it...so much better than the standard rubbish...

Post by **cooki_monsta** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:09 pm

have the toughdog one on my maverick and i reckon its the best thing since sliced bread. soaked up alot of wheel wobble due to slightly bent rims, and aids spring back when offroad. i rate them

Post by **Heathx4** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:06 pm

Wow, isn't this "he said, she said"?

All I can offer is my experience - MQ on 35" MT/R's, no P/S (just sore elbows). Had typical Nissan wobble in the steering wheel. Went away when I changed tyres but then steadily came back. Spent the $$$ at TTruck for a RTC and wacked it on. Very bling. Very not a freaking ounce of difference from the 20 year old, non-dampening waste of space originals.

I don't feel the RTC and I don't feel any dampening. Look sweet but can't recommend them for a set up like mine.

Post by **Gwagensteve** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 7:32 am

Can someone explain what the spring is supposed to do? Self centering is a result of caster, a spring isn't going to make any substantial difference.

I have seen and driven a few cars with these on, but seriously don't understand the advantage except to add bling- If a spring was massively beneficial to the steering/damping action, it would have been done long ago by an oem. Just my opinion, but maybe I'm missing somehting about the function of the spring.

Steve.

Post by **Rocky8** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:42 am

Heathx4 wrote:Wow, isn't this "he said, she said"?

All I can offer is my experience - MQ on 35" MT/R's, no P/S (just sore elbows). Had typical Nissan wobble in the steering wheel. Went away when I changed tyres but then steadily came back. Spent the $$$ at TTruck for a RTC and wacked it on. Very bling. Very not a freaking ounce of difference from the 20 year old, non-dampening waste of space originals.

I don't feel the RTC and I don't feel any dampening. Look sweet but can't recommend them for a set up like mine.

There no good with 33" tyres or bigger....u need a big bore steering dampner....

Post by **80's_delirious** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:11 am

Gwagensteve wrote:Can someone explain what the spring is supposed to do? Self centering is a result of caster, a spring isn't going to make any substantial difference.

I have seen and driven a few cars with these on, but seriously don't understand the advantage except to add bling- If a spring was massively beneficial to the steering/damping action, it would have been done long ago by an oem. Just my opinion, but maybe I'm missing somehting about the function of the spring.

Steve.

An RTC damper is supposed to be set up so that when the steering is centred the spring is at rest, no compression, no tension.
Turning the steering wheel one direction compresses the spring, the other direction will stretch the spring, when you release the steering wheel the spring pressure is supposed to force the steering and front tyres back to the centre so that the spring is again at rest.

If you have enough positive caster, steering automatically returns to centre.

I fitted an RTC when my caster was not right and my car was wandering all over the road and had bad bump steer. The RTC helped only slightly to reduce bumpsteer, and I think it was only because the force from hitting a bump had to overcome not only a new damper but also the spring pressure before it could cause bumpsteer. This was the only advantage I found.

The RTC IMO did not stop the car wandering at all.

I found that as I steered the car into a corner more effort was required to steer because you have to overcome the spring pressure. The tighter the corner, the more the spring compresses or stretches so progressively more effort is required. This makes turning a 90deg corner or parking a BIATCH even with power steering.

I also found that when travelling in a straight line at road speeds, when the steering is more or less at centre, the spring is at rest and needs a few degrees of steering rotation before enough spring pressure is created to give any hint of returning to centre. So basically when you need the RTC function the most, the spring is in the positon where it is least able to provide any benefit.

I removed my RTC after I fixed up caster problems and the car feels a lot better to steer without it.

IMO RTC is a piss poor cover up of more serious steering problems.

I did not notice any advantage in having an RTC fitted for offroad driving either.

Id say people fit them for two reasons.

Misinformed that it will fix unrelated steering problems.(like me)

For the BLING factor and coz there mates all have em

Post by **Gwagensteve** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:18 am

That was exactly my understanding too, but I thought maybe I was missing something.

I actually think cars should be initially set up without steering dampers masking any poor behaviour. If the steering is right, they should have almost no effect, but I am willing to accept it's always a compromise and that rim offset, out balance tyres etc will upset things and a damper helps.

Steve.

Post by **65Mog** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:57 am

mule75 wrote:can you pull the spring thing of and make it a normal damper??????

You could but you would be left with a $50 Gabrial Dampener painted a different colour, there is nothing wrong with that, but you would be better off buying it from Kmart/ Big W/ Supercheap etc in the original colour it would be much cheaper.

Post by **macca81** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 3:09 pm

just do what i do, run with no dampener

a dampener just makes it harder to turn anyway

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