You know, i'm wondering. Where is the sound coming from that we hear after installing the stiffy? The sound that makes it sound a bit like a muscle car....where is that sound coming from? I don't hear it from outside the car, only inside

 

Its the valve-train being transfered via the firewall and pass side strut tower. It is very helpful in tuning. I am able to hear any little thing that sounds "off"

 

Ah, thanks for the explanation. The performance damn sure shows that the stiffy is working. I'm looking for excuses to go out driving! lol

 

Here's my next question (aren't I inquisitive):

Boxman, i see you are in colorado, so you probably can understand what i'm about to say: I started my car this morning, it was about 28 degrees out. When i started the car, there was a nice loud pop that came from the stiffy and it continues to pop and make real loud noises even after the engine was warm...it seems to have taken a bit longer for the stiffy to warm up than it does the engine. Are these poping sounds normal and not harmful to the engine, the car, or the stiffy?? (I see why some people take em off in the winter)

 

The "pop" you are hearing is the plunger of the damper making contact with a frozen/hardened elastomer inside of the unit. This is normal and wont cause issues with the damper in any way. Hope that helped. Also the damper takes longer to warm than the engine due to the fact its only getting warm from underhood temps not the coolant like the motor.

 

yep, makes sense. Glad to hear its not harming anything. Thanks boxman!

 

No problem. You can ask any questions you have. I am glad this thread is being used as it was meant to be.

 

Not to be hogging the thread, but i've another question:

I'm worried about the a/c hose rubbing against the top of the engine mount bracket. I saw it was spoken about earlier and i'm reposting some of the pics from earlier in the thread, but:





Well I did a similar thing that he is doing there and I notice it is slowly rubbing. I see the solution that he used is the following:



And possibly this even though I tried it and was unsuccessful:



Apparently he was able to get enough clearance using this, but when I look at it, that a/c hose is pretty big and it's being zip-tied to the tiny coolant reserve tank hose. Is ingalls aware of this issue? Is there some sort of better resolution? Boxman, as you're knowledgable, i'm sure you've done something to remedy this in your own car. maybe you have an idea to share? Or is the solution with the ziptie and trying to move the hose a bit after removing that 10mm nut really the best solution?

Any helps appreciated, thanks!

 

mine isn't anywhere near rubbing i've checked it a few times and it's not even close. i did move it by loosening that nut and sliding it over but it didn't move very far at all.

 

I put a piece of dynamat on mine like the guy did in the picture and I can feel with my finger underneath the a/c hose that there is an indentation in the dynamat from the bracket

 

bump....is a zip-tie really the best solution???

 

Yes a zip-tie is the best fix. Its not permanent and causes no issues. Most dont have the issue some do its lame

 

Alright, i'll do that then as long as it gets the a/c hose far enough away. Its strange how only some people have this issue.

 

The lenght of the hose varies. The ones that are short come close to the brackets.

 

I purchase the ingalls ETD "stiffy" for my '07 TC and just install it today I feel the difference and it works great for eliminating the wheel hop and better shifting like most ppl have experience, except for the vibration and sounds louder than it was before, which is not a big problem but than I decided to get the dynamat, cloth rubber-O-ring and I took all the parts down and trying to adjust the stiffness from 14mm to 12mm make it stiffness but when I try to adjust the plunger with a wrench, because it was hard the whole 3 nuts went loose (the Helm joint locking Jam Nut, the preload adjusted Plunger and the Locking Jam Nut) and also there was a parts ( I guess it was a thin aluminum washer ) falls apart into 3 pieces, but I do get it to12mm and try to tightened it down, after that I put the whole thing back on and give it a try..... instead of more stiffness and traction control, my wheel go spinning and skidding also there are no vibration and sounds when suppose to be stronger and louder with the 12mm settings, basically my car is back the way it was before the ETD is on, So now thinking I'm probably just screwed up, the Damper probably broke when I did try to adjust the stiffness or something else went wrong I don't know? I really do need some help is there anyway I can do to fix it or I need to replace the Damperer or what? I really do like this product.
btw I'm new, I just found this SL forum and it's very useful for ppl who likes car a lot.

 

^^^ You need to go to www.ingallseng.com and click on Stiffy ETD's there is a PDF of instructions so you can adjust the unit without issues. Take a look at the instructions and let me know if you still arent getting a response out of the unit. TTT for any more ?'s

 

I just put mine on today and I have a few questions. First of all, when I loosened the locking jam nut to adjust the preload, the thin washer between the preload locking jam nut and the main body broke in half. Is this piece important? It seems almost too thin to have a purpose. I'm also getting ALOT of noise. Tomorrow, I'm going to try some more dynamat and the cloth/rubber washers. Any other things I should try? My car sounds absolutely horrible inside...

 

I hope someone reads this soon. I'm installing mine now and the big bracket with the gold washer, the washer seems to be too big if I tighten it's gonna bend a little. Is this ok? I can't seem to find a good pic with it that I can tell if it's bent or not.

 

You're going through exactly what I was. First off, that washer, what I did, was when I was tightening everything back up, I just placed the 2 halves of the washer back underneath and tightened it down. i did speak to the place where I got it and they told me not to worry about it.

Next, the noise that you're hearing is loud b/c it has to break in. It won't go away completely, but after about 2-3 weeks, it has substantially lessened. I have it installed with dynamat all over the place (not really cosmetic), but the dynamat is only for vibration anyway. I am using the cloth reinforced rubber tank washers as well. I never installed it with the o-rings, so I don't know what kind of difference that makes. Also, the car sounds worse when it is cold, give it a chance to warm up nice and thoroughly and it will quiet down. Lastly, I adjusted mine from 12.5 (where I first put it on) to 14.5 (where it is now). Honestly, I didn't feel a vibration difference or hear a noise difference. When the warm weather comes around, I will readjust it to 12.5ish. But the performance gains are substantial, so stick with it, give it 3-4 weeks and if you still can't stand it then, take it off...i'm sure it won't come to that b/c it will quiet and you'll get used to the performance gains. Hope that helps!

 

Careful....I asked the mods or thread maker previously to fix the error in the DIY. The gold washer DOES NOT GO where the DIY says to put it. Look at and follow the Ingalls instructions. Those are correct. Very important. The diy should be changed so people dont make this mistake