Retrofitting '13/'14 GT500 Bilstein Damp-Tronic's to any '07-'12 GT500

[PRP]

it sucks that Ford does not sell a lot of items piece meal.
hell want a new stepper motor for your TB... SOL... gotta buy the whole TB....

Seriously? You have to buy the complete TB if your IAC motor goes out?

That's just crazy because historically, stepper motors go out and they go out ALOT. I can't count the number of times I've replaced a IAC on a FI car (ISC is different, not a stepper motor but a reversible DC motor).

This issue remindes me of when my wife had her Mercedes Benz ML320 (SUV). The passenger seat power rack has what amounts to a flexable speedo cable running from a DC motor & gear on one side to a gear on the other side to enable you to move the seat forward & backward. At some point the cable broke (who'd a thunk???) so I went to the MBZ dealer to buy a new f/r drive cable.

Nope, "not a serviceable item" says the MBZ parts man (and book).

There isn't a rivet or weld on the rack, it is completely assembled with screws, bolts, nuts, etc. (i.e. it is SERVICABLE). Okay, how much for the rack says I? 900 bucks says he! Says me, 'yer out'cher ****ING MIND!"

My wife can sit in one spot when she sits there (the other 8 motions still worked). I finally had enough of the obnoxious noise coming from the passenger seat and rather than open the door and push her out, I pulled the seat to see what I could do about it. I pulled the rack off, pulled the drive assy. apart and got the pieces of the old broken cable out. Thinking I could just find one of the old "universal speedo cable repair kits" I started looking in that direction but soon found that is a thing of the past. Speedo cables? What's that???

I found a small square rod at The Home Depot, cut it to length and used it as a drive cable. So it doesn't flex, big deal (it sits in a straight tube so doesn't need to flex). It was all of about $1 worth of repair, not counting labor in lieu of a $900 rack, also not counting labor.

And yes MBZ, it IS 'serviceable' by definition but since they (MBZ) don't make the part separately, it is by THEIR definition "unserviceable".

I've never tried to fix or repair a DC stepper motor but I'll bet it can be done.

All "stepper" means is the the motor moves in steps. The PCM signals 5 counts and the motor moves 5 steps. It's still just a small reversible (i.e. permanent magnet) DC motor.

I think I might need to start collecting IAC motors whenever I hit the local pick-n-pull now!


Wow (astonished),
Phill Pollard

 

[stkjock]

Seriously? You have to buy the complete TB if your IAC motor goes out?

Phil,

From the mouth of Steve at Tousley.

 

[Tob]

I've been in contact with some really great people at ThyssenKrupp Bilstein regarding this project. Correspondence has gone as far as Germany in order to pin down details regarding SVT's electronic Bilstein struts/shocks as used on select 2013/2014 GT500's. All of which culminated in a box showing up at my doorstep the other day.

I have obtained the electrical hardware that Bilstein uses in their "ridecontrol" kits. I'll share with everyone the hardware in the kit as best I can, as I have only been able to find bits and pieces on it via the web.

Here's a biggie, the connectors for the rear shocks. Unavailable from Ford. Very slick...

This caught my eye...

The Bilstein control box. As it sits, I'm told it will impart too much voltage and effectively cook the Ford strut/shock internals. Ford engineers used it when developing the system but switched the voltage requirements for production and used their own processor.

The button that allows switching between sport and comfort mode...

I thought the button was much bigger based on the photos I was able to find on the web. For scale...

A note that was affixed the the Bilstein box...

If I can figure out a simple and effective way to decrease the voltage (as hinted at in prior posts) I may indeed be able to use this. A quick look inside...

If I had a detailed schematic of the control unit I may be able to desolder/remove a resistor (for example)/solder in an appropriate resistor...

 

[Carl]

I need one of these kits.... I have my parts now just have not been able to test. Any hint from them of what voltage to use? I'm still going for 6 volts unless I hear otherwise.

 

[Carl]

Finally got around to running some tests. Have the a rear shock in comfort mode right now with 5 volts at 1.1- 1.15 Amps. Been running for about 30 minutes and it seems stable and nothing is hot. Current is steady. So this is about 5.3 watts, a little more than the stated design spec. Going to leave it like this for a while and see what happens. Worse case I smoke the shock...

 

[Carl]

In comfort mode for about an hour. Temperature of shock tube up where the solenoid is located is at 96 degrees. The rest of the shock is at about 76 degrees. So the solenoid does get warm. I have no idea what it can take or what is normal.

 

[Tob]

Let me get back to you with some numbers Carl. Don't smoke that shock!

 

[Tob]

Carl, I think this will help...

This is the extract of the specification for the DampTronic select units...

Nominal voltage: 12 V DC

Typical range of voltage: 9 V to 16 V DC

Thermal range: -40°C to 150°C

Switching or push current: 1.2 A + 0.5 A (switching firm, closed to soft, open)

Duration of push current: > 100 ms and < 500 ms

Holding current : 0.5 A + 0.3 A (to keep valve in open position)


Duty cycle holding current: 100%

(20°C) Electrical resistance: 3.9 Ohm +6% / -10%

Example:

13.5 V power supply , 20° C

13.5 V/3.9 Ohm = 3.46 A

Reduction with PWM 40% = 1.38 A (switching current)

After 100 ms further reduction to 20% PWM = 0.7 A (holding current)

Alternatively to PWM a voltage reduction will do as well, as long as you keep the tolerances of switching and holding current.

The solenoid is heating up and will have a resistance of 4.5 Ohm at higher temperatures, so if you change to holding current keep the voltage high enough to keep an minimum of 0.5 A.

Direct power or battery voltage to the solenoid for a longer period (several minutes) can/will destroy the coil.

Polarity is not relevant as there are no active or semi-active electronic parts in the damper.

 

[Carl]

Yeah, I shut it down. No change in temperature but the current should be able to be dropped and still keep the solenoid energized. Of course less current means less heat and longer life.

 

[Tob]

Carl, can you show what you have in mind for a control box? And how would the circuit you have designed utilize proper switching and holding current?

 

[Carl]

Ok looking at the specs, what I had originally planned should work. Basically engage them with 12v then drop it to 3v. That will keep everything within specs. PWM would be the way to go but more complex and costly. The bilstein module looks like it uses PWM control. I will have to go find my diagram for what I had planned for this.

 

[SuperFly03]

You guys are nuts... in the glorious way that are these retrofit projects.

Keep up the solid work.

 

[Tob]

Carl, are you using a program such as Fritzing?

Download - Fritzing

 

[Carl]

That looks pretty nice. I have not used it. I had drawn out what I had planned. I have since found a generic board that I think will work. I would probably use two of these, one to control the fronts and one for the back. Looks like there are two ways to approach this. First is a Pick and Hold circuit:

pick and hold solenoid driver electronics by optimal engineering systems

Next would be a PWM circuit:

Proportional pulse width modulator (PWM) solenoid driver by optimal engineering systems

I would go with the pick and hold setup. Both the push duration and hold voltage can be adjusted with potentiometers on the board. Looks like it would work perfectly to me. Will have to contact them to see what these cost.

 

[iamlightning03]

Oh man this is Soo cool!!

 

[Carl]

So how do I get my hands on a control button and two of those rear connectors?

 

[Tob]

I think I can get you two connectors and pins. The button will have to come by way of a part number and Bilstein North America.

 

[Carl]

Cool on the connectors and button..

I sent a message to OES, Inc, on the modules. I asked for pricing and if they might have a better solution. They do custom work so I might be able to get one purpose built. Of course that might cost but if there is enough interest then it might be worth it.

 

[Tob]

Carl, I just got off the phone after having a lengthy conversation with a gentleman in Germany regarding making this work. Firstly, his English was near perfect, and his knowledge of the systems (both Ford's and Bilstein's) was immense. He saw my mention of an external resistor being added and commented that it would indeed add heat into the system but wasn't exactly sure if it would work and that's even if I had calculated the numbers properly so as not to impart too much resistance into the circuit.

He mentioned that there are basically two systems, "new" and "old". The old system used ~5.5 - 6.0 ohms at ambient and the new was at ~3.9 or so. Bilstein has been developing an ECU that would work with the new system. I am going to try to obtain one of the new ones that utilizes a reprogrammed pulse width module. They are going to try to come up with a dollar figure for me. If all goes well, I would end up with a plug and play system. My fingers are crossed!

Forward me your mailing address and I'll send you a pair of the connectors for the rear shocks along with the requisite pins.

We briefly spoke about the front connectors and the fact that Ford won't supply them unless you purchase the entire body harness for that portion of the car. I told him I was looking at a two pin weatherpack connector and he agreed that is the way to go.

I forgot to mention to him anything regarding a pick and hold circuit versus pwm. I apologize. He did mention that the solenoids typically don't burn up immediately (say if you were to use the higher resistance with the newer struts/shocks) but mentioned something on the order. He stated it would burn up while in Comfort Mode.

Anyway, I'm really excited about this. I have to say that the people at ThyssenKrupp/Bilstein have been fantastic. Technical when needed and more than willing to lend a hand. I could not be grateful enough for the help they have extended on this effort.

 

[Carl]

That is great news. The best solution would be something they designed. I would think the cost of the parts to do this would be fair. I am in no big hurry for this so I can sit tight while they work it all out.