Not mine, credit u/jaccscs0914 from reddit (note: I haven't personally tried this at all):
https://www.reddit.com/r/hotas/comments/1aidu4w/vkb_trudder_damper_mod_w_instructions_no_drilling/
#VKB T-rudder damper Mod (no drilling or fabrication)
stable pebble
Reddit post content:
Inspired by u/Patrix87 and a Russian forum post I lost the link to. Goal was to modify without drilling or fabrication while using minimal parts. Patrix87’s solution might be a little sturdier/professionally done, but this solution has worked fine for me with a couple hours of in-game testing. I acknowledge some of these components may need to be tightened back down from time-to-time.
Parts:
JFG Motorcycle Steering Damper ~$51 (Amazon)
M5x50mm 10 pack (Lowes) $2.23
5mm Nylon Insert Locknut 4 pack (Lowes) $0.79
5mm Hex Nut 10 pack (Lowes) $4.32
Instructions:
Disassemble up to and including the cam (1:50 mark of this video (https://youtu.be/4XyRHZKqsMc?feature=shared). See picture 6.
Remove the right bolt from the underside of the cam. There is a thread locker on the bolt so it requires a little more torque than usual. Replace bolt with a 50mm M5 bolt (you can do this all on the left side instead of right, just personal preference).
I removed the tension spring as I only fly helos and do not want the return-to-center functionality. You can leave the spring attached if you just want dampening while retaining return-to-center.
Reassemble pedals, reverse of how you disassembled, but do not reattach the linkage of the right pedal.
Insert 50mm bolt through the bottom of the right foot-rest guide/adjustment slot. Picture 5 shows this slot on the left side, there is an identical one on the right.
Tighten down this bolt with a hex nut. I stacked several hex nuts as you can see in picture 4, with a flat side of each nut contacting the metal face of the pedals directly to the right. Due to the proximity to the right side of the frame, you cannot tighten down these nuts easily. I had to flex the bolt left and slowly 1/8th turn the lower hex nut as tight as I could get it. I intended to stack the nuts all the way up to meet the damper (hence 4 nuts in the photo), but you could get by with just using the lower nut. This is hard to explain, but the nuts pseudo-self-lock, and can only turn free by flexing the bolt back to the left.
Tighten down a locknut to each 50mm post. You have to eyeball how far down you want these to sit to try to keep the damper parallel to the ground. The damper mounts will sit on the upper rounded portion of these locknuts. The rounded portion of the locknuts (pic 7) fit quite well in the ~8mm damper mounting holes, and there is no play between the 50mm posts and the mounting holes of the damper.
Place the damper on the two 50mm posts. Tighten down an upside down locknut onto the top of each post to secure the damper. You may have to tighten down the locknut right side up first, to thread the nylon, then flip upside down and retighten. Again, the rounded side of the locknut fits snuggly in the mounting holes on the damper.
Set the damper to the desired setting and you should be good to go! With this damper, I found setting 12 feels right, although even the lowest setting still holds the pedals where you placed them.
You will notice slight forward and rearward flexing of the rear 50mm post as you use the pedals. This did not seem to affect gameplay at all, and I do not believe it is enough flexing to damage any components. You could replace this post with a M8 bolt, but that would require you drill through the foot-rest slot to widen it for bolt clearance.