Steering Stabilizers. What's good?
- Thread starter Yulli
- Start date
brianjwilson
Some sort of lost...
Why do you NEED this? If you're trying to fix death wobble, please address the underlying problem instead of masking a bigger problem. I see so many people wasting money doing this. The jeep should be able to drive without a steering damper at all if everything is in good working order. I did it install mine for about a month after I installed a new axle, just to be sure everything was setup right. I'm not assuming you're doing this but I just want to make sure.
When I did install a new damper, I used a Fox ATS damper rather than using the chipped and rusted OME damper that I had on previous. It worked fine but it was ugly. The Fox damper looks cool (yeah yeah...) and the adjustability is nice. After getting everything dialed in it was nice to adjust the steering feel. I like to keep it firm and it seems to help on the tire grabbing ruts on the freeways around here. If there is a substantial price difference, the OME damper is fine. Or you could probably find a used OME damper and paint it (or wrap it?).
When I did install a new damper, I used a Fox ATS damper rather than using the chipped and rusted OME damper that I had on previous. It worked fine but it was ugly. The Fox damper looks cool (yeah yeah...) and the adjustability is nice. After getting everything dialed in it was nice to adjust the steering feel. I like to keep it firm and it seems to help on the tire grabbing ruts on the freeways around here. If there is a substantial price difference, the OME damper is fine. Or you could probably find a used OME damper and paint it (or wrap it?).
BBailey
Explorer
Is your jeep lifted? Have you addressed the change in steering geometry? From your description it sounds like you're experiencing bumpsteer. That isn't fixed with a steering stabilizer. You need to correct the relative orientation of your track bar and drag link and the bump steer will vanish. There's utterly no reason to waste money on anything other than a stock steering stabilizer on a JK or JKU unless you simply want to spend money on something flashy (gotta say, I a KING steering stabilier would look pretty trick).
Steering stabilizer does nothing really. you have your jeep setup correctly you don't even need to use one. Just replace with a stock one if yours is leaking or damage. A relocation bracket from teraflex will get rid of the dead spot in your steering however.
brianjwilson
Some sort of lost...
Technically the JK can still get a little bump steer even with the drag link flip and relocated track bar brackets. Though normally it is minimal to none. Reason is, the track bar and drag link are not the same lengths. So when they are level nothing is noticeable. But if you were really leaned over, they are no longer parallel with each other because the lengths are not equal.
Again you'll probably never notice it but technically it could be there.
Steering dampers don't do NOTHING though. Even with a brand new axle, wheel bearings and steering parts, the jeep handled great. But a good steering damper still firms up the steering and reduces feedback in the wheel.
The original poster however would likely be much better off improving other steering parts at this point. ALL of the stock parts are extremely weak with 35s. Crappy ball joints and tie rod ends with plastic sleeves, soft rubber bushings on the track bars. Even the drag link, tie rod and track bars will visibly bend and flex when turning the wheel with 35" tires. The factory mounting brackets are weak, the bolts are threaded the full length (which destroys the bushing sleeves) and undersized which allows movement and the holes get ovaled out. The steering boxes are weak with a single bearing supporting the sector shaft. All of these can be fixed if you spend the time and money. But a steering damper isn't going to fix all of those issues. It may mask some but only for a while.
Again you'll probably never notice it but technically it could be there.
Steering dampers don't do NOTHING though. Even with a brand new axle, wheel bearings and steering parts, the jeep handled great. But a good steering damper still firms up the steering and reduces feedback in the wheel.
The original poster however would likely be much better off improving other steering parts at this point. ALL of the stock parts are extremely weak with 35s. Crappy ball joints and tie rod ends with plastic sleeves, soft rubber bushings on the track bars. Even the drag link, tie rod and track bars will visibly bend and flex when turning the wheel with 35" tires. The factory mounting brackets are weak, the bolts are threaded the full length (which destroys the bushing sleeves) and undersized which allows movement and the holes get ovaled out. The steering boxes are weak with a single bearing supporting the sector shaft. All of these can be fixed if you spend the time and money. But a steering damper isn't going to fix all of those issues. It may mask some but only for a while.
ZMagic97
Explorer
Judging by your name you have an 08, correct? If so get a 2012+ stock stabilizer. I had a Rancho and Teraflex leak and the when I went to 4 Wheel Parts they said get a stock one from the dealer: they said they recommend it to all customers when they install a lift and never got a bad one back. Two years later and no leaks. It does help with rough bump at road speed.
The stock stabilizer mounts a bit low and is subject to trail damage. Not all gas charged stabilizers will induce pull, the Fox ATS will not because it has a through shaft design with charge on both sides of an internal piston to balance damping forces. The amount of damping is also adjustable to give you the steering feel you like. I have one and it works very well.
See
http://www.ridefox.com/product.php?m=truck&t=shocks&p=21&ref=filter
See
http://www.ridefox.com/product.php?m=truck&t=shocks&p=21&ref=filter
\\'anderer
Adventurer
I went with the "cheap" fox stabilizer, I run 37's and I am happy with it.