Blazer Chalet
Registered Member
I just installed a dual steering stabilizer kit on my Chalet. it made a world of difference going down the highway . Took all the slack out of the wheel and tracks straight with no effort.
CK5
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Dual Steering Stabilizer
- Thread starter Blazer Chalet
- Start date
Blazer Chalet
Registered Member
This is one of the critters on a friend ranch . He has about 35 of them.
H20 Toie
1/2 ton status
If they made that big of a difference then you have other issues. you are covering up something that is worn out or loose.
Steering stabilizers can't remove slop in the system.
rampage
3/4 ton status
I’ve been biting my tongue ever since you posted that pic, but I can’t hold it back any more ... (sorry (sort of 
))
The ‘80’s called and they want all their shocks back.
))The ‘80’s called and they want all their shocks back.
Blazer Chalet
Registered Member
Rampage you do your vehicle your way , and I will do mine RIGHT !
A steering stabilizer makes a little difference on my crew cab with 36/13.50/16 Super Swampers tires, but not so much as I could not drive down the road with out it. Steering stabilizers must do something, or GM would not have installed them factory from the assembly line like mine came with. One of these days I am going to get the ultimate steering stabilizer...hydro assist.
I lost the steering stabilizer in my truck (seal failed) and I thought I was experiencing death wobble at first. Then I thought lug nuts had come loose on the front end. Stock suspension, height, all that.
Start to apply the brakes and the steering wheel would start to bounce back and forth, even holding it tight the problem did not go away. But it felt like the front axle was ready to come off. Definitely scary as heck. As I recall, it only did that under braking however, and it wasn't 100% of the time...took me a day or so to figure it out, and only by the obviously leaking damper. The rotors weren't warped significantly, but I'm guessing lack of a damper exacerbates what vibration warping of any kind induces.
Start to apply the brakes and the steering wheel would start to bounce back and forth, even holding it tight the problem did not go away. But it felt like the front axle was ready to come off. Definitely scary as heck. As I recall, it only did that under braking however, and it wasn't 100% of the time...took me a day or so to figure it out, and only by the obviously leaking damper. The rotors weren't warped significantly, but I'm guessing lack of a damper exacerbates what vibration warping of any kind induces.
I’ve been biting my tongue ever since you posted that pic, but I can’t hold it back any more ... (sorry (sort of
The ‘80’s called and they want all their shocks back.
You can never have too many shocks.
We put one on my dad's bronco to take some of the twitchy-ness out of the steering. New steering box, new tie rods, new ball joints, new bushings, and fresh alignment. Thing was tighter than factory and with the smaller steering wheel he put on the truck would jump lanes at the slightest input. The stabilizer helped dampen those and made it much nicer to drive.
When my 82 K2500 had a tie rod end fail,I replaced bot the one on the passenger side that was the typical short one,and the long bar to the drivers side that had the other tie rod end cast into the rod.
To replace them both I had to take the steering stabilizer off,as it goes into that long bar,into a tapered hole..
When I got the damper's shaft free from the tie rod,I discovered the damper was EMPTY,nothing but a shell,and the piston could be pulled in and out with zero resistance!..it was not doing a dam thing!..
I happened to have a big yellow Heckthorn stabilizer I got years ago off a friends lifted K5 when he decided he needed a dual stabilizer,and I put that on,it was still like new..
If anything,I think the steering felt better with the dead one on it..
All a stabilizer does is dampen road shock and prevent kickback at the steering wheel,and with P/S you rarely ever get that anyways..it may also add some preload to the steering linkage and appear to make it feel "tighter",but I never noticed any adverse effects when the dead stabilizer was on my truck..
To replace them both I had to take the steering stabilizer off,as it goes into that long bar,into a tapered hole..
When I got the damper's shaft free from the tie rod,I discovered the damper was EMPTY,nothing but a shell,and the piston could be pulled in and out with zero resistance!..it was not doing a dam thing!..
I happened to have a big yellow Heckthorn stabilizer I got years ago off a friends lifted K5 when he decided he needed a dual stabilizer,and I put that on,it was still like new..
If anything,I think the steering felt better with the dead one on it..
All a stabilizer does is dampen road shock and prevent kickback at the steering wheel,and with P/S you rarely ever get that anyways..it may also add some preload to the steering linkage and appear to make it feel "tighter",but I never noticed any adverse effects when the dead stabilizer was on my truck..
It's not how many shocks you put on, it's the quality of shocks you put on.
That stabilizer in front of the tie rod is just begging to get smashed. If it takes a rock in the wrong place, you'll be unable to steer (at least full range) until you unbolt it. So why not just unbolt it now?
Can anyone shed light on a really good stabilizer? Brand at least???
Personal opinion is that you're not going to find a whole lot of reason to pick one brand over another. A steering stabilizer's job is much simpler and it's under much less stress than a shock absorber in the suspension. I put a Rancho on mine when I refreshed the axle and it worked as well as the 30 year-old one that came off of it.
Like it's been stated, if a stabilizer makes a big difference in your steering, you likely have another problem that it's masking.
Copy that. So basically, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, I’ll keep what I have on there (Rancho I think) lol
You can never have too many shocks.
Where's that Toyota with like 43 shocks on it?
