Are steering stabilizers worth the money???

[mjonesjr]

Sorry I am NOT impressed by your "experience" or how many trucks you have had. All the mods I have ever done to my trucks were functional and purpose mods; now if I used them or not is another story. Why am I explaining myself to you; I have no clue.

Lol, no doubt he is 21 lol

nope sorry, I am older than that.

 

[lil red]

ok ok ladies!
fight nice

heres the ?
will a steering stabilizer help this man out at all
i would also like to know so i can decide to put it on or not
and yes my truck is lifted

 

[gotmudd]

Rep power means crap, 95% of the people on this site have no clue how to use that feature. Who are you anyways?

same as you just some shmo putting his 0.02 in the mix with 20 years experience running solid axle hill climbin' stump grindin 4wheel drives.

 

[mhughes165]

Sorry I am NOT impressed by your "experience" or how many trucks you have had. All the mods I have ever done to my trucks were functional and purpose mods; now if I used them or not is another story. Why am I explaining myself to you; I have no clue.


nope sorry, I am older than that.

u dont have to be "impressed" im not out to impress anyone, which obviously u are with every time u move a wire in ur truck u take 400 pics to try and show it off......

we need the OP to come on here and tell us what he has, either way a steering stabilizer will help with bump steer

 

[mjonesjr]

Shit heads like you are the reason why I left this site a long time ago.

 

[mhughes165]

Shit heads like you are the reason why I left this site a long time ago.

lol.....and im supposed to be the immature one lol

 

[BlackBII]

nope sorry, I am older than that.

I was referring to mhughes but mkay

 

[Evan]

...however when u go with larger tires bump steer is just gonna happen no matter how perfect your steering geometry is....

Larger tires have nothing to do with increasing bump steer. Bump steer is caused by increasing the angle of the steering linkage. The further away from level linkage you go, the worse the bump steer gets.

I had a small amount of bump steer, and when I went from 33s to 35s it just about went away. This happened because the new tires absorb more energy from the bumps, as the sidewalls are longer. Less energy is transferred to the suspension and it travels less, resulting in reduced bump steer.

 

[mhughes165]

Larger tires have nothing to do with increasing bump steer. Bump steer is caused by increasing the angle of the steering linkage. The further away from level linkage you go, the worse the bump steer gets.

I had a small amount of bump steer, and when I went from 33s to 35s it just about went away. This happened because the new tires absorb more energy from the bumps, as the sidewalls are longer. Less energy is transferred to the suspension and it travels less, resulting in reduced bump steer.

i know when setup properly and on 35's a ranger will have almsot no bump steer, but for me 35's isnt a larger tire, im talkin once u break that plane of 35's larger tires always grab ruts in the road, and pull u towards them, they will grab a pothole and jerk the wheel.

the simple fact that he said steering stabilizers are never needed is what set me off

 

[Evan]

i know when setup properly and on 35's a ranger will have almsot no bump steer, but for me 35's isnt a larger tire, im talkin once u break that plane of 35's larger tires always grab ruts in the road, and pull u towards them, they will grab a pothole and jerk the wheel.

the simple fact that he said steering stabilizers are never needed is what set me off

Sure, I agree with that. But ruts or holes forcing the tires in a certain direction is not bump steer. Bump steer occurs when you hit a bump and your suspension travels upward against non-level linkage, forcing the tire outward.

 

[mhughes165]

Sure, I agree with that. But ruts or holes forcing the tires in a certain direction is not bump steer. Bump steer occurs when you hit a bump and your suspension travels upward against non-level linkage, forcing the tire outward.

well, it may not be the proper term, but i guess its just the term ive come to use for anything on the road that affect steering

 

[lil red]

lol.....and im supposed to be the immature one lol

just stop actin like little kids
and yes you are

its pretty bad when you have to hear that from a freaking 16 year old!
just chill out and help the man out

 

[mkpecor]

jesus christ, get to the piont.

 

[MAKG]

It's not so much that steering stabilizers are "band aids." They may be necessary in some situations.

HOWEVER, they can very often mask serious problems. Bump steer can be caused by a number of things, such as incorrect steering angles. But ANYTHING that changes alignment as a function of road bumpiness can do it. Like loose balljoints.

You do NOT want to cover up loose balljoints with anything. A tire held on by one balljoint would not be a fun situation.

My advice is to figure out where the problem is coming from. Including removing a spring and articulating the suspension arm with a jack. If it's a steering angle problem, it will show up there.

If it really is a steering angle problem, it needs to be solved; in THAT sense it's a band-aid. There is no truly correct steering geometry for TTB, but the Superrunner is better than stock inverted-Y (only because it splits the difference between the axles, rather than stock which makes the passenger side correct and the driver's side very incorrect). A double-crossover "swingset" is even better, but you'll have to fabricate that. But truly correct steering needs to have the linkage pass right through the axle arms, which is of course impossible. Actually, it MIGHT be feasible to make a correct linkage if one swaps the steering knuckles and puts the linkage behind the axle. But the steering gear will be "interesting." As will adjusting the caster.....

And the original question asked about "always having to correct the wheel while driving straight." That is, pulling. He has an alignment problem.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

just stop actin like little kids
and yes you are

its pretty bad when you have to hear that from a freaking 16 year old!
just chill out and help the man out

+1

Though I'm a bit older than 16

I remember a time when this sort of pissy attitude and bickering would have resulted in a warning and possible ban. It's no wonder that a lot of the old hands have left this site because they were fed up with crap. IMHO, if you have to get mouthy over every little issue, go to some place like Pirate where it's tolerated. Not here.

Now, to address the original post (though no doubt he's either sorry he asked or has been afraid to post more due to the attitude he got), steering stabilizers are often used as a band-aid fix... they just hide the true problem instead of fixing it. Check your steering out good for extra play. Then have the alignment checked. TTB front suspension is notorious for being out of alignment and difficult to properly align. Make sure that wherever you take it to knows what they're doing when it comes to aligning TTB suspensions (in other words, if you walk in and ask to speak to a tech and ask them if they have experience aligning Ford TTB front suspensions, you shouldn't get a "what's that?" type of response). If doing all of that does not resolve the issue, a steering stabilizer may be needed. If you're stock or close to stock, it probably shouldn't be needed.

That said, I've driven F-350 dump trucks for work regularly. Even being 2wd they came from the factory with a steering stabilizer. We had one of those go out on the one truck and it made driving VERY interesting, especially with a load on. So yes, there are valid uses for a steering stabilizer.