DO I NEED A STEERING STABILIZER?

[Wabujitsu]

The good thing with how I'm going to do it now, is ZERO COST, assuming you don't factor in the $89 steering stabilizer shock, and the $110 Synergy over axle kit...

Btw, that's the second synergy product I've ever purchased for my request, and it's also the second product that failed..

I already removed their stickers from my Jeep last year. Definitely never going to buy from them EVER again! Talk about trash quality!!

Greg, “soft guy” here. You may want to consider the extra wear-and-tear on other steering components, without a stabilizer. It can also mitigate some extra tire wear.

WHEN you change your mind, go with a through-shaft stabilizer.

Did you remove your rear sway bar too? If not, why not?

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[Mocopo]

If the stabilizer was stopping you from turning full driver you had the tie rod clamp too far towards the drivers side. It was fully extending when you turned left and your steering was trying to rip it in half. Eventually the steering won. That's not Synergy's fault, that's 100% user error.

I tend to agree with this. When i installed my stabilizer, I pointed a camera at it and recorded while I got on the jeep and steered lock to lock to confirm i wasn't bottoming out the shock. By getting it exactly centered, I have about 1/2" shock stroke left in either direction at full lock.

 

[Bill_BCNtoNY]

if the tie rod bracket wasn’t placed properly like @Zandcwhite suggested, maybe the shock is dead and wasn’t doing much, hence why you’re not feeling the difference?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Greg, “soft guy” here. You may want to consider the extra wear-and-tear on other steering components, without a stabilizer. It can also mitigate some extra tire wear.

WHEN you change your mind, go with a through-shaft stabilizer.

Did you remove your rear sway bar too? If not, why not?

I have a Falcon Nexus 2.2 for sale

 

[Deleted User 38384]

I am not sure those videos prove anything.

I also don't put my thumbs in the steering wheel but I do harder stuff than you and sometimes things just happen.

Since you aren't much over stock height, all of your parameters are probably better than those of us on big tires and lifts. I mean, there's a reason that Blake changed your name to "Crash"...lol

Play hard, stay hard!

 

[Deleted User 38384]

At one point you had a significant amount of play in the wheel. Is that still there now that you've nuked both your steering stabilizer and anti-sway bar, or was something else at fault?

And yes, we'll sit back and wait for our self-appointed "hall monitors" to freak out about exceeding posted speed limits.

I actually don't know how I damaged my steering stabilizer. Well I kind of do. It was a crappy aluminum bracket from synergy. Basically I had a grade 8 steel bolt in the bracket on the tie rod and it literally yanked itself out. So the bolt is still usable, but the tie rod mounting bracket isn't. That thing is shredded.

Any damage to the steering stabilizer itself was due to being dragged on rocks after it worked itself loose from the coupling.

I definitely need to remove the steering stabilizer at some point in the near future, and while I'm at it I'll probably yank off my rear bumper and start pondering ideas for that.

I'm not sure if I'm going to order any Rock rail steps anytime soon, maybe if I do I'll just replace the passenger side for now. I definitely need to work on something that's going to be more permanent/sturdy for the way I like to off-road.

When I wheel with @ParadigmDawg , I'm playing with the big boys. Probably doesn't help much that I don't mind scraping and scratching and denting my jeep. Basically I'm Wheeling with guys who have at minimum a 3 in lift, and I only have a 1.5 in lift. So when I'm cresting boulders that they are just barely clearing, I'm going to have to scrape something. My only real fix would be spend the money on a bigger lift which unfortunately right now I can't afford. I still have my factory Rock rails, I couldn install those, but then all the short people in my family won't be able to get into my Jeep.

Definitely something to think about..

 

[Deleted User 38384]

I guess this is one of those things where you don't really get it until you try it.

There's nothing in this world as valuable as first-hand experience!

Realistically speaking if more people on here try running without their steering stabilizer and then posted their experience, we might get a better picture of whether what I'm saying is across the board or just my scenario.

Not to shame y'all too much, but having an opinion is great and all, but it don't really help nobody!

 

[Deleted User 38384]

Like I posted before from my experience driving without one and then putting it back in when i got the mounting bracket finally in, my ride was much better, but as you said, you don't necessarily have to have it. I think it honestly would come down to what type of roads you drive on daily, especially if there are a lot of uneven surfaces or small to large potholes/railroad track crossings, etc. then you DEFINETLY would want the Stabilizer in.

As far as limiting full turn, I would think getting the type that has a longer stroke or that center shaft type would allow the full turn.

So if I want to get real here, I think part of the issue with my steering stabilizer relocation bracket is that my lift isn't really big enough to make it function the way it should. I think if I were to do it again I will use the Rough Country dual steering stabilizer. Not because it's any bit better, but because the way it mounts up it'll clear of all of the components that my synergy relocation bracket was super duper close to.

Plus because of the synergy steering stabilizer relocation bracket coupled with a skyjacker steering stabilizer, no matter where I moved the bracket on my tie rod it was limiting movement to the driver side which was the side that was pulling the Piston out, versus to the right which was pushing the Piston in. I'm terrible at describing things like this, but basically with a dual steering stabilizer I wouldn't have one side in this case the Piston moving out putting strain on the Piston itself, which is what I'm guessing the issue was getting my Jeep into full lock while turning left. With a dual piston setup I would imagine it would be less limiting, because both sides can pull in on the piston, and push out.. if that makes any sense to anyone beyond me.

Regardless for now I'm definitely going to run with no steering stabilizer for the next few months. And depending how I feel about it it might be a few years. If my opinion on this changes I'll definitely let you guys know.

But if you do want to get technical, the only reason the steering stabilizer is there is to prevent feedback into the steering wheel. Which if you want to get even more technical, your wheels are still going to do what they're going to do if they get away from you, the only difference is a steering stabilizer won't let you feel it at the steering wheel. So in reality a steering stabilizer is actually a luxury/comfort item. It has nothing to do with being a safe driver.

I mean your wheels are going to do what they're going to do when you hit a bump or pothole in the road, how your steering wheel reacts to it doesn't change your ability to keep driving forward. If you hit a bump in the road and your wheels hop up and turn left and your steering wheel is straight, what about that is safer? Your wheels still turned left whether you realize it or not. Probably not the greatest way to phrase this, but the steering stabilizer is basically bitch mode, it allows you to not feel the road so that you can live blissfully inept from what's actually happening to your suspension.. like I said not the greatest way to phrase it, but I would say 100% accurate as to what's actually happening.

 

[Deleted User 38384]

Greg, “soft guy” here. You may want to consider the extra wear-and-tear on other steering components, without a stabilizer. It can also mitigate some extra tire wear.

WHEN you change your mind, go with a through-shaft stabilizer.

Did you remove your rear sway bar too? If not, why not?

Sway bars have been gone for about 2 years now. Zero issues with that. Front sway bars only that is, I'm not a psychopath!

I don't mind a sloppy ride up front, but I do want a bit of stiffness and rigidness in the vehicle. The rear sway bars help with that. If I didn't do highway driving and it was a weekend warrior only, especially if I trailered it to locations, 100% the rear sway bars would be gone already. But because it's still my daily and I still do a lot of highway driving, I think that much body roll would be an issue, especially once I start adding lifts like I've already started to do.

 

[Deleted User 38384]

If the stabilizer was stopping you from turning full driver you had the tie rod clamp too far towards the drivers side. It was fully extending when you turned left and your steering was trying to rip it in half. Eventually the steering won. That's not Synergy's fault, that's 100% user error.

I actually moved the tie rod clamp around quite a bit trying to get it to work in different locations. At first I had it a little too far to the driver side so I moved it more towards the center, and when I still had the issue I moved it further to the passenger side. It didn't matter where the tie rod clamp was located, the Piston was having issues moving out. Realistically it probably could have been a manufactured defect within the skyjacker steering stabilizer, or again like I said in a previous post because of my lift height not being as high as it ideally should be for a over axle relocation, it could be strain on the Piston because of my lacking lift height.

For a good while there because I had tried all different locations of the tie rod clamp I was under the impression that the issue was that I didn't have an adjustable track bar tie rod and drag link yet, and my feeling was that because the vehicle wasn't properly adjusted because of those lacking items, that was the issue. At least that's what I thought until I destroyed my steering stabilizer and the problem was gone.

I've known for a while now that doing a lift was going to cause a whole lot of issues in the front end of the vehicle, and adding 37s wasn't going to help that.

 

[Deleted User 38384]

MotorTrend to the rescue!

Interesting article, worth a read!

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/what-is-a-steering-stabilizer

Damn MotorTrend, right on point!!!

 

[Deleted User 38384]

Give it some time. I, too, made the same determination when I busted mine and just removed it. "Hey, I guess I don't need that stupid thing at all, it drives totally fine without it."

Within a week or two I was singing a different tune and buying a Fox stabilizer. Highway speeds were fine, but the bump-steer at low speeds (5-25 mph) was starting to get really obnoxious and I couldn't deal with it anymore.

Maybe I'm just more of a kink than you, but I do enjoy a rough ride!

 

[Deleted User 38384]

I tend to agree with this. When i installed my stabilizer, I pointed a camera at it and recorded while I got on the jeep and steered lock to lock to confirm i wasn't bottoming out the shock. By getting it exactly centered, I have about 1/2" shock stroke left in either direction at full lock.

My issue realistically probably wasn't with the position of the tie rod clamp, if I had to guess about anything, it was probably about the strain put on the Piston itself. And in this case I do believe it was because of my lift. My lift not being big enough that is. Only have a 1.5 in lift on my jeep, I got two inches out of it, but my over axle steering stabilizer relocation bracket was rubbing in most places, so I had to angle the tie rod clamp slightly back per another thread I found on here. While that did fix the rubbing issues, it didn't fix the inability to go to full lock.

This right here is why I was saying that if I do put a steering stabilizer on it again I will go with the Rough Country dual steering stabilizer because it keeps it out of the way of all of the other steering components down there. I have to imagine would reduce the risk of me getting into the issue where either the Piston is at a strange angle or I'm rubbing on something.

In this case I would probably fault the synergy relocation brackets, and I would also fault my small lift. In unison these were more than likely the issue. The synergy brackets because the way they designed them was to keep the steering stabilizer right next to all of the guts of the steering components. If you look at it on some of the pictures online and I believe I have a picture to here on my build page, it keeps the steering stabilizer surrounded by your axle on one side, your track bar on the top of it, your tie rod in front of and below it. So in a low lift scenario like mine, everything is super close to the steering stabilizer.

Again a simple fix for this if I were to keep a steering stabilizer would be the Rough Country dual steering stabilizer kit, because it mounts the steering stabilizers on top of the tie rod instead of behind it.

 

[Zandcwhite]

I actually moved the tie rod clamp around quite a bit trying to get it to work in different locations. At first I had it a little too far to the driver side so I moved it more towards the center, and when I still had the issue I moved it further to the passenger side. It didn't matter where the tie rod clamp was located, the Piston was having issues moving out. Realistically it probably could have been a manufactured defect within the skyjacker steering stabilizer, or again like I said in a previous post because of my lift height not being as high as it ideally should be for a over axle relocation, it could be strain on the Piston because of my lacking lift height.

For a good while there because I had tried all different locations of the tie rod clamp I was under the impression that the issue was that I didn't have an adjustable track bar tie rod and drag link yet, and my feeling was that because the vehicle wasn't properly adjusted because of those lacking items, that was the issue. At least that's what I thought until I destroyed my steering stabilizer and the problem was gone.

I've known for a while now that doing a lift was going to cause a whole lot of issues in the front end of the vehicle, and adding 37s wasn't going to help that.

Unless the steering stabilizer is hitting the drag link or frame because you have no lift, its not effected by lift height. 1 end mounts to the axle and the other to the tie rod which is mounted to the knuckles/axle directly. 1" of lift or 10" doesn't change the steering stabilizer function, mounting, angles, etc in the least bit. You could pull the axle out from under the vehicle with the tie rod still mounted and the steering stabilizer installed. It is unaffected by lift height. The big tires will make it work harder but that's it.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I actually don't know how I damaged my steering stabilizer. Well I kind of do. It was a crappy aluminum bracket from synergy. Basically I had a grade 8 steel bolt in the bracket on the tie rod and it literally yanked itself out. So the bolt is still usable, but the tie rod mounting bracket isn't. That thing is shredded.

Any damage to the steering stabilizer itself was due to being dragged on rocks after it worked itself loose from the coupling.

I definitely need to remove the steering stabilizer at some point in the near future, and while I'm at it I'll probably yank off my rear bumper and start pondering ideas for that.

I'm not sure if I'm going to order any Rock rail steps anytime soon, maybe if I do I'll just replace the passenger side for now. I definitely need to work on something that's going to be more permanent/sturdy for the way I like to off-road.

When I wheel with @ParadigmDawg , I'm playing with the big boys. Probably doesn't help much that I don't mind scraping and scratching and denting my jeep. Basically I'm Wheeling with guys who have at minimum a 3 in lift, and I only have a 1.5 in lift. So when I'm cresting boulders that they are just barely clearing, I'm going to have to scrape something. My only real fix would be spend the money on a bigger lift which unfortunately right now I can't afford. I still have my factory Rock rails, I couldn install those, but then all the short people in my family won't be able to get into my Jeep.

Definitely something to think about..

Your wheeling with some 100k Jeeps in a chit-box. Something has to give...lol...

You actually made 3 impressive climbs that everyone besides Brian and me were struggling with and you picked a harder line on Rock Face.

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