What's the deal with steering stabilizers?

I purchased an 06 that had twin dampers up front . I was looking, and the seller said "we fixed the death wobble"

Hmmm, ok. Would you turn the steering wheel for me left to right ?

Sure .

I bought it , went home , tightened the track bar and removed one . Steered far better , and in my opinion , that could possibly benefit the pump life as well .

Tj's don't need more components up front , they need the ones they came with to be tight and in good condition.

The overselling of stabilizers go back to the Ford twin I beam front suspension ...they really benefitted those , but steering geometry has advanced to a point they don't have as hard of a job .
 
Jerry Bransford said:
Twice as much resistance/load on your power steering pump/system. Twice as many laughs for those who know better. 😊
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There you go assuming. Just because there is 2 of them, there is more resistance than a damper made for a single. I don't know if my double has more or less resistance than your single and I doubt you do either. Neither of us has data, only opinions.
 
Educate yourself on the purpose of your steering damper so you'll know what its job actually is. Then perhaps you'll understand why two aren't needed or even a good idea where the TJ is concerned.
 
Be sure to get the hydraulic stabilizer like Jerry says. Spending more for a gas charged stabilizer will unbalance the steering system. You will have the stabilizer constantly pushing the steering as it tries to extend from the gas charge.

And I'll be really surprised if anyone's twin stabilizer (that is still working) is putting less resistance in than a single. If you look up part numbers I think you will probably find that the single stabilizer part number is the same as each of the twin stabilizers sold together.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
Educate yourself on the purpose of your steering damper so you'll know what its job actually is. Then perhaps you'll understand why two aren't needed or even a good idea where the TJ is concerned.
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I thought the steering damper was to reduce the impact on the steering components and feedback through the steering wheel when one wheel takes a hit. After looking at some of the websites of manufacturers it seems to confirm my idea of the steering dampers job. Am I missing something?
 
If you look at the way your dampener is mounted you will see there is no way it can soften the impact to the tie rod, draglink, or pitman. All those either get loaded before the dampener, or are moving on a different angle for the dampener to really effect the joints. It is really only there to try to decrease vibration from the road to the steering wheel.
 
Are the following 2 steering stabilisers good options for my TJ?

1) Rancho RS5407
2) Monroe SC2928 Magnum

Can anyone please confirm if I have the right part numbers? Any other good options?
 
TJim said:
Are the following 2 steering stabilisers good options for my TJ?

1) Rancho RS5407
2) Monroe SC2928 Magnum

Can anyone please confirm if I have the right part numbers? Any other good options?
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Both are appropriate for the TJ and either would be a good choice. Both also contain the required tapered stud which is not included in all kits so that's a good thing.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
A steering stabilizer is more properly known as a steering damper. Its sole job is to help isolate the steering system from bumps & jolts on the road.

If you are having a steering issue like steering feedback, bump steer, death wobble, shimmies, or anything similar, a steering damper is never the fix. A stabilizer/damper can often mask or cover up problems but they're just a band-aid for a problem that has a root cause that needs to be fixed. Another way of saying this is that a new steering damper is never the cure for any steering issue. Period.

A good basic steering stabilizer/damper is just a hydraulic shock that is valved 50:50 so it resists equally in both directions. They don't cost much and something from Monroe, Rancho, etc. that isn't expensive is absolutely fine. I run a very basic Rancho but have used other brands with no real difference. Higher-end stabilzers are normally gas-charged because they're sold by high-end shock manufacturers who usually make nothing but gas-charged shocks. There's no real benefit to a gas-charged (aka "nitro") steering damper because hydraulic shock problems like cavitation that make gas-charged shocks good for suspensions don't exist for a steering system.

Go with a less costly steering damper/stabilizer (which will be hydraulic) and you'll be fine. Make sure the steering stabilizer kit includes a tapered mounting stud as shown below. The OE tapered mounting stud is a permanent part of the OE steering stabilizer so you'll need a replacement after you have removed the OE steering damper.

View attachment 5588
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So if I am having steering feedback which I think you mean when I hit a hole(even a small one that shouldn’t affect anything) my steering wheel moves more than I think it should
 
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