Topic: Steering stabilizer

[AGUHR]

Is a steering stabilizer needed for a 94 YJ?

I had a bit of an accident and replcaed my axles with TJ axles and had to replace all of my steering and upgraded just a little bit to the rugged ridge HD equipment - is a steering stabilizer needed? I've seen alot of people not run them and some do?

Not sure if I need to put one on.

[FourbangerYJ]

I have not had one for countless years. I don't have any issues or notice it's gone.
Try it without and if you get a shimmy or vibes then add one.

[AGUHR]

Perfect! thanks, I was planning on that.  saves me a few $$.

[Jeffy]

If your steering it setup correctly, you don't really need one.

[Clem]

I haven't run one in eons... Like the others have said, make sure your steering is in good shape.

[Bounty Hunter]

Isn't there some benefit to having one in that it softens any side to side impact transferred to the steering when encountering obstacles offroad?  I thought that was the primary purpose of a stabilyzer.

[sharpxmen]

i thought it is meant to prevent the front wheels to wobble and prevent the steering linkage to go into resonance (due to tire/wheel vibrations at certain speeds) - but it's just an assumption

[Bounty Hunter]

I don't think so, although it's often used as such, a bandaid fix for worn parts.  I think it's meant more to keep the steering wheel from getting pulled from your hands when you encounter a pothole or rock, etc.

[sharpxmen]

I don't think so, although it's often used as such, a bandaid fix for worn parts.  I think it's meant more to keep the steering wheel from getting pulled from your hands when you encounter a pothole or rock, etc.

i was just assuming so your statement is probably more close to reality

[Bounty Hunter]

Sure many rigs can run without them when the steering is setup properly using parts in good condition.  But there is nothing there to dampen outside forces on the steering, possibly leading to premature wear of those steering parts.

[Clem]

I don't think so, although it's often used as such, a bandaid fix for worn parts.  I think it's meant more to keep the steering wheel from getting pulled from your hands when you encounter a pothole or rock, etc.

Look back at older rigs. Steering stabilizers didn't start showing up en mass in OEM applications until the '80s. Imho, they are a bandaid. Look at competition level rigs. They also don't have them. They endure far more abuse than a weekend warrior could reasonably dish out...

[sharpxmen]

I figured i better do a google search

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steering_damper

it is probably also helping with the bumpsteer and the shocks transmitted thru the steering linkage (like Bounty said)

but my gut feeling still tells me that it was fitted from factory after their road tests where they probably discovered some resonance issues - vehicle manufacturers often come up with little bandaids once they get the vehicle on road tests - common one was when they started fitting molded dashboards and at certain speeds the whole thing would start vibrating out of control, you will find on some older vehicles some bolted brackets where you would think there shouldn't be one. With the steering linkage is probably related to the tire diameter and the length of the bars, since the tire is always changing diameter due to temperature, pressure and wear there was no point in changing the length of the linkage (not to mention that would have involved changing the steering knuckles as well) - so the easiest and cheapest solution would be to put a shock absorber on to cut out the auto induced waves in the assembly.

again, my personal opinion so could be off...

EDIT: should probably explain a bit more what i mean about resonance

if you have a linear part between 2 solid points and the wavelength of the vibration induced in that part would divide the total length of the part  to an exact number or integer if you wish (the length of the part is an exact multiple of the wavelength or in other words the length of the part between the points where it is bolted on is divisible by the wavelength of the vibration) then the amplitude of the vibration will amplify by the reflected wave when it reaches the assembly point (where the part is bolted on) - the new reflected wave and the initial wave will then vibrate at unison amplifying itself, reaching the other end would result in the same thing, the amplitude will be again increased and the process goes on and on until the catastrophic failure of the whole assembly - the only way to prevent it is to not reach that vibration point, change the length of the part so it doesn't match the wavelength (this is hard since the same thing can and will happen at different frequencies) or to install a damper on the part (the steering stabilizer in this case) - what that will do is to turn the oscillation into an attenuated one where the amplitude is cut out by the damper preventing the self multiplication of the vibration and cutting out the resonance effect.

this is a phenomenon that has led to failure in some bridges for example where the tiny up/down movements of the deck has amplified to the point where the bridge has collapsed. In the case of a vehicle you can simply reduce the speed or accelerate to pass that resonating frequency.

[aw12345]

There is a point to the resonance issue, TJ's love to get the shakes between 45=50 mph

[Torch_Ind]

There is a point to the resonance issue, TJ's love to get the shakes between 45=50 mph

just go on youtube and google death wobble

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwiv23dLhMY

[sharpxmen]

just go on youtube and google death wobble

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwiv23dLhMY

i think that is due to the change in pinion angle and not addressing the caster angle - with proper caster the front wheels will straighten themselves, when you rotate the front axle to address the pinion angle you will lower the caster angle so the resulting applied torque to the front wheel when the vehicle is rolling (the momentum arm between the point where the tire touches the road and the point where the line joining the centers of the balljoints intersects the ground) will become smaller and therefore the wheels will have less force applied to them to keep them straight - that means the steering linkage will come in play to keep the wheels straight and that turns into the wobble which you see in the video. at the other extreme (just as an example) too much caster will result in a hard to turn steering by the opposite effect (higher momentum arm and higher resulting torque applied to the front wheels and from there to the steering).