Folks - can anyone tell me what kind of steering stabilizer will work on the front of a Gen 1 LWB? Does it need the donut on both ends? Threaded shafts on both ends? One of each? I think on my SWB I needed one with a threaded shaft on one end, and a donut on the other. I seem to remember that the SWB already had a bracket of some kind to mount one end (I think the donut end?). This will be a new mount on the LWB, since there isn't one on there now.

Don't want to open a can of worms on the pros and cons of a steering stabilizer, just looking for an answer. I'm getting ready to drive my LWB from VA to CA, with my 16 year-old daughter as navigator. I swapped the 31 MT's from my SWB to the LWB, so I want a little stiffer steering to keep those MTs on track during the road trip.

Thanks

Never seen one used, and they won't help on the highway. The only thing it will do is stop high speed steering wheel rotation when you hit a rock or other obstacle with one wheel. It's just a shock, soaking up momentum with hydraulic restrictions and valving. You'd do a lot better if you have the front end aligned with about 3* of caster to make the big tires track a little better, and replace the idler arm bushings, and tighten up the steering box.

Just sayin'...

Well, the 31's I swapped on the LWB replaced a set of 265/75-15s, which are now on my SWB. They are close enough in size and shouldn't require another alignment. I can get a steering stabilizer installed for a net cost of about $50. I've already had the pitman arm and idler arm replaced, along with new shocks on the front.

I'm sure bushings and tightening up the steering box will cost a LOT more than $50...

Tighten up steering = $0.00 plus one cold can of beer for the steering wheel twiddler, plus a quarter bucket of sweat loosening up the lock nut and tweaking the worm and sector clearance, taking up the slack in most steering boxes. Get it too tight and it wont' self straighten coming out of corners.

Idler arm bushings are about $4 each, plus another half bucket of sweat, and maybe another beer to the guy with a pickle fork tool to seperate the steering joints on the idler arm (not strictly required, but eliminates a lot of kinking around to pull the idler arm shaft out of the bracket to get at the bushings.

It's been well documented that going up from the 235/75/15's to 31's is getting into the area where you need a little more caster, and you need to set the camber almost flat. The smaller stock tires ride with a little tilt out at the top of the tire, and the bigger tires really like to run perpendicular for best wear and traction. The added caster helps hold the steering centered on the road, for a stronger on center feel, perfect for long highway trips, slightly more tiring if you do a lot of steering, like a very curvy road, but not bad at all.

Any real steering stabilizer is valved so that it has NO EFFECT at normal steering wheel rotation speeds, and no stabilizing effect at all, only working when the wheen moves at speeds your hand can't duplicate. Like severe bump steer. It's your $5. Have fun. I might be wrong, too...

If you're dead set on doing it, you need the one with one L bracket with a Ubolt on the steering center link, and another L bracket anchored to the frame. Probably have to drill bolt holes, but you might find a way with more square Ubolts to go around a crossmember, or use existing holes.

Changing your tire size has nothing to do with needing an alignment. What FastEddy is saying is that if you get the front suspension aligned with additional caster it will provide additional centering to the steering, which sounds like what you are looking for. A steering stabilizer won't help the steering return to center, it will just make the steering harder and slower to turn throughout the entire steering range - possibly a more dangerous setup if a quick emergency steering maneuver is necessary. You can safely add more caster to the suspension than what the factory specs state, and it won't create any abnormal wear on your tires - you may even notice a slight improvement in the handling due to the additional camber that is created when cornering (that's an old autocrossing alignment trick).

I'm not sure how much additional caster adjustment is available, but a good alignment shop should be able to work with you on it to get what you need.

Ditto on what they said. I tried one and it was a hazard. It ended up unscrewing the fill plug on the diff. Removed it in the snow. Metal Masher...sure someone was there from here to witness that fiasco. Stay away from it, if you have a handling issue look elsewhere.

You'll never feel a real good one. Cheap ones are just ordinary shocks and you can feel resistance, it just doesn't help you at all.

I had a good one on the Toy LC FJ55 waggy. It had manual steering and was absurdly slow steering geared, which makes for real fast wheel whip on bump steer, worse than a monty will ever do, AND it had high offset wheels which make it a lot worse. It would easily rip the wheel out of your hands. NEVER had a monty do that, always able to hold it. The one on the LC twisted around on the center link and one day it jammed the steering at full right. That was a thrill. Part of my prejudice against them, too. It's still your $50...

I think the main point is the Montero has excellent steering, and there is no need for one. I put one on because I had a problem. That problem ended up being rear trailing arm bushings. Other loose components can cause handling problems, but they need to be fixed. Steering stabilizers work for situations like Eddys FJ, or full size American trucks with big tires and ultra sensitive steering...

I put one on my white one. Not much difference with it on. The rocks still take the wheel out of my hands, just seems to be less force but not much. Got better results by tighting the box up.

Echoing the comments of everyone else - it doesn't seem like a good idea for these rigs.. Although mine is a SWB I did try one on it. Drove a few miles and removed it. There was no problem that led to giving it a try = it was an "experts" idea.

Didn't help, actually felt worse. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />