Steering Stabilizer/Damper

Has anyone installed one on their van? I'm going to be removing and then reinstalling the front suspension and thought maybe I should put one on while I'm at it.

Mi 61 truck had one on it when I bought it....I took it off and did not re install it...I dont see why it would be necessary if all other components are in good working condition?

Yeah that's the general consensus but I was curious, could give some peace of mind. I'm going to be going over my steering system, it's at stock height now and will be except the springs have naturally de-arched quite a bit from time and I get a bit of bump steer now if I hit a good hole. May not be a problem after I go through it though, not sure.

If there are any bump-steer issues after lowering mine, I'll install one until I can sort the steering (might take a while ). I've used them on my 4x4 trail rigs to control/smooth things out due to suspension mods, oversized tires, etc; they do a good job of taming just about any nuisance suspension steering issue. It's essentially a band-aid, but it works.

Mine had 2 shocks welded on when I got it, I never took them off. I have about 1/2" to 1" play in my steering and still have mild bump steer. I guess I should unbolt them to see how much difference they make.

What is bump steer?

When you hit a bump or ridge in the road and your truck tries to change lanes. If you have it ,you will know. Very nice truck by the way.

wise ass  

It seems I have posted what bump steer on this site so many times someone could write a song about it.
  Bump steer IS CAUSED BY BAD GEOMETRY of the two ball joint heights on the drag link. And per the last time I posted about this and the ball joints,, they are indeed ball joints.  LOL...................
  Bump steer is when the truck wants to steer for you when you hit a bump and is caused by the increased length of the drag link. Yes, it can change its amount of travel which is what makes a turn for you when you are not turning.
  It is accomplished by the geometry allowing the arc of travel of the ball joint on the steering arm to be too much.  Simply stated the farther it travels in and arc the more it increases the distance which is what causes the steering arm to move even though you are holding onto the steering wheel.
 All things said, the dampner is connected on the TIE ROD and to the axle itself and is NOT ANOTHER SHOCK ABSORBER as in the suspension system. In off road it is used to lesson the sudden turning of the steering wheel when you hit a rock or a hole but or is not used to correct bad geometry although it does lesson its effect.
   When you lower OR raise a vehicle it moves the steering arm ball joint height either up or down and this increases its arc of travel. You want the least amount of travel in this arc in order to not have bump steer. The farther it travels the more it increases the drag links length.
  I have posted so many times, and just again went through this,,, PLEASE PURCHASE the book
"HOW TO MAKE YOUR CAR HANDLE" by Fred Puhn,,,,, HPBOOKS--46....  it explains any and all you could imagine to PRETEND to know about suspensions and brakes.  Explained in detail about bump steer, camber, caster, bending steering arms, track bars and even how to make a cheap plywood gauge in order to figure out what you need to do to get rid of it.
  There are TWO different steering arm heights for our trucks as well as some other tricks for making our own drag links, and all kinds of adapters and ball joint taper reamers and adapters to different sized tapers, so on, and so on...  please buy the book
vic

im waiting on the =SONG!!!  

If your waiting for me to sing you will probably go deaf firstly,,,         
vic

Thanx vic - I already am deaf = thats y i want ur song!!!      we all get tired of all the same ol questions -dont we?? archives? wazz dat??     

Vic,sung to the tune of Foreigner's Head Games. "That's all I get from you, is bump steer, don't wanna play no bump steer,I can't take it anymore ,no bump steer". Weak I know.
On the positive side, I ordered "THE BOOK" off ebay $14.00 including shipping. Additionally I wanted to join in on your post at O.E. site but I'm continually bouncing and can't figure out how to fix it yet. Still working on it.

All good I was hoping you read it, and anwered to the best of mine,,,,, LOL,,,, HEAD GAMES,,,  LIFES TROUBLES HAVE LEFT WEEDS GROWIN OUT OF MY HEAD,,,,,         

Thanks Old Shool I just bought the book too.  

I would like the book and somewhat understand bump steer and it's cause and have probably read all of your post on the subject. But as stated the van isn't lowered but still exhibits some bump steer, but it could be from worn components which I will address first, just wanted peoples thoughts on the dampers.

I knew old ford's had a select-o-lane feature I just didn't know it had a real
Name... Thank's Vic

It all would depend on what a person is calling bump steer???????????  Bump steer means that when you hit a bump it steers for you. Typically meaning a geometry issue causing one part of that to actually turn the wheel FOR YOU........ If it were king pins it would mean that camber and caster both would also be worn out and incorrect as well as sloppy.  Ball joints would have to be so bad as to let one wheel turn by itself causing you to think you had bump steer but actually a worn out ball joint. If your steering box was worn out and or loose then if you hit something with the tire that turned the tire and you could not catch up with it because of then that would be loose and worn out steering and not bump steer.  Bump steer is when it breaks your finger because it physically turned the wheel using leverage of an increased drag link length even with everything else perfect.....
  All of those things, spring bushings, etc, etc, etc, etc,  can make the truck turn in a hole in the road or a track or something like that.  None of those are actually "bump steer" as it is most commonly referred as to be.   Its really common discussion on 4whl drive sites as everyone raises their trucks and causes bump steer because of the geometry. Its so common they make raising block and all kinds of custom steering arms because of.....
vic

To me and have seen them for over 20 years at least they are a bandaid and really make paralell parking an issue.... If our trucks had power steering to over come the dampner when turning I would think about one other wise,, power steering by ARMSTRONG is a looser to me...
vic

Here is a view of the steering damper on my 69 G-10. I have had it on there for several years without any issues:

LOL, I've heard it can make steering harder and I don't want an Armstrong steering system. I've also heard others say it doesn't make it harder.

No difference in the feel, other than no wobble issues which I had at one time! Found that when a tire weight went out of balance and scared the hell out of me! No problems with steering now!

My first question would be is yours a Ford or a Chevy??   and if a Chevy I am wondering what the steering effort (arm ratio) is any different between the two.  Next question with that would be what sized tires are you running up front?  If larger then the steering effort would be harder than a skinnier tire and with that running down the road in a straight line would not need any additional steering effort, however when parallel parking in a tight spot what is the steering effort like. Mine has big tires and runs down the road okay, but parking in a tight spot is a bitch and thats without a dampener??
vic