question about steering stabilizers?

[unrreal]

i was wondering if anyone here is using steering stabilizers on their vans? there is a kit online for the astro vans made by rancho part # R38RS5406. and i am really interested on getting a set so any comments or suggestions let me know, since i lifted my van the front end seems to be a little touchy on the steering, my guess is because of the change on the angles..

[astroturf]

i was wondering if anyone here is using steering stabilizers on their vans? there is a kit online for the astro vans made by rancho part # R38RS5406. and i am really interested on getting a set so any comments or suggestions let me know, since i lifted my van the front end seems to be a little touchy on the steering, my guess is because of the change on the angles..

Have you had it re-aligned since the lift?

[Gary]

As what has been said already-once you did the lift,you change the alignment,and need to have that checked.Please keep us updated.

[unrreal]

i was wondering if anyone here is using steering stabilizers on their vans? there is a kit online for the astro vans made by rancho part # R38RS5406. and i am really interested on getting a set so any comments or suggestions let me know, since i lifted my van the front end seems to be a little touchy on the steering, my guess is because of the change on the angles..

Have you had it re-aligned since the lift?

NO I HAVENT YET im waiting to get some more money in and do all the ball joints and then the alignment

[Gary]

i was wondering if anyone here is using steering stabilizers on their vans? there is a kit online for the astro vans made by rancho part # R38RS5406. and i am really interested on getting a set so any comments or suggestions let me know, since i lifted my van the front end seems to be a little touchy on the steering, my guess is because of the change on the angles..

Have you had it re-aligned since the lift?

NO I HAVENT YET im waiting to get some more money in and do all the ball joints and then the alignment

I suggest you don't consider any other changes like steering stabilizers before you have done with the rebuild.Look closely at the idler arms.

[unrreal]

changed the upper balljoints and gary was right one of my idlers was shot so i replaced that as well, alignment is done but still rides a little harsh, im slowly changing all my front suspension parts so if after i replace everything and it still rides harsh i will get a set of stabilizers and let you guys know how it handles. ill keep you posted and with pics of course...

[loopie]

How is the steering after the new parts/alignment? Still "twitchier" than a stocker?

[B-rad]

Well... its been a year... have you installed the Rancho steering stabilizer? I have my whole frontend replaced with moog stuff, and T-bars cranked, and I know the touchy feeling... same set up as you really, since you helped me out on here with advice

[unrreal]

sorry i've been out for a while not really been working on anything anymore im still waiting for the weather to get better since i dont have a garage or an enclosed space to work in, i have a solution on paper: get spacers for the idler arms maybe 1" or 1 1/2" to drop the angle of the tie-rods that way they are not so steep and therefore not more touchy feeling, the only thing i need to measure to see if it will work would be the pitman arm (maybe get a longer one) or maybe make a bracket to attach it to the center link since the change in height... then again is just an idea in my head...

[B-rad]

I am going to drill out where my tie rod ends attach to the spindle and mount them on top and find or have made a tapered sleave that goes in to keep the tight fit. This should cure most of the bump steer we get, and this is what the jeep people do as well as the people with chevys that crank the bars.

I did the opposit to my 97 ford ranger that had lowered I-beams and hydro's on it, I mounted them under the spindle to cure bump steer since I just tapped the switch and drove plus to clear the frame with out notching it alot. I never even tapered it just drilled it out and bolted it tight with cotter pins and rolled that way to many shows across the south and east with no issues.


I think this would be much easyer, cheaper and all around better then dropping everything else down, I still want a steering stabilizer though. I will let you know as soon as I find a min to work on fun things to my van

[B-rad]

Hey... FYI I did try the tie rod flip.... worked great in my drive way! then once I drove it the whole tie rod has different angle so my wheels where toe in and out really bad over every bump.... my bad... funny how this works on the full size chevy trucks but not our box vans oh well...

[unrreal]

hey b-rad could you post up a pic of what u did so that i can get a better idea of how to run things on mine??

[B-rad]

its back to the way it was.... I read up a lot on the full size chevy guys that crank there bars up flip there tie rods to the top... I did that with my van and when every I hit bumps the tires would go in and out bad and make the van very unsafe... its back to the way it was now... back to the drawing board

[unrreal]

ok b-rad here is my idea as i stated before on the previous page, this time im gonna explain it with drawings:

i was thinking about adding spacers to the top of the idler arms maybe 1/2" or 1" i was thinking of going to the junkyard and buying a couple of used idlers just to cut them up and use the top as the spacers since they already have the same length and the holes are already there:

idler arm.JPG (6.31 KiB) Viewed 198 times

then after doing this i would have to measure the distance of the steering link, number 16 in the drawing below

steering linkage.png (17.52 KiB) Viewed 198 times

and if needed make a new one to the required length bent to match the original

tie rod link.jpg (2.54 KiB) Viewed 198 times

and after everything is said and done the angles should have changed

tie rod angles.jpg (9.48 KiB) Viewed 198 times

and of course after messing with the angles the tie rods are gonna need to be adjusted in order to get the steering wheel straight again. let me know what you guys think, im open to suggestions..

[B-rad]

I think in the end your going to acheave the same goal... and problem. I think we have to live with the angles of the tie rods because as I stated with fliping the tie rods, the angle being different then the A-arms throws the whole thing off when the suspention works. What I don't understand is why this hasn't ever come up before from what I can find. and why this works on half ton trucks with T-bars cranked and not our vans, though I know they are different but same idea of set up