Hopefully someone with experience here can help out.

Since most know im running 33X14's boggers and winter and the plows have done a number on the roads here in northern Ontario, now im getting heavy bump steering and its pissing me off. on new roads I can let go of the steering and it will track down the road perfect but on rough roads/uneven roads, its all over the place.

Front end checked and is still tight bearings are good and adaptors are tight

Tires wearing evenly

Can the extra space out with the rim/tire and Wheel Adaptors cause this?

Is it worth it to try a stabilizer? I can fab up some mounts no problem but should I go with a single or dual stabilizers?

 

Your tires are farther away and weigh a whole lot more meaning when it takes a blow it moves a hell of a lot more (makes sense to me). I've been meaning to throw a stabilizer shock in my self. That'll slow the movement down so by the time you regain control half (or so just guessing) Hasn't happened yet as normal would this meaning better handling cause it never happened.

 

well so far looking about seems the dakota had an option backin the day on the 2.5L 4 banger model.. and even able to get a centerlink that has mounting for a stabilizer, but i already replaced mine so i found out the the total stabilizer shock stroke length and got one that was 1/4 inch longer stroke (best i could get that was stocked) and is a universal kit so has U bolts and mounting plate to go on Stab link, and a plate to mount/weld to frame/axle etc , pending on application.. , unfortunately i cant do anything till monday but we will see how it goes i know il have to mod the frame/axle side mount since im not a solid axle but for 80 bucks il see what i can do.. if works will post pics, if it fails, il post pics of my truck burning from to much welding :O lol

 

When you add larger wheels, you often need to increase caster angle to pull the wheels back into line when you turn and to keep then in line when you're going straight. The greater the caster, the harder it becomes to turn, so with a modified vehicle, you need to play with this angle to come up with what suits you.

Steering stabilizers will help, but not always. On jeeps with large wheels (my YJ has 35" wheels) and a short wheel base, the caster angle change (in my opinion) is essential & then I add a good stabilizer. If the angle is too small, you can stop the "wobble" when you hit a pot hole, but you won't stop the vehicle from wandering & you need to need to stick to the steering wheel like s**t to a blanket.

 

that's the thing I noticed.. the steering was very loose... notice today when I got everything apart my idler arm is got a slight play but being family day holiday Monday I cant do a dang thing , but will replace that tomorrow before it goes bad. anyway it still has a slight pull on uneven roads but that's the tires but the bump steer is GONE its great to drive down the road.. althought tomorrow I gotta modify my setup a bit when I can get some parts.

Anyway I think my Stabilizer is overkill but its originally from a 2000 4wd ford excursion lol pro comp part # 222570, it uses a procomp ES2000 stabilizer and its big....



As you can see in this picture I had to space out the shock for it to clear the lower cross member, but the bolt hole was already there and easy access to it via control arm pop out plug.tomorrow il get some metal and make a proper spacer .. stupid holidays.



This picture shops the plate/mount to the centerlink, it works nice but took a bit to get proper angle to it so mount wouldn't hit shock.... pic was before I got it to its final position.


And ofcourse Winter has been good to the o'l boy but as it stands was white from road salt 40 minutes prior.... gave it a bath in a car wash ... friggen road salt.. with ecteption is if you look at body line between cab and box.. you can see a body mount I just replaced has failed already thank gawd I kept a couple decent original ones in the chance you know

 

That looks pretty good, now if your steering feels loose or hard to keep it going in a straight line on it's own, I'd say your caster needs adjustment (increase the angle). I don't know what suspension type is on your truck, but there are various things that can be used to do this - there are adjustable ball joints that can be used for a degree or two, and that should be good enough for what you have. My experience has been with solid axle suspensions and I've always used degree shims - they're fairly easy to experiment with & get the feel & response you want.

 

Could always go solid front... that'll hold the boggers

 

But seriously, max the castor and toe within factory specs usually gets the best results with wide tires. Thats what we do with lifted indy-pendants

 

yea I picked up a 91 2wd 5 speed im going to convert to a solid axle in spring... but prolly take all summer with time I have ..the IFS is at its limit right now without heavy mods but I had bought a cavalier as a daily driver but totaled that in 3 weeks cause of weather so truck is my daily driver... and I picke dup another to build
unfortunately something like yours would get stopped constantly up here in Canada...

 

I live in New Brunswick, and never been pulled over, except for the expired registration, but that wasn't the truck's fault. I put 45,000kms on this already. Around here, if you arent really loud and actin' a fool, they usually leave you alone.