so a couple buddies and I jumped in the Dodge yesterday for a spin out through some old dirt roads looking for mud. Well, we found some and damn near got er stuck off the side of the road. I know i caught a few good sized rocks getting it out. So we are headed home and we went to stop in at my dad's, went to turn right onto his road and the truck barely turned.... this was after driving about 15 kms on the road! its a good thing we were gonna go to his place as there is a couple sharp right handers on the way to my house so we woulda found out the hard way it wasn't steering...... it would turn left ok, but was binding up to the right. Turned out I bent the shaft on the stabilizer, so I unbolted it and took it off so I could get home. The wheels turn normally now.

My question is how will this affect the truck for a few days while I get a new one? It didn't seem to make any noticeable difference in driveablility, but I will be replacing the shock.

 

There are a lot of people on here that arent using a steering stablizer at all. I have one on mine, but its stock, and with 140,000 miles on her, I think it handles just like one that doesnt have one.

I wouldnt worry too much about, except if you are going to do some hard off roading, or speed; then you might need to worry about the infamous death wobble.

 

its ok to run w/o one for any period of time. a day, a week, a year. its nothing but a shock absorber that sort of "tightens up" the steering.

 

same thing happened to me. I took it off and bought a skyjacker stabilizer. Only thing i noticed is that my arms seemed to "burn" a little more when driving without the stabilizer.

 

ya I didn't figure it would be a big deal to run without it. I haven't been out for a drive since I got home yesterday, maybe I'll get it out on the highway and see how it is. I don't do any serious offroading, or drive at any insane speeds, so I not that worried about it for the time being. Thanks for the replies!

 

you will notice it after you take a 10-15 minute drive. You feel muscles being used that you didn't know you had. nothing crazy though.

 

Welcome to the 2WD world lol. No steering stabilizers on the 2WD. I don't really know how it will affect a 4X4, but with a 2WD its not that bad. Just jerks easily when you hit bumps/potholes/etc. Correct me if I'm wrong though....

 

dont tell me i waisted $60 bucks buying one in hopes it would help somewhat tighten my suspension , it seems very easy to drive for a big truck. Aka somewhat loose , but absolutly no play.

 

its not hurting anything. they put them on there for a reason right? you didnt waste your money

 

I have been driving without the steering stabilizer and sway bar for quite some time now and haven't missed either of them yet. I have never experienced death wobble in my truck either (yet my dads new/stock 07 2500 Ram gets it ). The sway bar was somewhat noticeable when removed (definitely not much though), but the steering stabilizer removal did not appear to affect anything. I sure wont be putting either back on my truck.