When I bought my truck at 189K miles, I noticed the steering wandered just a tiny bit, but not a big deal.

Eventually I noticed that the arm on the thing was nicely bent.

This bend only got slightly worse over time.

But I always have other priorities in taking care of the engine and many other critical systems in terms of getting to work every day, and I never have reached the point of buying a new Stabilizer.

The To-Do list is getting mercifully short right now, but I'm still on the fence about replacing this thing. I am now up to 417K and the arm is still obviously bent. But I have driven all those miles without weaving around like a drunk.

I was looking at the Stablizer today and not only is the arm bent, but it has a pretty nice hole in the casing too, and not from rust - my truck has only been in the salt maybe twice in the 15 years of it's life. The stabilizer as-is now will probably slowly disintegrate.

I drive off pavement quite a bit, and that is for work, not for fun. There are few "roads" in the world like a former "haul road" in a coal mine, five years after the miners have left. Most things on the truck are protected by the skid plates as part of the 4x4 package. But the Steering Stabilizer just looks like it is going to take abuse all the time once you leave the legal county road.

Is it really worth replacing this thing? 228K miles and six years kind of makes me wonder. I made it this far...

 

Are you talking about the steering stabilizer shock? If so, this posting took more effort than replacing the shock and they're only like $40.

My 2002 F350 Dually did not have one on it when I bought it so I added an aftermarket one and it was worth it. I can tell a difference, especially when offroading.

 

IMO. Yes. Same as Glock, my truck was not equipped with a stabilizer either. I chose a Bilstein to match the front shocks I have. The stabilizer made a significant improvement. The road to my house is not smooth at all even though paved. Just driving on that section the stabilizer smoothed out quite a bit.

I think the real question is how long do you plan on having this truck? Especially with 417k miles on it now.

Bilstein stabilizer install thread.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...er-w-pics.html

Second link is page 2 of thread which shows part numbers in case you don't have everything.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post14291249

 

my 04 has the stabilizer shock disconnected because it is bent. it has been like that since i bought the truck 6 years ago. i do not notice any difference between the 04 and the 02, but i do not drive like a bank robber in a stolen vehicle trying to get away from the cops either.

 

You don't realize how much of a difference it can make until you replace it. Then wish you would have done it sooner. This is speaking from owing multiple lifted trucks with big tires too.

 

I replaced mine after the old one gave up the ghost and started leaking fluid.

I drove around for a couple days with the old one removed, and before the new one arrived. I had noticeable bump steer that went away after I got the new one installed.

 

My truck is comparatively young and tight, and I replaced the stock one recently. It made a feel-able difference in stability on our the and gravel roads around my area. On a high mileage truck with a non-working unit to begin with- you may be amazed what a working stabilizer would do for your driving confidence. Less pulling, less twitchy.
It is quick and relatively cheap to put on a Moog or Monroe and try it. The fact that you asked shows you're wondering...

 

When I first got my truck in 2007, it had, among other things, a shimmy at about 65 mph. I had Ford go through it and they said the shimmy was because of a bad steering stabilizer shock. They replaced it and I have had no issues (shimmy) since.

 

You need it for smooth steering.

 

If you run larger tires they can be useful; however, they can also cover up steering issues.

 

which is the main reason i do not run them. if you have a problem, with the stabilizers you will not know it until it is a BIG problem.

 

I've driven customers truck and they say "they can hardly hold it in it's lane".

I Test Drive and sure enough, at a certain speeds, it's almost uncontrollable on anything other than smooth asphalt.

50% of the time it will be the stabilizer. The other 50% its tires or owners modifications.

This whole engineering thing seems pretty important in design and concept. You know, they don't put anything on them unnecessarily to keep the prices down.