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Update: Fox Steering Stabilizer 2018

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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 09:10 AM
  #16  
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From: Tupelo, MS
Originally Posted by Genenj89
Well my 18 has the same 985 stabilizer on it and guess what. Drives great.
Thanks for sharing Gene. Have you checked the fox stabilizer travel when going to full lock both left and right? As I have continued to research that seems to be the biggest issue being the Fox is longer by 1.5".
Thanks in advance for your responses.
 
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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 09:22 AM
  #17  
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The fox stabilizer next to my factory one was the exact same size. I have no issue turning to full lock either direction
 
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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 09:32 AM
  #18  
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From: Tupelo, MS
Originally Posted by Genenj89
The fox stabilizer next to my factory one was the exact same size. I have no issue turning to full lock either direction
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...tabilizer.html

Help me understand the pics in this thread then? Not calling you out. A legitimate question. It either is exactly the same or it isn't and for the life of me I can't figure out which...
 
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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 09:45 AM
  #19  
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If it's longer at full extension it wont hurt anything as you will hit the steering stops on the truck before you hit the end of travel on the stabilizer. On full compression the only thing that interferes in, those pictures is the rubber bumper, On mine I just barely touch it at full stop. What Fox did on the newer stabilizers is just remove that rubber bumper, I'll cut mine off eventually. So far no issues with mine either.
 
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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 09:45 AM
  #20  
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It fit perfect and doesn’t have any issues. I’m running one and so is my buddy. It was a significant improvement over stock. Fully extended next to my factory one they looked practically identical. MAYBE a 1/2 difference. Hasn’t affected anything here yet on either of ours
 
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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 12:06 PM
  #21  
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From: Where The Road Takes Me.
Thanks for the response KCRebel. I too have approached many Super Duty Owners, asking them about their trucks, their experiences and their opinions. I haven’t found a single person who doesn’t like their truck, emphatically I would add. I have not found a person who has brought up or complained about Death Wobble, or Adaptive Steering Failure or Power Tailgates dropping of their own accord either into the Fifth Wheel or at 80mph. These are a few, well most, of the odd things I’ve seen reported on this forum from post-2016 Super Duty Owners.

Yet I’m still inclined towards a Ford F-350 Super Duty Diesel truck to pull our 9,500lb+ travel trailer and our appurtenant ‘stuff’ since we are full time RVers who take our toys - two sea kayaks, four bicycles: two mountain and two road, backpacking gear, hiking gear - and a mass of reading material along with four tool boxes with which I can fix most things that need fixing. Got to have the room and the carrying capacity for all this STUFF.
 
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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 12:20 PM
  #22  
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From: Where The Road Takes Me.
In regards to the “little bit of shimmy” that you’re trying to “calm” KCRebel, I had a 1999 Suburban that had a vibration or shimmy in the front end. I had the tires balanced followed by a front end alignment with no success. Since it was more than 10 years old at the time and because I really liked that rig, I had the ENTIRE front suspension rebuilt, and I mean everything. Still no success. Next the steering box was replaced by the place that did the front end work; they did this at no charge to me because I guess they felt bad about not correcting my problem. When I told them that it still shimmied, they rented a new Suburban and put the new road radials, probably All Seasons, that were on the rental onto my Suburban. They called and said, “We solved the shimmy. It was the tires.” The Goodyear AT’s that I had put on my Suburban were in great shape, probably had 20k miles on them. But I replaced them with new Goodyear 10-ply AS road radials and voila, no shimmy. I tell this story because you mentioned that you put AT tires on your truck. I’d like to know if your “shimmy” is corrected when you install a FOX steering stabilizer. I’ll keep checking back for an update.
 
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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 02:54 PM
  #23  
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Originally Posted by Genenj89
The fox stabilizer next to my factory one was the exact same size. I have no issue turning to full lock either direction
Yep - same here. Night and day difference. Bolted right up. Here's a pic beside the factory g a r b a g e!!!

 
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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 05:19 PM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by Hjabernathy
Forgive my ignorance on this issue. I am wondering if the stabilizer discussed here is being used to mitigate, or hopefully solve, the Death Wobble issue that is plaguing too many Super Duty Owners. I am in the market for a 2019 F-350 and have been reading the all-to-numerous reports of the harrowing “defect”. I know nothing about steering stabilizers, so again forgive my ignorance.

To digress onto the topic of Death Wobble (the term created on this forum I believe), from reading this forum, it would appear that no one has figured out exactly what is causing the Death Wobble. And there have been quite a few detailed attempts by owners and front-end shops to ascertain the cause. The most recent postings I read described it occurring at high speed (65-75mph) in left-hand sweeping turns and also on irregular asphalt and concrete surfaces, again at high speeds. One poster said that his passenger nearly “dirtied their pants” when the steering wheel began to shimmy. The remedy was to slow the truck to about 40mph. Thankfully I have not been in a truck where this occurred. Anyone have anything to say?
Ford has always struggled with the geometry of their solid axle front ends. Since 03 when they got rid of leaf springs, it's gotten worse.
 
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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 06:46 PM
  #25  
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Fox reps have a lot of different info from one another... much of it inaccurate. The 2.0 Performance front stabilizer is identical from 2011 all the way to 2019.
 
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Old Oct 1, 2018 | 08:18 AM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by Karl4Cat
Fox reps have a lot of different info from one another... much of it inaccurate. The 2.0 Performance front stabilizer is identical from 2011 all the way to 2019.
Karl that is consistent with what I have read and been told from Fox. However the issue is that in the 2018 and up SD trucks the factory stabilizer is shorter than the Fox replacement by 1 1/2" or whatever the number is mentioned above. This has led Fox to a redesign for the 18 and up SD trucks and that design won't be available for a couple more months per what I was told last week. I'm going to call in to Fox again today just to see what kind of response I get.
I will say my experience when speaking with Fox reps previously has been spot on accurate. Only when I encountered the stabilizer issue did things go off track between what Fox is saying and owners like yourself are reporting from real world experience.
 
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Old Oct 1, 2018 | 08:22 AM
  #27  
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From: Tupelo, MS
Originally Posted by Hjabernathy
In regards to the “little bit of shimmy” that you’re trying to “calm” KCRebel, I had a 1999 Suburban that had a vibration or shimmy in the front end. I had the tires balanced followed by a front end alignment with no success. Since it was more than 10 years old at the time and because I really liked that rig, I had the ENTIRE front suspension rebuilt, and I mean everything. Still no success. Next the steering box was replaced by the place that did the front end work; they did this at no charge to me because I guess they felt bad about not correcting my problem. When I told them that it still shimmied, they rented a new Suburban and put the new road radials, probably All Seasons, that were on the rental onto my Suburban. They called and said, “We solved the shimmy. It was the tires.” The Goodyear AT’s that I had put on my Suburban were in great shape, probably had 20k miles on them. But I replaced them with new Goodyear 10-ply AS road radials and voila, no shimmy. I tell this story because you mentioned that you put AT tires on your truck. I’d like to know if your “shimmy” is corrected when you install a FOX steering stabilizer. I’ll keep checking back for an update.
HJ it could very well be the tires, the leveling springs, the rims. All was upgraded same time. The truck was aligned after the wheels and tires were mounted when the leveling kit and Fox shocks were installed. Tracks perfectly. No pulling. The shimmy I referred to isn't constant just when you hit rough stretches in the road. That would make me think it isn't the tires? It does feel like the stock steering stabilizer is fading as it gets worse in a bad stretch of road if that makes sense.
I will definitely update the thread as I find out more and when I finally add the steering stabilizer.
 
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Old Oct 1, 2018 | 09:44 AM
  #28  
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Seems odd to me that Fox would have different part numbers when the Motorcraft part number for the stabilizer is the same for 17, 18 & 19.
 
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Old Oct 1, 2018 | 11:21 AM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by VA13FX4
Seems odd to me that Fox would have different part numbers when the Motorcraft part number for the stabilizer is the same for 17, 18 & 19.
I think he means they are coming out with a new part number for the 17 and up trucks
 
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Old Oct 1, 2018 | 02:08 PM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by KCRebel
Karl that is consistent with what I have read and been told from Fox. However the issue is that in the 2018 and up SD trucks the factory stabilizer is shorter than the Fox replacement by 1 1/2" or whatever the number is mentioned above. This has led Fox to a redesign for the 18 and up SD trucks and that design won't be available for a couple more months per what I was told last week. I'm going to call in to Fox again today just to see what kind of response I get.
I will say my experience when speaking with Fox reps previously has been spot on accurate. Only when I encountered the stabilizer issue did things go off track between what Fox is saying and owners like yourself are reporting from real world experience.

I was just on with them the other day and "Ryan" specifically told me that the 11-16 Performance 2.0 will fit the 17-19 SD. I also talked to "Paul" about 2 weeks back who confirmed the Factory Race stabilizer had to be redesigned from the 11-17 to the 17+ but not the Performance 2.0. I highly doubt the Ford stabilizer is 1.5" different from 17-18. Call again and see if you get a different answer.
 
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