Steering Stabiliser Issues

[95Classic]

'97 D1 SE, 65k mi.
So, I just installed an new steering stabiliser. A new Old Man Emu big yellow job. Pretty straight forward. Upon testing it out, I noticed a big improvement when hitting bumps at low speeds (20-40 miles an hour). But when I got it out on the highway, it was a different story. Every bump was making the steering wheel shake in my hand. This was much worse than the old original one.
BTW the shocks and front wheel bearings are all new.
Is this Emu designed for off-road only? Sould I ditch it and get LR parts?

 

[Moose]

You probably are noticing things that the old (sloppy) steering stabilizer was covering up. Check for loose connections in the steering, it could also be bushings or something like the panhard rod.

 

[JackUnion]

I personally have never liked aftermarket stablisers, I always fit LR, it's one of the few things that I do stick with LR for. But there are a few other things that you could look at.. Tie rod ends? these are common to go and if you don't catch the first one to go in time the problem travels on to the next and so on until you end up replacing all of them (I had ones with very slight play cause your problem, other times I had ones nearly falling off without your problem? go figure eh??).
Check the play on the swivel balls/swivel ball pins?. Wheel Bearings?, although you said that you had changed them. Check the free play in the steering box? it can be adjusted. I have also known play in the steering columm on the knuckle joints?
If all else fails, borrow a good stabliser off of a friends truck and try it, it is only 10 mins work to change over. Once after fitting a customer supplied Old Man Emu unit had the problem continue, when I put on a LR one it stopped! (must of been a faulty unit, it happens!).
Panhard rod bushings can help cause this problem but when they go you tend to feel the truck "wander" and kind of follow the shape of the road if you know what I mean.
I hope you get it sorted.

 

[discomike]

The other side of the coin, having work as a service writer for Rover and other manufactures, factory shocks and stabilizers are the worst in most cases.
OME is great and will out live and out perform factory units.
You need to get into an alignment shop that knows 4wheelers/Rovers and have them find what is going unstabil on you, don't think you can just go under the truck and it will speak to you, you realyy need to know what to look for and have the tools and expertise to fix it.
Good luck.
Mike J.

 

[JackUnion]

I have to say in most things I agree with you mike, I fit a lot of OME and other aftermarket products, theres a lot of it good stuff out their. I've fitted about 75 conversion kits so far, OME shocks and springs are great for that, I even have them on my own off-roaders and I love Bilsteins on my road vehicles.

As far as steering stablisers go though I've fitted proberbly in excess of three hundred to date, maybe 30 aftermarket and the rest LR. I've replaced now 4-5 aftermarket ones after customer complaints ( ranging from shakes to being to too stiff ). The one that I took off as mentioned earlier, I fitted to one of my off-road classics that's on OME shocks and springs and body lifted (I thought that it may handle the 33" tires better?) and I hadn't heard from the customer by then about how the new LR unit was doing. I didn't get "the shakes" but the truck was all over the road! put the LR unit back on, it was fine!.

All I can say is lot's of people have OME stablisers on their vehicles and they have no trouble at all with them, great! but in my experiance, I've never had to replace a brand new LR one that was faulty and when your in the business, changing faulty products costs me time and money. I'm not saying that LR ones are great products, we all know that they they don't last that long but they aren't that expensive and I personaly think their dependable. But at the end of the day "you fit what the customer want's and if he want's aftermarket so be it, but now I warn them and then if they have a problem at least I get paid to change them back.

 

[discomike]

I hear what you are saying and can appreciate where you are coming from. My experience has been rather poor, 2 factory stabilizers in under 30,000 miles before I switched to OME's and I have been a happy camper for the last 34,000 miles running 265's on a OME 3" lift.
Hope you have a good holliday,
Mike J.

 

[defnz]

Check swivel pin preload first.