I recently had the misfortune of totalling my steering stabiliser on rocks while out wheeling.
But is it really a misfortune or just an accident waiting to happen?
Thing is, it wasn't a particularly rough trail. Sure it was rocky, but nothing extreme. This is typical terrain that I'd imagine a 'trail rated' Rubicon is made for.
So what I'm getting at is... Who on the Jeep design team got the idea to put the JK steering stabiliser where it is?
It couldn't possibly be in a more vulnerable place. It's right in the way of just about anything you could encounter off-road.
That said, it is quite a simple mod to relocate it. There's numerous manufacturers that have relocation brackets. Some aftermarket steering stabilisers even come with relocation brackets. So surely they're all onto something.
Now it's great that there are options to relocate it. But it seems rather silly that you should have to do this. If you look at other solid axle vehicles like Land Rover Defenders and Toyota Land Cruisers, their steering stabilisers (or dampeners as their owners would say) are way out of reach. You'd have to plough through the draglink, tie rod and trackbar (or panhard rod, again, as their owners would say) to get to them.
Anyway, so I did total my stock stabiliser and got it replaced with an EFS unit. Feels like stock, and takes knocks very well. (More info at
http://www.efs4wd.com.au/). Nothing spectacular about it. It drives very nice and doesn't steer in a direction like the Bilstein 5100s do.
Well that concludes my rant about the JK steering stabiliser location. I think it's very silly to put a vulnerable part there. So get yours tucked up and away so it won't hassle you down the line.
