EHarris

I can definitely get behind the stock one being just as good as an aftermarket. I've only run aftermarket for 120k so I can't remember what the stock feels like.

With that said, shocks wear down after a while. Especially after 100k. The stock one is cheap enough. It would take 15 minutes. Seems like a win win to me. I'd be willing to bet your steering feels slightly better.

mr72

Unless there is something wrong with the suspension/steering allowing a huge amount of flexing that would ordinarily be "death wobble", then there's no reason that steering stabilizer will wear, ever, besides a gross failure that takes out lots of suspension parts. It doesn't move like a normal shock during normal use. A shock absorber on even a road-driven vehicle is constantly moving and will move through inches of its travel at every single turn and have a wide variety of fast impacts, all of this causes degrading and wear on the seals and may eventually cause internal components to wear, bend, fatigue, etc. But on a properly set-up JKU, that steering stabilizer should move very little over the entire lifetime of the Jeep. Maybe it gets as much wear in 100K miles as one of the front shock absorbers gets in 1000 miles.

Now, you may bang it on a rock while off-roading or you may break some other suspension part causing it to suddenly begin to move to the limits of its travel quickly and repeatedly which will kill it in a hurry (like minutes), etc. I think that's the reason to replace it, not because you think "all shocks wear". It's not used like a normal shock. IMHO it won't likely ever wear under normal use.

EHarris

I understand that theory but I changed mine out at 80k. Noticed a difference for sure. My girls 2004 grand Cherokee I did the stabilizer also and even she noticed a slight difference.

Could wheel balance or alignment put a slight strain on it possibly even for a couple of thousand miles?

mr72

In that case I suspect something else is wrong with the suspension. If everything is working right you shouldn't really even notice if the steering stabilizer is there or not. It shouldn't flex in a parallelogram fashion nearly enough to move the steering stabilizer even more than just a few mm.

My suspicion is maybe there's a high-frequency vibration due to rubber parts that naturally flex (bushings etc) that the steering stabilizer tends to dampen, and you notice the difference there. I still doubt this flex is nearly enough to wear the steering stabilizer, but if you changed for one with a substantially different compression/rebound damping, you might feel the difference even if the bushings weren't shot. If you actually wore out a steering stabilizer, then I think you probably need to replace bushings, bolts/nuts, retorque, etc. It's an indicator of another problem.

IMHO of course, talking about stock/mostly-stock JKs. I'm sure internet experts will disagree, especially when talking about how the JK suspension performs with 3+" lift, 2.25" less wheel offset and 2x heavier than stock wheels. In that case I'd expect it to accelerate wear on everything such that the steering stabilizer may very well mask the side effects of lots of worn out parts. But still the problem there is not a worn out steering stabilizer (alone).

Mark Doiron

Gosh, I hate to write this because I know I'm dooming myself, Karma being what it is. LOL. Anyway, I have 10-1/2 years and 221,000 miles on my rear window shocks. Okay, there have been times when I was running a softtop or safari top, but surely not more than a third of those numbers.

locked&loaded JK

Just rolled 201,000 on my 09 and have the same rear window shocks on mine. Never removed the hard top, only the t-tops.

As for my stabilizer. Replaced the stock one when i did the 3 1/2", rims and tires. Mounted it in the factory location and the fit was so tight after a few months the thing developed a leak in the side from rubbing.

Replaced it again with a relocation bracket. Took care of the clearance issue.

TheDirtman

Shocks have internal seals that will wear out not only the seals but the inside of the tube, you will find they will develop a soft spot in the center of the range where it will loose its effectiveness as the oil bypasses the valving. It was very noticable when I pulled the SS off my JKU at 180,000 miles

mr72

180,000 miles, I can imagine. Especially considering at 27K my stock JKU shocks are shot. I think this is more a reflection of FCA's OEM part quality than anything else.

But still I'd think nothing will wear out at 80K.

And a SS certainly won't wear nearly as fast as the rest of the shocks.

However, it's reasonably cheap and easy to replace so it's hard to really argue that you shouldn't ever want to replace it. Certainly if my own JKU had >100K miles on it and I ever removed the stock SS I'd probably put a new one back on in its place, much like if I ever pull the transmission I'll put a new clutch in, regardless of mileage or wear.

Rednroll

Now you guys are giving me justifiable reasons I should replace my 140K mile SS.

Ok, good spring project to add to the list.

EHarris

For me the bottom line on steering stabilizer and glass shocks is that I can notice a slight difference when it's new. The back glass I open and close a few times a day grabbing my gear so maybe they wore faster than others. $50 of parts and 1 hour time that even a beginner wrench like myself can handle is winning for me.