Why Add a Steering Stabilizer to Your Tacoma

When you’re traveling on the trail stones and stumps can cause bump steer. This is the jerking motion that quickly turns the steering wheel in one particular direction.

There are many obstacles on the trail that can cause severe bump steer. This is why they teach you to drive off-road with your thumbs on the outside of the wheel. Bump steer can jerk the wheel bad enough to actually break the bones in your thumbs.

The only way to get a handle on bump steer is to use a steering stabilizer. A steering stabilizer is used to absorb the shock sent through the steering system to the steering wheel. This is done with an actual shock absorber that mounts to the steering wheel, and this is why steering stabilizers are often referred to as steering dampeners.

Why You Need One: For safety purposes, steering stabilizers should be mounted to every off-road Tacoma. It will reduce the chances of injury to your thumbs while driving off-road. The key word is reduce. You should still never drive with your thumbs inside the steering wheel. By absorbing the blow and resisting the turning of the steering, they will also increase your off-road control.

Dangers of Not Having One: The dangers of going off-road without a steering stabilizer are lack of control over the vehicle. If the vehicle turns to one side when you need it to go to the other, you risk the danger of getting stuck or even wrecking. You also risk causing yourself harm behind the wheel.

Any time you are building up a Tacoma with the intent to use it off road you should consider running a steering stabilizer. Even if it’s just for light off-road use protecting you from harm is always worth it.

You may want to consider adding one to your truck that is being driven on the street. Potholes, curbs, and other common street obstacles can be just as dangerous as a log in the woods when it comes to bump steer.

Lifted Tacomas: If you are going through the trouble of lifting your Tacoma and are debating whether or not you should add a stabilizer, you should just go ahead and do it. The installation process is quite simple and won’t add much time. This component also isn’t that costly and may even be included with some kits available to your Tacoma.

Stabilizers for Tacoma’s come in two different configurations. Some will come with a single stabilizer while others come with dual stabilizers. The single configuration is suitable for use on light duty off-road Tacoma’s while a dual stabilizer is necessary for hardcore off-road trucks.

When to Double Down: Single stabilizers will cut it for most applications that are used for daily driving and weekend off-roading. There’s no bad time to give yourself the additional protection, so if you feel safer with the use of a dual stabilizer on any application you can do so. With a truck that will be used for hardcore off-roading and will often be taking on large obstacles, a dual stabilizer set up is an absolute must.

The installation of a steering stabilizer on your Tacoma is incredibly easy. The kits will include everything you need to mount the shock absorber to the factory steering system.

The only difference between installing a single steering stabilizer and a dual is the manner of which the shocks will be mounted to work. In either scenario, these kits should take only about an hour to two hours to install.

When seeking out a steering stabilizer to set your Tacoma up with you may want to consider the dangers of keeping the tires as still as possible when they bump into an obstacle. You may blow beads or tear through the sidewall with ease. You will want to consider keeping one full-sized spare on hand at the very least. A good off-road jack can be used to help get you out of a wedge you may find yourself in.

Stabilizers can’t really control this potential issue, but with the inflated level of confidence you will have you need to be more prepared than ever before. You will also want to consider other means of recover because of this. A winch and winch accessories like tow straps and a good shovel will also help you get unstuck in the worst-case scenario.