4x4Review Off Road Magazine
As you have all seen already, I’m sure a hundred times, are steering stabilizers, and a lot of them. This simple, yet effective, bolt on accessory is very useful. As for the most part, the majority of people that buy steering stabilizers are doing it for the looks. I though, want to send the message that they are very useful in wheelin’ applications. We ordered our Dual Steering Stabilizer kit (Bracket part# is 5561 & shocks part# is 5402 ) from Dick Cepek in Tucson, AZ. After we bolted them on the 87 K5 Blazer of mine, Rick, Jody, and myself put them to the test. The road that leads to one of our favorite sites is a washed out, washboard beaten path. I was impressed how much it helped with the bump steer that the truck had prior to the installation of stabilizers. After a full day of rock crawling, the only small downside was that I met up with a large rock that didn’t want to move and proceeded to put a rather large dent in one of the stabilizer bodies. It has held up to this day and continues to work.
Installation:
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First things first, after we received our kit form Dick Cepek, we checked the kit to ensure accountability of all components. As usual, every thing was there! Note that we also opted for Dick Cepek’s poly bushing kit. |
 The install was very simple. First step was to simply decide where to mount the passenger side bracket for the dual shocks. We did this by simply opening the shocks half way and making an educated guess where the should sit. We snuggly mounted the bracket and then checked to make sure that it wouldn’t hit anything when we went full left and right with the steering wheel. |
 With the passenger side bracket located in the “guesstimated” location, we then loosely bolted the drivers side bracket in place. with that done, one of the last steps is to put the shocks in place. Once they are set, we then checked the left and right movement to make sure we didn’t have any problems with the brackets, shocks or drag link hitting anything. We made our final adjustments and then took it for a quick trip. We put the drivers side tire on a large boulder and checked the articulation along with left to right steering to make sure we still didn’t have any snags. We then did the same for the passenger side tire and had to make a minor adjustment.  |
| Description | Notes | Rating |
| Ease of Install | It was a piece of cake!! |  |
| Ease of Use | Simple! Sit back and steer. |  |
| Performance | Increased steering feel without the annoying bumpsteer | |
| Durability | Great just avoid big rocks! |  |
| Appearance | Awesome!!One of the first items to be noticed from the front. |  |
| Drivability | Made going up long washed out roads not so annoying. Did not affect offroad driveability. | |
| Comfort | N/A | N/A |
| Price in comparison to related products | In comparison with other brands, the Rancho set is only slightly higher than other manufacturers, but well worth the money. | |
| Was it worth it??? | Most definitely, especially if you ‘wheel a lot. | |
| Tools Required | 9/16, 1/2 inch wrenches and sockets | |
| Editors Notes | As stated above, if you want to have good looks and also an accessory that is functional, I highly recommend that you bolt on a set…TS | |
