Review: Steering Stabilizer 7-Way Rebuildable

Kingfish

100 MW
Joined
Feb 3, 2010
Messages
4,064
Location
Redmond, WA-USA, Earth, Sol, Orion–Cygnus Arm, Mil
Review.

  • Bought from eBay on 5/8/2011 from atv_zone
  • Manufacturer: Claims to be “Streamline” on the invoice, but is “Billetanium” on the box; doesn’t matter as the model is the exact same.
  • Color: See picture. The only option is with the mounting brackets: Black or Silver.
  • Size: Generic (not given)
  • Cost: $114.25 USD + $9 shipping.
  • Shipping: Received on 8/11/2011 by UPS.
  • Related ES Thread: Pusher-Trailer: A Bicycle-Frame Solution
Begin:
Well packaged. First thing I did was note how heavy and small it was. Strip the bulky fittings off and the weight drops in half; acceptable. Chances are I will use my own custom fastening methods anyways. There is one page of installation instructions meant for ATVs.

SteeringStabilizer7WayRebuild.jpg


7-Way Adjustment:
Got right down to business on this. Rotate the thumb-knob at the end of the shaft (on right side in the picture) all the way CCW, feeling the detents until it stops. This is the lowest setting, and with about one easy pound of force the piston can be moved from one side to the other without much effort. This is absolutely acceptable for the lowest setting.

  • Rotate CW to the next detent and the change is not worth noting, nor is it at the next notch. However about the 4th detent it takes roughly twice the effort to move the piston. This is a good middle spot.
  • The 5th detent is twice again more difficult, and substantially more restriction.
  • The 6th detent does not move the piston without major human effort, and then it moves very slowly.
  • The 7th and final detent appears to lock the piston in place. This too is acceptable and expected.
Dimensions:
  • Overall Length: About 305mm/12 inches.
  • Stroke: 91.5mm/3.6 inches.
  • Diameter: 25.4mm/1.0 inches
I was hoping the stroke would be longer. Unfortunately the specifications are not published, therefore caveat emptor. Somehow though I suspect that regardless of which model is chosen they are all about the same.

Final comments:
The product is about what I expected except for the shorter piston travel. It looks to be quality-enough, and it is rebuildable for about 1/3 the cost of replacement. For my purposes it will do just fine. There is an 11-Way version out there for finer control; they start at about $20 more.

8 Stars out of 10.

I’ll post usage feedback when it is available.
~KF
 
Feedback:

Going through old posts I see I have forgotten to provide feedback.

I used this device on my custom trailer, making it an overt design detail based upon issues raised by others towing trailers. When I set out on my road trip the Stabilizer was set to 4 (midway) which is pretty firm if trying to compress it by hand. At low speed the firmness definitely helped, however at higher speeds the entire bike-trailer assembly would wag together if passed by a large vehicle or hit by crosswind. The following day I set it up to 5 in experimentation. Again the handling improved at low speed with the opposite affect at high.

On the third day of the road trip I reset the Stabilizer all the way back to 1 (lowest). This created a very unstable bike and trailer at low speed, however at high speed the assembly was much more nimble and responsive; I decided to leave it for the next few days. Low speed required more skill at balancing although at higher speeds I could relax and use feather-touch.

Conclusion:
If the use is at speeds below 25 mph – this item will provide a stable riding experience. Some experimentation is required to dial in the proper setting. Conversely at higher speeds above 25 mph, the ride is more stressful. If the majority of riding is above 25 mph then I would suggest not using the device.

It’s possible that there are stabilizers out there with a remote adjuster, sort of like how expensive front & rear shocks have them; perhaps that would be the best of both worlds with the ability to adjust on the fly. :wink:

Safe travels, KF
 
Excellent information, I think this is nice steering stabilizer when someone is going build a high speed ebike like my ebike and it would prevent `tank slapper` in front end.
 
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