Thuren King Steering Damper for '13+ Ram 2500

[IIIOIISTER]

Anyone have any experience (pos or neg) with the King Steering Damper while driving on highways or off-roading? I have a '17 PW and the factory damper is a little weak on rough roads and back country trails (40+ MPH). Although there isn't a pull in any direction, sometimes I still get a little jerk when I hit a bump on the highway going 70+ MPH. Just looking for a slight improvement over the stock damper, and also want to get ready when I swap the factory 33" out for some 35" or 37" tires.

[OffroadTreks]

I would advise against it, I have it and it's not for what you think. It's to counter pull. I have Toyo 37' MT's which pull right. The King will push right and it will be like your vehicle is out of alignment. Even with an alignment, the push was too strong, let go of the wheel and the truck goes flying to the right. Purchasing it was a mistake.

Thuren's King stabilizer comes at 100psi and you CANNOT reduce that or it will be ruined. You can increase it, but that will just make the right hand push worse.

My plan is to wait till he comes out with the bracket that allows you to reverse it. So it can push left and counter the right hand pull of Toyo's.

The other thing, of course, is you could buy some MT's with a known left-hand pull like Nitto's. But I'm told most pull right.

[DamageWagon]

The point of the King damper is to act as a damper. I've never run one but from what I hear it's pretty tits for getting rid of the small steeing jerks. It also provides a small push that happens counter tire pull, and like @MikeKey said, it pushes right like the Toyo MT does. The push is unavoidable - it's a hydraulic piston, with a piston of a 2" diameter on one side, and a 2" diameter on the other side but with the center 1/2" taken up by the shaft, so the opposing side has a force that wants to push the damper open, which pushes to the right on these trucks. It's just a consequence, not sure if the Fox damper does the same or not but only a few guys run that one.

[IIIOIISTER]

Order placed! My current factory damper pushes slightly to the right, not dangerously so but definitely noticeable. I just want to get rid of the small steering jerks as well as the "oh crap" moments when I hit a big bump off road. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

[Chromolykid]

Order placed! My current factory damper pushes slightly to the right, not dangerously so but definitely noticeable. I just want to get rid of the small steering jerks as well as the "oh crap" moments when I hit a big bump off road. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

Have you installed your damper yet? How do you like it? I’m interested to hear your opinion on it compared to MikeKey’s.

[djgaston]

I have one on my diesel, it works great with 37" Toyos. I had the Fox stabilizer on prior and it worked pretty good by itself but there was some excessive right pull with that. I added the Carli high mount and it got a little better, not perfect though. Swapped Fox for Thuren and it was slightly better. Removed the Carli high mount and fixed a caster issue from the alignment shop at the same time, now the truck drives straight down the road. Our roads are crowned heavily here so it won't go real far without me touching the steering wheel, but it's as good as any luxury SUV. The main thing is to make sure your alignment is spot-on, stabilizers aren't a necessity but they do make the steering feel a little better. The deal with Thuren's stabilizer is that it does a better job of holding center than a Fox IFP will, by using stiffer valving and a smaller diameter shaft. But any shock will push one way harder than the other unless it's double ended. Definitely a good upgrade. Like any front end parts, it all has to be dialed in or you'll have issues somewhere.