sway bar questions

[jocko]

thanks hd74 - I looked at that bar, but it's apparently for lowered trucks only - mine's stock height. It can be modified to work (the ad says), but I'm gonna see if I can find one that is strictly bolt-on.

[blackedoutharley]

Originally Posted by jocko

thanks hd74 - I looked at that bar, but it's apparently for lowered trucks only - mine's stock height. It can be modified to work (the ad says), but I'm gonna see if I can find one that is strictly bolt-on.

Oh yeah, mine isn't lowered either and has 31" tires on all four corners.

Just noticed.... 1000+ post!!!!!!!!

[jocko]

Woo Hoo! (1000) Hmm. Their website specifically called out the fact that the bar would need to be modified if it was used on a stock heigh truck. Oh well - you've disproved that theory! I'm gonna see how much diff the front makes by itself and then decide on the back i think.

[markeb01]

For what it’s worth, Addco and Hellwig still offer rear sway bars for stock 63-72 Chevy trucks with coils or leaf springs. The Hellwig bars are bigger and cost about twice as much as the comparable Addco kit. These are all rear sway bars:

Addco #951 leaf springs, 7/8” bar
Addco #954 coil springs, 7/8” bar

Hellwig #7401 coil springs, 1 1/8” bar
Hellwig #7402 leaf springs, 1 1/8” bar

Here’s one outfit that sells them. There may be others with lower pricing:

http://www.suspensionconnection.com/...y_vehicle.html

[jocko]

thanks Mark - wow, you weren't kiddin, the 1+1/8" ones are $$$$ - but the 7/8" are less expensive than most places. I'd sure like to see some of these installed (with mfgr name or what it came from for stock).

[Joemomma1]

I thought I had pictures of the front but I dont. I pulled it from a mid 80s dually, brackets from ece and moog bushings from the local parts store.

Here's the rear. Its from a late 80 trans am.

[blackedoutharley]

I will get you pics of my Hellwig rear bar but it is currently hailing here so it might be the latter part of the week before this happens.

[jocko]

excellent, thanks much blackedoutharley and jomomma!
blackedoutharley - I'm assuming you had tot weld the brackets to the frame for the rear bar(?) Thanks again all.

[blackedoutharley]

No welding.... completely bolt in.

[64shortbox]

Jocko,
I went the cheap route. I bought my 1-1/4" front sway bar from the local self serve wrecking yard for $20.30. I removed it from a one ton 1975 Chevy truck. A quick scrub with a wire brush and some Semi-Gloss Black paint and I was done. Total spent spent less than $25.00. The less I spend on stuff like this the more I can spend on other things, like premium ball joints and 6 lug rotors from CPP etc.

[theastronaut]

Jocko, I'd do both front and rear just to keep the F/R grip somewhat balanced. If you only use a front bar it will most likely understeer at the limit of grip way before the back end loses grip. A swap bar adds grip at the opposite end, so a rear bar would gain more front grip to minimize high amounts of understeer. It won't matter for daily driving but could make a big difference if you have to quickly swerve to dodge something in the road or whatever. I'd go with a smaller rear bar to keep a hint of understeer since that's more controllable than oversteer.
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[64fleetside]

I just pulled the rear off of mine, dunno how old you are jocko but it rode too rough for my tastes. Best thing about Chev's trailing arm rear is the decent ride-the sway bar took that away in my case.

[jocko]

CRAP. How frickin annoying. Bought the bar from _____. Got it here today. It's got some absolutely ridiculous silver/gray spatter paint or powder coating all over it. Since that would look annoyingly stupid on my particular truck - I've either got to strip it down and paint it, or take a half a day off work and some leave to get to the friggin post office to return it, which I have half a mind to. Why, tell me why, don't the pictures of what vendors are selling on their website match what they have in stock and then ship. Their website shows a nice, smoothe, BLACK simple friggin sway bar. I guess they just assumed I wanted some goofy looking silver trunk-spatter-paint-looking-art-deco piece even though that never really came up in the phone conversation.... I hate wasting time - and had I known this thing came painted by rembrandt on crack, I'd have ordered elsewhere. And I LIKE that company!

Ok, I'm done. Haleleulah, holy crap, pass the tylenol....
I just wish vendors, and I mean real, proifitable, major, vendors, would actually ship what they advertise - or at least have the courtesy to tell you it is NOT as pictured when you do order so you don't have to waste your time correcting it or sending it back.

[losthope]

Originally Posted by losthope

For for the rear I used a rear sway bar from a camero theres two diffren ways I mounted it in my build thread got it cheap at pick n pull
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Originally Posted by Joemomma1

I thought I had pictures of the front but I dont. I pulled it from a mid 80s dually, brackets from ece and moog bushings from the local parts store.

Here's the rear. Its from a late 80 trans am.

Originally Posted by jocko

excellent, thanks much blackedoutharley and jomomma!
blackedoutharley - I'm assuming you had tot weld the brackets to the frame for the rear bar(?) Thanks again all.

heres a link to doing the rear sway bar like joemomma and i did to our trucks and the brackets on the frame are just spacers they dont have to be welded on the can bolt on!! I mounted it like this the first time and works ok if your not going to lower your truck , i lowered mine alot with bags so i switched it to bolt to the trailing arms which i think is a better setup dont need to use spacers on the frame either the frame widens out further up the trailing arms just need to drill some holes.......you can see how i did both ways in my build thread or can take a look at this link for the way it bolts on top the rearend: http://www.low69cst.freeservers.com/CamaroBar.htm

[MisterC]

Hey Jocko,

You should put a post in the "Reviews" forum to help save some other member from making the same mistake.
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[jocko]

Thanks Timmy D! Much appreciated.

[jocko]

Originally Posted by MisterC

Hey Jocko,

You should put a post in the "Reviews" forum to help save some other member from making the same mistake.
Posted via Mobile Device

Good idea - and I may do that, but I am going to call these guys tomorrow and see what they have to say. It's a popular vendor - and I have had good service from them in the past, so don't want to torpedo them, yet. They will not be the first vendor to advertise a picture of one thing and send me something else - but the straw that breaks this camel's back is when I call them about it and they waste my time trying to convince me what I really wanted... (that's why I'm withholding the company at this point - I do want to give em a chance to respond).

I guess I'm kinda ticked because even if they are responsive to the call - I'm still gonna have to either paint it - or take the half day to get to the post office, which kills my work day around here. And hope they'll pay for return shipping, because this thing weighs a ton. If I have to paint it, it's gonna take a LONG time to get the textured-spatter powder coat or removed - or just accept my stock ol black paint will flake off in the near future and look like crap anyway... Maybe it's a job for my powder coater. But that will cost as much as the #$%^&* bar did! Best case would be I miss work - send them the part, they return the right one, and pay all the shipping. I still miss work though.

[pdxhall]

I hate to be the one to say it, but I'll bet a used one is looking a lot better right now. What were your reasons again for getting a new one?

[ChuckW]

A little late in the thread I suppose, but here's my two bits... I picked up a bar that came from LMC. Was "supposed to fit nicely. NOT. It's the type with 4 stacked bushings on the A arm sides. I first noted that the bar seem excessively wide. So after centering it etc I turned the wheel to lock.. Yeah, the pitman arm was hitting and the control arms were really close. The fwd frame bushings were to be mounted flush on the frame rails.. Not!
Long story short. This bar would need excessive bracket mods to mount. I didn't really like the looks of it in the 1st place. It would seem to me that with stacked bushings (4ea per side) a lot of compression would need to take place before the bar would start working...??
I'm going to go with the ECE bar as it looks like what I'm after and has a much more solid mount....
PS This bar is an ADDCO unit and I'm pretty sure it's for lowered trucks... Mine's stock height.

[MisterC]

I picked up one at the local pick 'n pull today on my lunch hour. It was off of a C/30, so it was the thicker one. Cost me less than $20 with the core charge. I was tempted to buy a complete unit from ECE, as I'm less than 45 minutes from there, but I'm too cheap. I'll buy the brackets from ECE when I pickup my springs and I'll get the bushings at the local parts store. I just need to decide if I want to paint it or splurge for powder coating.

As far as the types of sway bars go, I chose the one that mounted directly to the control arm after talking with Nate Porter. He stated that the style with the end links are made for more travel and are generally used for the lowered trucks with drop members. Since mine will only be lowered slightly, I felt more comfortable with the other mounting system.

[ChuckW]

Joemomma1,
Hey man. I like your rear bar installation! I noted you said all bolt on and I can see that from your pic's. Did you make the brackets for the axle mounts or were they too from the TA? And the end brackets, are they also off the TA?
I guess I would have to assume that a bar off a 70's - early 80's Camero would also work nicely? Good job on your installation!

[ChuckW]

Joemomma1,
Hey man. I like your rear bar installation! I noted you said all bolt on and I can see that from your pic's. Did you make the brackets for the axle mounts or were they too from the TA? And the end brackets, are they also off the TA?
I guess I would have to assume that a bar off a 70's - early 80's Camero would also work nicely? Good job on your installation!

[ChuckW]

Has anyone used the 7/8's ADDCO rear bar installation with coils? If so any pictures of the install available? Please. Thanks

[jocko]

Originally Posted by pdxhall

I hate to be the one to say it, but I'll bet a used one is looking a lot better right now. What were your reasons again for getting a new one?

I wanted a 1.25" one, and none of the factory ones are that big of a dia. But, yes, that used one isn't looking so bad. Or at least it wasn't looking so bad - I did talk to the company today - same guy I bought it from a week prior - and I have to say, I'm glad I held off a bit and gave them a chance to correct the issue. And they are - I will ship it back (luckily have the time on Fri to go to the post office w/o missin work!) and they are gonna send me a powder coated one in semi-gloss black.

While I WISH it would have been what they advertised in the picture, I really can't ask for much better service after the purchase than that. So, I remain very loyal to: ECE Thanks Stan, you're my hero.

Mister C - I agree with you, I chose the same type you described for the same reasons - and the factory did it that way.

[MisterC]

I'm very glad it all worked out for you, Jocko.