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Old 03-02-2010, 12:07 AM   #1
ocbaud
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anti-sway bar upgrades?

thinking about upgrading to a bigger/better front anti sway bar on my truck.

currently it has the stock whatever size bar for an '86 1/2 ton on the front and a hellwig rear bar on it.


suggestions? i'm not seeing many after market bars
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Old 03-02-2010, 12:11 AM   #2
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

Eric you currently have a 1" bar up front. Looks for a C20 or bigger to get a 1 1/8th bar. Another option would be the Ride Tech "Muscle Bar". It's designed to work with their "Strong Arm" tublar A-rams, but I think it could be adapted.
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Old 03-02-2010, 12:12 AM   #3
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

1-ton dually sway bar swap maybe? with poly bushings of course.
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Old 03-02-2010, 12:24 AM   #4
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HEL-7546/


damn, maybe if i searched a little harder....


currently the rear has the 1 1/8" bar in the back

i've never liked a bigger bar in the back... especially on a truck
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Old 03-02-2010, 12:28 AM   #5
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

or this bigger belltech

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BEL-5404/

1 3/8"
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Old 03-02-2010, 12:45 AM   #6
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

either look good to me, and both are powdercoated. about the same price, and i dont think it would hurt to get the bigger one just to be safe. if you are lookin to upgrade then apparently you still have too much bodyroll around the corners im assuming
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Old 03-02-2010, 12:48 AM   #7
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

lets see your stock one!!! installed
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Old 03-02-2010, 12:56 AM   #8
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

i think personally id go with the stock 1-ton one with new bushings and call it a day. whats a trip to the local picknpull gonna cost? might find some other goodies while your there. its kinda like walmart for me when i go
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Old 03-02-2010, 01:03 AM   #9
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

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Originally Posted by knightowl73 View Post
i think personally id go with the stock 1-ton one with new bushings and call it a day. whats a trip to the local picknpull gonna cost? might find some other goodies while your there. its kinda like walmart for me when i go
yeah, thats assuming i have time to go out to a junk hard and find one and pull one....
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Old 03-02-2010, 01:05 AM   #10
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

i see your point, well bigger is better, go for it
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Old 03-02-2010, 01:39 AM   #11
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

I put a c20 one on my 83 with new energy suspension bushings and it made a huge difference from stock.
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Old 03-02-2010, 11:22 AM   #12
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

I hoping this means you found a livable way to keep the truck, that's one of my favorites here.
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Old 03-02-2010, 01:54 PM   #13
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

I think I paid $15 for the C20 bar at a local yard. It took me about 20 min to get it off.
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Old 03-02-2010, 07:31 PM   #14
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

how bout the rear? what're you guys using for a rear sway bar?
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Old 03-02-2010, 07:45 PM   #15
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

some of the duallies had bolt-in ones i think. ive seen some at junkyards on the back of expeditions that seemed they would be easy to adapt, always took note of this.
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Old 03-02-2010, 08:32 PM   #16
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

Rebuild the frontend with polygraphite bushing. Add traction bars to the rear.

I feel like a pinball in my truck.
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Old 03-02-2010, 08:36 PM   #17
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

Quote:
Originally Posted by gchemist View Post
Rebuild the frontend with polygraphite bushing. Add traction bars to the rear.

I feel like a pinball in my truck.
you running the old style "slapper" traction bars or something like a 2-link? id like to see.
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Old 03-02-2010, 08:44 PM   #18
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

Quote:
Originally Posted by gchemist View Post
Rebuild the frontend with polygraphite bushing. Add traction bars to the rear.

I feel like a pinball in my truck.
well i'm gonna wait on the front end bushings for now. gonna see how nice it is after replacing all the steering parts and ball joints. control arm bushings aren't in that bad of shape.

next thing on the list will probably be some caltracs
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Old 03-02-2010, 10:26 PM   #19
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

Quote:
Originally Posted by knightowl73 View Post
you running the old style "slapper" traction bars or something like a 2-link? id like to see.
I run custom made slappers.



You can see the rear hanger in this picture.


Near the center, a U is cut into the bar. The U is right under the axel tube. When the slappers engage, the front snub touches the spring and the U moves up and touches the axel tube. The gap between the U and axel tube is less than 3/4". The gap is quickly closed on hard accelleration or bounce.



You can see the U under axel in this cell phone pic.

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Old 03-03-2010, 01:58 AM   #20
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

I swapped on a front sway bar from a Burb, that helped. Nothing drastic by any means but a little better. And it was free to me. But if you are paying for one, don't spend money on a Burb bar...not enough improvement to justify spending money on it. Unless of course you don't have one at all.
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Old 03-23-2010, 01:12 PM   #21
staggerd86c-10
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

what aftermarket rear sway bar are you guys using? would one out of a box truck work, there aren't many square bodys here in the junk yards in miami. so im kind of limited to what i can get.
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Old 03-23-2010, 01:25 PM   #22
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

I guess I'm a little late on this thread, but I have the Bell Tech 1-3/8 bar. There are a few pics of it in my build thread.
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Old 03-23-2010, 01:58 PM   #23
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

could a 4wd front sway bar be made to fit in the rear of a 2wd? my buddy is going to give me the one off his 86 k20, and i thought i put it in the back of my 2wd
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Old 03-23-2010, 02:16 PM   #24
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

lets see some rear sways
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Old 03-23-2010, 05:08 PM   #25
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Re: anti-sway bar upgrades?

come on guys.......
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