Project: Recycle

[SCOTI]

Latest update....

I've been waiting for a steering column bracket & received it last night (upper column under dash bracket). I popped the old/used van-tilt column in place today & as expected it's too long. I needed that bracket to properly secure the column so I could get some accurate measurements & will now start researching my options. I’m probably going to attempt to cut it down for my needs since there seems to be quite the wait for high quality shortened aftermarket columns (plus they’re freaking expensive ).

I've also been researching & sorting through info for a front sway-bar. I mocked-up a couple different combos & decided on a set-up that offered better clearance w/minimal intrusive fab work. I placed orders for all the misc sway bar parts yesterday.

What I think I learned . . …..

The OE GM bars & a couple aftermarket bars in my possession:
BellTech C10 'Sport' solid bar @ 1.375"OD @ 40-41"
Addco/Porterbuilt C10 solid bar @ 1.25"OD @ ~43-44"
2014 Ridetech 'MuscleBar' tubular 1.375"OD (?) @ ~45-46"
GM 73-87 C10 1.125"OD solid bar @ ~44-45” (off memory)
GM 73-87 C20/30 1.25"OD solid bar

My set-up on this project has about ~39" width between the end-link mounts as measured @ the a-arm. But, the 'link' bracket on the lower arms is angled/tilted in toward the center of the truck which makes the links (where they will meet the sway-bar) even narrower (~38"). None of the ‘on-hand’ bars would work as everything was too wide.

The BellTech bar was very close & the end-links were just outside of the brackets on the arms. I debated options to make this bar work but there were 2 problems that changed my direction: 1) The a-arm bracket angle mentioned above was opposite of the end-link angle of the sway-bar; 2) I noted that the set-up was extremely low (the lowest item on the front rails) when mounted. The mounting position on the frame is dictated by the alignment of the sway-bars end-link mount/the a-arm mounts & you can’t change that on a 1pc bar. This seemed counter-productive considering everything was modified for low ride height w/excellent ground clearance.

I also reached out to Nate (Porterbuilt) for bar info as he’s building them in house now. As always, he was helpful. But after more research, I decided to utilize a different approach.

I searched online for some sort of equation, calculator, or chart to better understand/compare the rate of the bars I had to help narrow a starting point on a modular set-up.
During this search I found some tech info for Ridetech's current C10 Strong-Arm 'MuscleBar' set-up: Tubular 1.5"OD x .250" wall bar w/a listed rate of 1020#. I'm using that as a comparison with the other bars I have by utilizing a spread-sheet for modular/splined bars I found @ Speedway Engineering (not SpeedwayMotors). It has info for modular/splined bars (bar-size, type, arm-length info/calcs).
While probably not 100% correct/exact on the 1pc. OE bar numbers, I know I’m somewhere in the ball-park vs. just assuming:

Fixed Rate
OE GM standard bar @ 1.125" solid w/14" arms = ~264# of anti-torsional twist
OE GM HD 1.25" solid w/14" arms @ 350#
Addco/PB 1.25" solid w/15" arms @ 330#
Bell Tech 1.375" solid w/14" arms @ 494#

2020 Ridetech/Musclebar 1.5" .250 wall tubular @ 1020# per online specs


Modular/Adjustable Rate
Speedway Eng. 1.5" hollow w/14" arms @ 549#
Speedway Eng. 1.5" hollow w/8" arms @ 957#
Speedway Eng. 1.375" solid w/8" arms @ 864#
Speedway Eng. 1.25" solid w/8" arms @ 617#


The 2020 Ridetech bar rate is confusing based on the fact that all the other bars (which are OE or direct OE configuration replacements) have a measured arm length of approx. 14". Using the Speedway spread sheet for their hollow bar @ 14" arm length indicates the 549# and that's w/thicker .500" wall tubing vs. Ridetechs .250" wall. I don't know if this new 'C10 MuscleBar' is somehow different.

A modular set-up allows moving the sway-bar back (closer) to the a-arms.
By moving the mounting location, I gain ground clearance because the rail starts rising as it gets closer to the main cross-member. This relocation also allows using shorter ‘arms’ for the bar. The shorter arms increase the rate of resistance @ the bar because of the inherent differences in leverage. A shorter arm in this application (sway-bar) = harder to move. Win/win. The 8" arm length is the result of the ‘new’ sway bar frame mount centerline.

Instead of having ~3” of ground clearance in a ‘stock’ placement position on the rails, I’ll now have 5.25”.

The 8” ‘arm’ length vs. the OE bars 14” increased a 1.25” solid bars rate of twist-resistance almost double vs. having to move up to a 'bigger' bar. Plus, the modular set-up allows tuning the rate up or down by having multiple positions on the ‘arms’ where they connect to the end-links. In this app, moving the end-link to 9” decreases the rate to ~547# or going the other way to 7” increases the rate to 705#. I will also have the option to use different bars (larger diameter; tubular or solid, ETC…) as the arms can easily be swapped over.