Front Sway Bar.....

[Firebirdjones]

I picked up one of these....




I'm going to adapt it to my 72 blazer. This is off of a 73 and up. After holding it under the blazer I can see the straight portion of the bar isn't close to reaching both sides of the frame. So it's obviously not going to work as is.

I assume I'm going to have to make a bracket of sorts for the frame mount bushings to attach to. I'm sure this has been done before.

I'd like to hear ideas and see pictures if possible of those that have done this. Did you use this style of factory bar or something else?
The fact that this is much narrower than my frame on the straight portion may pose a problem. I can't imagine the 73 and up blazers having a more narrow frame, so I must be missing something here. Which side does the bent portion of the bar face,,,driver side/passenger side? Holding it up there it appears it would fit either way as there is no obstruction to necessitate such a bend in the bar.
Someone fill me in please. Thanks.

[hotrodhomi]

I'm not sure what that bar is from, but your local pickNpull should be full of the correct style bar. I thought the bar on my blazer was from a square body, but now I'm not so sure.

[Firebirdjones]

This bar is supposed to be from a square body, 73 and up. But I didn't actually see the truck it came off of.

I was going to hit the local pick-a-part and grab some spring plates, which should all be similar up through the 80's I would think.
I'm not sure if they would have something old enough for me to look at though as far as the bar is concerned.

If you have any pics of what you did or how you did it please share. I'd like to gather all the information I can for a good plan of attack.

[Firebirdjones]

Hey Hotrodhomi, are you talking about a front bar for the truck you have in the picture? That looks like a 2wd. If so yours would probably be easy to adapt just about any bar you wanted.

I guess I should have been more clear, sorry. Mine is a 4x4, which is why the ends of my bar are made differently to mount sidways on a leaf spring plate.

[Firebirdjones]

Let me set this bar up under the truck and snap another pic to give everyone a better idea of what I'm dealing with....give me a few minutes.

[Firebirdjones]

I hope this pic helps explain.

As you can see, the straight portion of the bar isn't nearly as wide as the frame, so attaching the frame mounts poses a problem. In this pic I have the bend portion on the driver side, but why it's there I have no idea as it doesn't appear to be necessary for anything.

[hotrodhomi]

yes, I was talking about 2wd. 4x4 might as well be Chinese algebra, I have no idea.

[1949gmc]

Check out KrazyRay's parts thread. He was selling the whole shebang and has a few pictures posted in his thread. Looks like you'll need the front crossmember outta that square body.

[BobbyK]

On my 71 Blazer I made some mounts using that same bar.

I made a post about it here:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=139879










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[Firebirdjones]

Hmmm interesting. Judging by all the pics from the original and the pics of the home made brackets (thanks 1949GMC and Bobby)

It appear to me that if I did locate a factory cross member, that I'd probably have to remove the original to fit the sway bar cross member in there. If that's the case I'm not so sure I'm willing to do that as I have brake lines running along the current cross member, I'd have to re-run brakes lines and who knows what else.

KrazyRay looks like he hasn't been on that thread in a couple months. I'll see if I can locate a cross member locally. If I can find a truck with a cross member, it should also have the spring mounts I need.

Thanks for the links guys, it's giving me a direction to go now.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by BobbyK

On my 71 Blazer I made some mounts using that same bar.

I made a post about it here:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=139879










.

That's interesting. I may just go this route, I fabbed everything else up on this truck with an LS swap, why not some sway bar mounts

Couple questions....

Is there any reason why you decided to bolt these mounts on rather than just weld them to the cross member?
I was thinking welding the square tube directly to the cross member without all the flanges sticking out might make for a cleaner look or make it look more like a part of the truck??

Also, you did this several years ago. How is it doing now? Any issues? I was wondering if that factory cross member would be strong enough to take abuse over a long period of time??

In any event, I can't even begin to fab anything until I find the spring plates, as that is going to dictate where the sway bar wants to be.
Thanks for anymore insite you can provide.

[47thriftmaster]

Good questions, I wonder how it's been holding up as well. Plan on putting a sway bar in my 72' blazer, once I get to that point. Figure the handling would improve dramatically. Let us know how it's going.

[Firebirdjones]

I'm doing it as my next project, just have to find the spring plates. I'll try pick-a-part this week.

More than likely at that point I'll probably make my own mounts.

I'd like to hear from Bobby on my questions though, when he gets time, I'm curious.

[BobbyK]

The factory cross member ripped itself apart after only a few months......



Just kidding, it's still holding up great after almost 7 years, no issue's.

I bolted it in so that if something went wrong,like I found out I designed it wrong and had to redo it, or move it or something like that, that bolts are easier to remove than welds.

I'm happy with it,makes the Blazer easier to drive(handling wise).




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[BobbyK]

Here is the link to ALL the pic's I took while making the sway bar mounts.

http://public.fotki.com/blazbk/blaze...ation_of_fron/




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[Firebirdjones]

Thanks again guys. I'll keep a link to this thread and update my progress.