Fabbed up some front sway bar mounts(PIC'S)

[BobbyK]

I spent the last few days fabbing up some front sway bar mounts for my 71 Blazer.

As some know our 4x4 Blazers and 4x4 trucks did not come with a front sway bar.

A front sway bar from a late 70's-80's Blazer can be used.Just find the doner truck and take the bar,mounting bushings and the spring plates(they are a direct bolt on.)
Here's the spring plates


After making some templates out of cardboard I started fabbing up the mounts.

I used 2x4 box tube .120 wall thickness.I also used 1/4" flat stock in places as well.


After the initial cuts I marked where the sway bar would bolt to the mount.
I then welded in two nuts on the inside of the boxed tube.


After a little more cuttiing and rough fitting of the pieces,I tack welded the pieces together and made a final test fit.


Once I was satisfied with the fit I welded up all the seams and ground my welds smooth.




I repeated the process for the other mount.

After these pic's were taken I ended up welding nuts to the mounts and painted the mounts black.

Here's how it all turned out.
In these pic's I didn't have the mounts permanently fastened yet.But they ARE in their final position.










Here's the beefy sway bar.






ALL the pic's I took while making these mounts can be seen HERE

I'll give Steve Chin credit as I based my mounts on his basic design.I just modified the design slightly and beefed them up a little.

I welcome any comments,questions or critiques.

['70_402]

so i am guessing the mount for the sway bar is different on the 4x4's compared to the 2 wheel drives?

[BobbyK]

In the second to last pic you can see the bolt that is used to fasten the end of the sway bar to the threaded spring plate.

Ya it's different from the 2wd sway bar.

[stelth2002]

The biggest part is, did it make a difference in the way it handles? was it worth it?

[Deuce]

Alot of things we do to our trucks aren't really worth it but that doesn't stop us!!

By the way..................nice workmanship on the mounts.

[68 Stepside]

Awesome work Bobby, every post you make could go into the FAQ section

[BobbyK]

I haven't got it back in the truck yet.
The paint is still drying on the fabbed mounts and I'm cleaning up the sway bar still.

I'll update with pic's.

[4x4Poet]

Fantastic work. Simple, yet elegant, design. Thanks for posting.

Any intention of welding in brackets to accept ORD's quick release set up that fits 73up frames?

[BobbyK]

No,hadn't thought of it actually.

[4x4Poet]

ORD's QR set-up is more of an off-road, rockcrawler articulation thing. Probably not needed if you won't be running on rough trails with lift springs. Thanks again for the pics. I want to copy your design one day.

[454_72_4X4]

Nice work! If I hadn't already put one on mine I'd probably be copying your design too!
I have quick release brackets that I made on mine. I'll post some pics later to go with your brackets!

[BobbyK]

I reinstalled the sway bar yesterday and took a drive.

It REALLY tightend up the handleing.It feels like you get "pulled" through corners now

I also cleaned up the sway bar.Took about 6 hrs of sanding and polishing but I now have "blingin" front sway bar.
I clearc oated it and reinstalled the urethane bushings.Turned out o.k.

Here it is before


And here it is after.

[krue]

Thanks, I am going to get this copied to FAQ if ya don't mind.

[jamis]

very nice work !!!!!!!!!

I couldnt help but notice your grinding wheel is on backwards in picture #4......or am I crazy?

[BobbyK]

I didn't realize those cutting disc's were directional.Or are you looking at the part that screws on and holds the disc on?

[4x4Poet]

Wow, Bobbyk, I'd have never thought a cast iron sway bar could polish up so well! I'm curious as to how well and long you think the clear coat will protect the finish.

I thought I'd post some potential upgrades. As much because I'm printing & bookmarking this thread, so these will be a reminder for me, too:
ORD upgraded bushings
They claim their bushings will deflect less than stock & maybe other poly bushings. I believe them. I have their greasable shackles. They came with much-too-hard black poly bushings. I prefer Energy Suspension's graphite-impregnated bushings.

Energy Suspension Greaseable Swaybar Frame Bushings
Greaseable helps with the squeaks. Get them with the graphite-impregnated bushings for even less squeak potential. Should work with 2wd swaybars, too. Or, if you already have both brackets/poly bushings and Bobbyk's fab skills, just drill and tap your brackets for a zerk fitting. One advantage of the Energy Susp bushings is that they're fluted to facilitate greasing. One can flute non fluted poly bushings, say with small, sharp wood carvers. One of ES's pics show the flutes (cylindrical grooves).

ES Swaybar Endlink Bushings Again, go graphite.

ORD's Swaybar Disconnect kit, 73-87(91)
The QR retention bracket and relocated bushing brackets don't fit 67-72s without some welding or drilling and, of course, brackets to match both the 67-72 & ORD's kit. IIRC, ORD has some info on adapting their kit to 67-72s. I expect one could start with ORD's disconnect set-up in hand and fab brackets with it in mind. In any case, the swinging links should fit the 73-87 u-bolt spring plate that bobbyk used. So that part of the kit would be usefull for lifted 67-72s that don't have the right swaybar geometry to use solid mounts to the u-bolt plate like Bobbyk used. Adds some flexibility to a swaybar set up. Prevents a too-rigid set up from tweaking on the plates or frame. HTH

[jamis]

Originally Posted by BobbyK

I didn't realize those cutting disc's were directional.Or are you looking at the part that screws on and holds the disc on?

My mistake Bobby, I thought that was a grinding wheel, not a cutoff wheel.
Since I didnt see the dish of the normal grinding wheel, I may have thought you put it on backwards for a specific reason. I can believe how nice you polished that sway bar. It looks almost like stainless.

[454_72_4X4]

Couple pics of my sway bar disconnects.







Mine's just a tad dirtier than Bobby's!

BTW, Swaybars are spring steel, poet.

[PICKMUP]

Nice welds, nice work...but, you have got too much time on your hands, polishing swaybars .

How fast can you make them now? And how much a pair?