Sway bar options

[68Stepbed]

I'm thinking of adding sway bars to my 86 GMC. What are my options? Can I get a factory front sway bar? Does the aftermarket make a rear sway bar? Who sells sway bar kits? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[EJC78]

Pst makes a great sway bar for our trucks 1"1/8 I actually bought one for my truck & installed it and it worked great but then I put a Scotts IFS so it wont work on my pick up any more. Here is the best pic that I have with it installed

[Slonaker]

I took a front one off a junkyard truck. Make sure you get the hardware that goes with it. There are brackets that go between the bar and the frame. If your truck was not originally equipped with a front swaybar, the holes for the brackets are already there on the frame and the lower control arms.

The brackets are riveted to the frame. I just bought them new at the dealer rather than chisel some off a truck at the junkyard. They were not expensive, so that seemed like the best option.

I have been told several times that a front bar from a 3/4 ton will fit, and maybe a one ton. They are thicker than the ones for a half ton if you want to go that route. I plan to do that one of these days.

Slonaker

[dswancutt]

I agree with Slonaker, buy the brackets and new bushings from GM. The brackets on my parts truck were bent, and I was lucky enough to score a NOS set on eBay. It makes a great difference in the handling of my truck. It is money well spent. By the way, the bushings & bushing brackets are the same as the 68-72 chevy trucks.

[beaterC10]

Look at the Burbs for big factory bars. I found a 1 1/4 bar on a 3/4t bigblock Burb for my shortbed.

[68Stepbed]

Are the bars the same as 67-72's? What about the rear?

[Slonaker]

AFAIK, there are not any rear bars that are a bolt-in. I would like to be proven wrong, though, because that would be a great solution.

Slonaker

[beaterC10]

The factory front bars can be installed on 67-72, if I remember correctly the correct holes are already there.

[magnethead]

not sure if 1 ton bars will fit..the ones on my truck are fairly large (either it's my imagination, or i have one on both ends)

[Captkaos]

Larger trucks have them on front/rear and they are bigger...

From what I have found the good sources are Burbs and Crew Cabs.

[Slonaker]

Originally Posted by Captkaos

Larger trucks have them on front/rear and they are bigger...

From what I have found the good sources are Burbs and Crew Cabs.

But will the rear swaybars bolt on to a 1/2 ton pickup?

Slonaker

[C&C Chevy]

What size are the factory sway bars on 1/2 ton's? Would you really be able to tell a difference by switching one out in favor of the bigger Burb bar?

I was just going to get some poly bushings for my stock bar and move on, but if difference is really that much then maybe.....

btw, if memory serves, swervin (Mike) has a rear sway on his truck...

[magnethead]

just eyeballing it, my camper special 1 ton has 1" or 1.25" on both ends...





(couldn't find orig pic)

[ocbaud]

Originally Posted by C&C Chevy

btw, if memory serves, swervin (Mike) has a rear sway on his truck...

he removed it when he installed his flip kit. i bought it and have had it on my truck since hellwig makes it

[swervin ervin]

Eric is correctemundo.

To tell you the truth, I really couldn't tell much difference with the rear Hellwig bar. Trucks are so frontend heavy, a front bar makes a huge difference in handling, no matter if lowered or not. Urethane bushings help a lot also. If you were hauling heavy loads, I imagine a rear bar would really help with road walk and such as is probably the reason C30's come with them. My truck is not heavy in the back and will never haul heavy loads so after I flipped the rear I sold the bar to Eric.

My stock front bar is 1-1/16".

[dswancutt]

I think half ton sway bars are 1 1/8, 3/4 and 1 ton are 1 1/4, but don't hold me to that.

[swervin ervin]

Nope. Stock C10 pickup bars are 1-1/16", or at least mine was. I think C20 bars are 1-1/8" and C30's are 1-1/4".

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by swervin ervin

Nope. Stock C10 pickup bars are 1-1/16", or at least mine was. I think C20 bars are 1-1/8" and C30's are 1-1/4".

That is correct. The C20 bar will work just fine under a C10 as long as you use the larger bushings and clamps.

If your truck is severly lowered then you will want to consider either bolting the bushing clamps to the frame and eliminate the frame stands, or buy the ECE stands that are much flatter than the stock ones.

Here is a "how to" in the FAQ forum written by TX Firefighter-In here

[dh81k30]

My C10 has a 1.25 inch bar from a C20 Suburban. New tires, shocks, and this bar ( originally did not have a front bar )totally transformed the way the truck drives and handles.

[bigblock73]

Here is another good article

http://www.delbridge.net/sway

[eagle23]

Originally Posted by Slonaker

AFAIK, there are not any rear bars that are a bolt-in. I would like to be proven wrong, though, because that would be a great solution.

Slonaker

Actually, it's pretty close to bolt-in.

I put a front bar from a 3/4 ton on my 77 1/2 ton, and it made a HUGE difference. It corners much flatter than before. I got the bar off ebay, and bought the front brackets from the dealer.

I also put a rear bar on it from an '89 Burb 1/2 ton, but I don't know what year they started using them. My brother had an '83 Burb diesel years ago that did not have the rear bar. I had to drill two holes in the rear frame (1 per side) to mount it, and used the factory axle brackets to attach it to the rear axle. Whether that would work from a C20 or C30 I do not know, since I think they use larger axle housings? Someone else would know this.

The rear bar is delightful and really flattens the cornering. I can see whay they use them on camper specials. My only warning is that it makes the truck handling more "neutral", so when I haul a bedload of firewood, topsoil etc, I make sure to enter turns slower. Sounds like the obvious thing to do anyway but I don't want the back end coming around on me. Probably it's more likely on a wet road than a dry one. I drove an old Porsche 356 decades ago that was notorious for having the back end swing around, so maybe I'm too gun shy Ervin, you're probably right about our trucks being so front heavy that I shouldn't worry, but old scars...

As for shocks, I went with Edelbrock...huge difference, and really even more effective at controlling initial lean (like a lane change) than the bars. I highly recommend them. I have Gabriel Hi-jackers on the back (air shocks) and the Edelbrocks are a great match for actual "damping". Before, the KYB's I had on the front were so much softer than the Gabriels (even when virtually uninflated) that the front end would "bob" slightly when crossing a speed bump, as though the rear axle served as a pivot point. The Edelbrocks ride at least as good as anything else, so near as I can tell you give up nothing in ride.

Total, the combo of the bars and shocks dramatically changed how the truck handle. It's really fun when empty, and just requires "adult supervision" [not always available ] when driving the truck when it's fully loaded.

Brian

[Slonaker]

I'll have to start looking under Suburbans, then, at the junkyard.

Slonaker