Sway bar question

[Chiefdan]

While waiting to be able to post here I did a lot of searching and found that almost everyone recommends adding a sway bar. I have a 1967 Shortbed stepside with 350/350, power steering and front discs. I replaced the old 6 cyl front springs and found a complete 1 1/16 sway bar for $50. Even the rubber bushings looked good so I installed it using directions from this forum. Now I see that you should tighten everything with the suspension under load and I did it with the truck on jackstands. Did I preload the sway bar by doing this? Should I put the truck on ramps and loosen and retighten the front bushings or won't it make any difference. Thanks guys.

[Davidf]

It is not a question of preloading the bar, but rather causing the mount bushings to be twisted and thus in a stressed state while the truck is just sitting in it's normal position (ie. no suspension deflection). So, simply loosen the mount brackets (all) while the truck is on the ground and then retighten/torque them.

[Chiefdan]

Originally Posted by Davidf

It is not a question of preloading the bar, but rather causing the mount bushings to be twisted and thus in a stressed state while the truck is just sitting in it's normal position (ie. no suspension deflection). So, simply loosen the mount brackets (all) while the truck is on the ground and then retighten/torque them.

Thank you David, that's what I needed. I loosened all the bolts, jumped on the bumper a few times and tightened everything up again. Looks the same but I feel better knowing it is done right.