The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk sway bar install? - chevy duty - '54 1/2 ton

Just ordered a front sway bar kit from ChevyDuty for my 54 1/2...

anyone have any experience installing this that could give me some pointers...

save some knuckles..

Thanks

I just installed a front sway bar on my 51,3100 two weeks ago. took a little more then an hour,very easy to install,no drilling needed.The sway bar is a good improvment in handling well worth it. good luck. old navy 51..........

Thanks for the input brother...looking forward to the handling improvement

Ditto for Old Navy 51's comment. Chevy Duty will fax you the instruction sheet if it was inadvertently left out of the kit.

You will love the improvement in the steering!

does it make hitting the pot-holes feel softer?

i doubt it would.

is anybody running a rear sway bar also?

wonder if i could get one for my one ton panel?

tony'n weatherford

Chevy Duty said they are on back order for a week or so...guess that means they probably work..I'll being waiting to see...would like a back one too

Try ,patricks ,I got mine from them in five days, also ,I WENT FOR THE HEAVY DUTY TIE ROD AND TIE ROD ENDS ,AND NEW ROLLER WHEEL BEARINGS ,MY TRUCK HANDLES LIKE A NEW TRUCK, OLD NAVY 51 ...............

Alright everyone, got my sway bar today and yup, no instructions..Called them and they emailed some to me..They definitely are very basic..the picture doesn't show much, and there are two kinds of brackets,a mounting plate adapter and a lower connectiong link bracket..the thing is, they don't tell you which is which..was trying to lay this thing out before crawling under the truck...Looks like it's trial and error time until I figure which goes where

Tony N' Weatherford---- I put a heavy duty sway bar from Patrick's on my one ton about a year ago. It really helped the control ( stock front end). At that time, Patrick's didn't sell a 1 ton bar. After talking to him i decided to order what he had and do some modifing. It was simple; all I had to do was make 2 new mounting plates for the u-bolt connections out of 3/8 plate, adjusting the holes to fit and as I recall, that's all there was to it. It is definately worth the effort. Don

Hey Blacksmithdon..Does that plate that fastens to the front u-bolts connect to both of them on each side? If so, I've got it figured out, except for trying to get the nuts broke loose..into the WD40 stage now, I've already had too many hernias..Thanks
Oh, and by the way, those also hold the lower shock mount, will it come off when I take off the nuts?

The way mine is set up is like this : I made a new plate with a different hole pattern or spacing (appearently the 1 ton has wider springs than a 1/2 ton). I removed the two front u-bolt nuts, leaving the shock mount plate right where it was and placed the sway bar plate onto the u-bolts and then reblaced the nuts that I took off. The sway bar ends are attached to the new plate with two rods and some neoprane bushings. If you are installing on a stock 1/2 ton , you probably don't need to make a plate. Try PB Blaster (walmart) or Kroil on the nuts before you work on them; let the oil soak a few days if they are really stuck.Don

Thanks Don, but it looks like the plate will hit on part of the lower shock mount edge if I put it on the way it is...Been soaking them with WD, and went and bought a breaker bar...One broke loose and the others are stubborn..guess I'll shoot them every couple hours and let them soak overnight and try again

Sway bar installed...Sure wish I had a garage and an impact wrench...But, a breaker bar and a 3' piece of pipe will get those u-bolt nuts off..Sure am happy with the results though

Regarding the rear A/S bar, I put one on my '89 half ton Suburban several years ago. It took just an hour or two and went easily. I don't recall any drilling, but it sure tamed the rear end of that thing.

I got the heaviest duty one I could find.

Been dealing with front sway bar, but was looking at putting on a rear also

Need the instructions, guys. Got mine from Patrick's, no instructions. Please email, as it's after hours in AZ. Looks like extra parts to me!?!

hey cosmo, when you get yours installed how about some 1-2-3 type pix of your work,,,make life easier for all of us that may wanna do the same..thanks..Fred

A photo install link:
http://www.classicperform.com/tech_articles/SwayBarChevyTruck/SwayBarChevyTruck.htm

I put one from a '53 panel on my last'49. A friend gave it to me after he put a Mustang II in his panel and it really helped. Had it on in no time.