The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Front AD Swaybar installed!

For those of you who haven't put on a front sway bar on your AD truck you may want to check out the pics of my install on page 13 of my webshots "shoebox".

The Classic Parts bar came with NO INSTRUCTIONS! There was a manufacturers number to call and they mention liability....wouldn't you know it?

However, the unassisted install was a piece of cake. Didn't jack up the truck...popped off the nuts holding the shock mount and axle to the spring....unhooked the gas shock....slide on the control link mounting plate and shock mount bracket and retorqued the bolts. Did this one side at a time. Hooked up the control links, slide on the front mounting hardware, lifted up the bar and the holes I needed were already in the frame!!! This was a major pleasant shock. Torqued down the mounts...jacked up the body to tuck in the gas shocks and I was good to go.

Easiest install I've ever done on a straight axle. In addition it's tucked up between the frame rails and the bar is 1-1/8" diameter.
Hope this helps.

Well, sounds good. Did it make a difference in the way she handles?

To be totally honest, I haven't driven her yet..just put it on this morning...UPS dropped off the box at 10:30...the bar was on in an hour......gotta get a sandwich first!!!! However, I've used them on other straight axle trucks and the difference is amazing. This bar was the heaviest I've installed, so know the body roll will be history!!! Have already added the rear bar which made a noticeable difference.

That's interesting! The components are virtually identical however, the manufacturers comment card was to "ADDCO" manufacturing Co. in Linville, N.C. (ADDCO.net)

They stated on a mail-in comment card "that ADDCO does not supervise the installation of your kit, ADDCO's liability is limited to the cost of the kit. However, if there is a problem with installation, call ADDCO directly at 1-800-621-8916."

You don't suppose that this product is actually manufactured in the good ole USA?

I can't say where the sway bar is made but Product Liability was most certainly made in the good ol' USA (unfortunately)

If it weren't for that and givaway juries the sway bar would only cost $50.

The suburbans came with a sway bar stock. The modern ones are copies of that bar.

Nice pics of the sway bar Dave, thanks for the report. But how does it affect the originality of the truck? I'm trying to be the eternal purest when it comes to restoring my truck to its original condition. I hang with a few hot rodders and we have a lot of arguments on the subject of originality. There is a gray area when you try to define “original condition”, and it has to do with time and evolution. Do you mean out the factory door, out the dealer’s door, a year after the owner’s had the vehicle, 5years later, in other words, original to what time period?
I wonder just how many vehicles remained completely factory stock after the customer got hold of them. Not many I’ll bet. Heck I worked in the parts department of a Chevy dealership in the late 50’s and sold a lot of accessories and ordered aftermarket accessories from Western Tire and the Auto parts stores that people wanted installed on their newly acquired rides. There is nothing in the book that says that the guy that bought his new Chevy truck in 1950 couldn’t add a few accessories. He surely would have added a couple of mirrors, probably sun visors and maybe an outside awning over the windshield and a spotlight. Turn signals were a must after he had it for a couple of years and the right hand taillight to go along with them. The bumper guards and the fog lights came in handy to push start the neighbor’s car the night the temperature dropped to –15°. Warshawski and Warshawski was going strong by the mid 50’s and our owner probably paid a visit to their catalog when a few extra bucks came his way. Sure was dark when he opened the door at night so he slipped in a couple of accessory lights under the dash when the door opened. So what constitutes an original restoration anyway.
My rule of thumb is not to bend, cut, weld on, burn off, drill out, in short, do no harm to anything on the original frame or body. The addition of a part like the sway bar or bars is a nice “Accessory” to add to the old gal and when I get her up to snuff it’s no doubt one I will incorporate.
Gotta go make breakfast now!
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

p.s. Dave why don't you give us a report on the handleing characteristics of the truck after adding the sway bar?
Also where did you get the rear bar?
Denny Graham

"After I lost control and wiped out that Mercedes".....naw, it worked great! Most noticeable around town.....no body roll at all. At 50 mph you get a little lean but nothing like without the bar. Well worth the bucks!

The rear bar came off a Caramo IROC-Z (88)..a little heavier than the stock Camaro bar. It is basically a bolt-on for the AD...had to drill a couple holes in the frame for the control links. There is a direct correlation between bar diameters and a vehicles tendency to over/under steer, but seeing that I am limiting my slalom racing, it will make the AD a whole lot more enjoyable to drive.

NOTE: the Camaro diff has 2-5/8" axle tubes so the mounting brackets might have to be tweaked a bit to bolt onto a 3" tube differential. I mount the rear bars on top of the axle and use the Camaro control links. Most Camaro rear bars can be had for $20.00 from u-pull-it. Hope this helps.