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How To: Rear Sway Bar Install


Cramer

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Ok here is a "How To" on a Hellwig 7800 Adjustable Rear Sway Bar Kit.

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I decided to go with this kit for one being the price, and for two the adjustability of it.

Total time to install was 3hrs, with some of the time spent on wire wheeling and painting some of the rear of the frame and components.

 

Tools needed:

Factory spare tire remover if the spare is still under the truck.

Jack with the capacity to raise the rear.

Jack stands with the capacity to support the weight.

Creeper or cardboard to crawl under the truck.

Ratchet, Wrenches, Sockets, and a Impact of Air Ratchet. (Sockets and wrenches 3/4" and 11/16")

Hammer

Bench vise or press

 

Start by chocking the front wheels, and raise the rear of the truck up enough to get yourself under there. Put jack stands under the rear axle as far out as possible. Make sure the truck is stable and safe to work under.

 

Remove the spare tire if you still have it under the bed.

 

Start assembling the components of the sway bar:

The kit has adjustable end links and a "D" shaped bushing that will need greased with the grease included in the kit.

Apply some grease to the inside of the end link eyelets, and apply some grease to the inside and outside of the "hourglass" bushings that are for the end links.

*note: Clean about half of the threads on the male end link with a bench grinder mounted wire wheel, or some other method of cleaning the paint from the threads. *

Install the "hourglass" bushings in the end link eyelets like so:

 

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I used a vise to install mine, but a press or hammer can also work.

After the bushings are installed in the end links, install the metal bushings inside of the poly bushings. Use a little grease on the outside of the sleeve, and tap them in with a hammer till the sleeve is centered in the bushing.

Apply the lock bolts on the male end links, and thread them about a half inch into the female end link. Use some grease on the threads or some anti-seize to prevent galling the threads and rusting.

 

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Now move on to the sway bar bushing. The "D" bushing will be placed on the flat spots in between the rear arm and the center hump. Grease the inside and outside of the bushings, and spread them apart and install on to the sway bar. Make sure when you install the sway bar, the drop in the center of the sway bar faces down.

 

Now crawl under the rear of the truck taking notice to the pass side of the differential. There is a plastic clip style support that holds your brake line and e-brake cable. Lift up on the top part of this and pull the clip off of the axle tube. Using a little bit of pressure, pull the brake line out a little bit (1/4")

 

Gather your parts for the first set of brackets, and sway bar and get them in position for easy reaching under the truck. The parts are the 2 1/2" u-bolts with the nuts and washers, set of axle brackets that do not have the brackets welded to them, and the sway bar bushing bracket that has the hump in it. *Remember that the drop in the sway bar needs to be facing down*

 

Place the u-bolts on top of the axle about 2" from the end of the differential center section. Make sure that there are no lines or hoses under them. Now take the axle tube bracket and slide it on to the u-bolt followed by the bushing bracket and put (1) washer and (1) nut on the drive shaft side of the u-bolt leaving the front side of the brackets hanging. Do the same to the other side of the axle.

When both sides have the brackets hanging, put one side of the sway bar up to the brackets and clamp the bushing in to the bracket and slide it on to the u-bolt followed by another wahser and nut. Repeat the same on the other side of the axle. Leave the brackets enough play to move around but still on the loose side.

Center the sway bar to the rear end by using the differential bolts and a center point, and adjust the u-bolts and sway bar bushings in the center of the flat spot on the sway bar.

 

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Now on to the rear of the sway bar:

 

Install the other set of u-bolts on top of the upper frame cross member making sure not to have any wires or lines under them. They should be placed right next to the exhaust hanger on the pass side and between the shock mount and frame on the drivers side.

Grab the other set of brackets, 4 washers, and 4 lock nuts. Place the brackets into the u-bolts followed by the washers and bolts. These bolts are a PITA to do with a ratchet due to them being a picnhed style nut. I used my little 3/8" impact to run the nuts up and left enough play to be able to adjust the brackets. Do the same to the other side.

 

Now grab the end links, bolts, washers, and nuts.

Install the top half of the end links first. The top of the end links are the part with the threads on the outside. Now bring the sway bar up to the end links and verify that the end link is to the outside (between the frame and sway bar) of the sway bar. Once the brackets are adjusted to the correct distance lining up to the sway bar, check over the front of the sway bar making sure that there is nothing interfearing with the sway bar. Make sure the axle brackets are parallel to the frame, and still centered on the axle and the bushings are still in the center of the sway bar.

 

Tighten the front u-bolts to 45lbft with a torque wrench, and apply a second nut to each bolt head and tighten them down.

 

Now raise the rear of the sway bar back up to the end links. You can start out by adjusting the end links to mount to the rear most hole of the sway bar. You will be checking for 3 things here. First is the end link should be vertical to the frame if looking from the back to front, while also lining up with the outside of the sway bar. Second is the sway bar should be parallel to the frame. Thirs is that the end link should be mounted at a 90* angle to the frame and sway bar. To ge the end link to mount vertical to the sway bar, you might have to rotate the bracket to the front or rear of the truck while adjusting the end link up or down by turning the female end link clockwise or counter clockwise.

 

They should look like this when done:

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Once everything is mounted and checked for enough clearance between everything, start tightening the rear down. Torque the u-bolts to 40lbft, as well as the top bolts on the end links. Check the alignment of the sway bar as mentioned earlier and adjust accordingly if needed to get the sway bar and end link close to a 90* angle to eachother.

Now torque down the lower bolts to 40lbft.

 

Jack the rear of the truck up and remove the lack stands and lower the truck. Verify that the sway bar isnt binding up, and that it's not hitting anything under the truck. This can be done by jumping up and down in the bed and listening to anything that may seem out of place. Now raise the truck back up and place the jack stands back under it. Take a look at the sway bar and everything around it to see if it was rubbing on anything. Also double check all the nuts and bolts making sure they are all torqued down.

 

Install the spare tire if you have one. You will have to put it up at an angle on one side to clear the lower end link bolt. Crank the tire up till it's tight, and drop the truck back down.

 

Here is the final outcome.

 

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You might notice that in one of the last pics the tail pipe is missing....... I got the urge to cut it off to see what the sound would be since I was about to take the duals off and put my Borla and e-cutout on. Well it sounds nasty with the cam. I am gonna keep the exhaust like this with the exception of 2 turn downs welded on the end of it to keep it from echoing through the truck. Then it will come off when I put the turbo on and the other exhaust will go on then.

 

A couple things I would like to mention:

 

**** I take no responsibility for installation errors, missing data, anything that breaks, or accidents caused by this!!!****

If you are tackling this, you should have the knowledge to check things over and also read the directions given in the kit from the manufacture.

Yes the truck is dirty, and needs some love on the frame. They will be done, and done right when I pull the bed off to do the fuel pump and some other suspension upgrades..... (Stay Tuned for this)

 

Review of the parts and handling:

 

Fitment of the kit to the SSS was about a 8.5 out of a 10.

Quality of materials in the kit was about a 8 out of 10.

Handling without any modifications to the sway bar after install so far is a 9 out of 10. This is due to the fact that the truck is so much stiffer on the roads and if you have ever driven on a road in Ohio, you know how they are grooved out, bumpy, and alot of pot holes to make the truck wander a little. But you can feel the difference in cornering and taking a on/off ramp at a higher speed. It has virturally no rear end roll or lean coming out of a turn while giving it some gas.

 

Over all the kit IMHO is a 9.5 out of 10. Cost of the kit was a huge plus, and the fact that it's adjustable made my decision on the kit a no brainer. :driving:

Edited by sinr98 (see edit history)
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FYI I do know this will work with the stock routing of the tailpipe. I had this all bolted up and took it down the road with the tailpipe on it.

 

I do not know what exhaust systems will and will not work with this sway bar kit.

 

 

 

Thanks for the props guys! :thumbsup:

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Ok a little update on the performance.

 

It has been raining alot here in Ohio and the roads have been covered with standing water where it usually is on my way to work. I usually get a little hydroplane action when I hit these spots.

 

I saw a few spots on the road coming up that normally I take a little precaution on, but I decided to see if the sway bar would make a difference. The first test was on the drivers side with water about 2" deep (guessing) going 55mph. The front wandered a little bit, but the rear stayed planted and didn't give me any movement to correct in the steering. The next spot was on the pass side. Prob about the same size as the first, but the road is on a steeper runoff angle. The result was almost the exact same as the other side.

 

 

Also I firmed up the adjustments on the rear, and wow. It is almost to firm for my current setup. I took the setting back to where I had it to start with as it feels perfect for the roads I drive on, and with my current suspension setup.

 

Next week I will be doing some more testing after some little goodies go on it.

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