rear sway bar

[eric.s.t]

has anyone put a rear sway bar on their trucks? ive been thinking about it because i want to lower the truck, but its gonna be a high performance motor... do they help alot ? or just a waste of money... ?

 

[MOBS]

They help, but not as much as front bars do.....I'd look into using salvage yard bars and parts to fab up your kit, I personally don't see the need to pay the big bucks for a brand new rear kit.

 

[bowtie-till-i-die]

the tahoes and suburbans have rear bars stock....has any1 measured the frame width? these tahoes and burbans are all over junkyard I just havent measured 1 to see if it would bolt right up

 

[sewlow]

the tahoes and suburbans have rear bars stock....has any1 measured the frame width? these tahoes and burbans are all over junkyard I just havent measured 1 to see if it would bolt right up

They bolt on. You will need the brackets on the frame, & the nuts & bolts that go with them. The nuts are specific. They have a 'pointer' on them to prevent them from turning inside the frame. Without those, it's a major PITA to get a wrench in there to hold them while you tighten the bolt. I'd say damn near impossible.
The factory shock brackets have an extra provision for the sway bar, when factory equipped. They are not removeable.
You will need to purchase 2, 3" heavy duty, extra long muffler clamps, & a set of bushings & shells for a sway bar of the size you are using. Prothane, as well as other Co.'s make 'em & are pretty well available at any parts store. The ones that I got had slotted holes, & fit the muffler clamps perfectly. You can use the originals, but they are not wide enough to fit the clamps, so you will have to drill a hole in the flat part of the muffler clamp, & bolt that on before you mount it to the rear end, as there is no way to get the bolt in there once it's on the rear housing.
Assemble the bar, with the uprights, & frame bracketry. When I did this, I also purchased new urethane bushings for the end links. The factory ones are one piece, but the urethane ones are two piece. Had to figure out which ones had the right I/D & O/D. Pretty easy to get. Parts counter guy was a great help.
O.K. Now slide the 'C' part of the M/C's in between the open area of the shock mount, slide the other half on, then the bushings & shells, which you've already slipped onto the sway bar. One M/C will be facing forward, the other towards the back. Do not tighten. Just put the nuts on the M/C's enough to hold things in place. They should be snug, but still able to adjust the sway bar position.
Adjust the bar so that it is as parallel to the housing, as you can get it. You may have to do a bit of grinding of the inner part of the shock mount to achieve this. Or a little on the M/C flat piece.
Raise the end links with the brackets on, up to the frame. You're gonna need a second person to hold things in place while you do this. Position the brackets so that the end links, (they look like dog bones) are straight up and down, when the frame bracket is against the frame. Mark the holes in the frame bracket on the frame. I got lucky on mine. Two of the four holes that need to be drilled were already there.
Drilling the holes is a major PITA!!! Be prepared to have HOT shards of metal to be going down your collar & sleeves! IIRC the passsenger side is the hard one to drill, because you have to go through 2 layers of steel. One layer is the where the upper shock mount attaches to the frame. The sway bar brackets mount so that the dog bones are straight up & down, & requires the removal of a big rivet. Otherwise the sway bar bracket will not fit against the frame flat. Or...you can drill a hole in the bracket so that it fits around the big rivet.
Now remove the end links from the bar, & from the frame brackets. Drill the holes required. Mount the frame bracket, with the specific nuts & bolts that you got from the donor. They can be torqued down. Attach the dog bones to the installed frame brackets, followed by the bar to the dog bones.
Adjust the bar so that it is parallel to the housing, & torque down the muffler clamps. DONE!!!

Here's a pic of the sway bar frame bracket that we had to make for an aftermarket sway bar that I got at the wreckers. It didn't come with these. Been thinking about painting the tips just a very small amount in red!

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[Anvil 14]

I was just looking at a 1500 Chev Suburban because I wanted to put a rear swaybar on my 2500 Chev Suburban. I like swaybars . I was always putting them on my Camaros and Mustangs when I was autocrossing.At the local pick and pull I found the 1500 'Burb (swaybar under axle). But then I spotted a one ton service truck with a BIG swaybar over the axle. I intend to tow with my 2500 'Burb. Would the one ton rear swaybar be too much? By the way, my '94 'Burb did not have it stock. Awesome info sewlow58!Thanks!