need new style swaybar pics

[canadian]

don't suppose anyone has a newer gmc with the new style sway bar? i need some pictures of how it's mounted under the frame. was looking at the hotchkis website and they appear to have theirs mounted backwards (ie: ends facing the rear of the truck).

on another note, with the sway bar being made for a stock ride height truck, i'm assuming to get the same geometry on a lowered truck i'd have to get new end links that are 2" shorter (with a 2" drop, or would it be more since the sy is already lower?).

i guess i could move the mounting brackets farther away, but without comparing to a stock truck, i can't really say.

thanks

 

[Tydriver]

I have a bar that very CLOSELY resembles the explanation you gave.

I was a participant of the ADDCO BAR GP that was done some time ago.

I know the early bars had issues with fit etc. I can tell you the bar I got from ADDCO is 10x better in design than the ST bar I see being installed. I cant mention it enough BUY THE ADDCO. http://www.addco.net/

The ST bar mounts on the top of the axle/differential and then runs END LINKS to the frame..

The ADDCO bar mounts like a sway bar should, it mounts to the frame and runs end links to the axle, this allows for less unpsrung weight. Not that these things are corner machines anyhow but no sense in adding more unsprung weight when you are adding a bar that supposed to HELP handling.


Also, a recent install on the ST bar and its beating and banging everything to death under the truck, I wont mentioN KEITH RANLY's name (grin) as the truck owner because I told him before to buy the ADDCO and he still insisted on buying the ST, well to this day its still beating the piss out of the rear suspension and creating alot of noise.


In either event my truck is lowered 2-3" and I have the 17x11" ZR-1s on the back and the bar fits great. U can specify the drop dimensions on your order (stock height or dropped), and it will fit any wheels currently in production or currently mounted on a SyTy. If you buy a bar to fit the stock height and later decide to LOWER the truck all it would require is changing of the end links (simple enough to do).

HTH and good luck.

 

[Tydriver]

uh oh....... just re-read yer post again, appears U were looking for a new style truck bar.. Sorry, assumed you were wanting a SyTy bar, please disregard if it doesnt apply to you.


Also, on another note make sure when the bar is mounted that the final installation results in a parallel situation. Meaning make sure the bar is parellel to the frame (or to the ground) so that its sitting level, Everything I have read about swaybars says to ensure for correct operation that how it is to be setup.


Once again, HTH, good luck.

 

[2kwik4u]

Re: need new style swaybar pics

don't suppose anyone has a newer gmc with the new style sway bar? i need some pictures of how it's mounted under the frame. was looking at the hotchkis website and they appear to have theirs mounted backwards (ie: ends facing the rear of the truck).

on another note, with the sway bar being made for a stock ride height truck, i'm assuming to get the same geometry on a lowered truck i'd have to get new end links that are 2" shorter (with a 2" drop, or would it be more since the sy is already lower?).

i guess i could move the mounting brackets farther away, but without comparing to a stock truck, i can't really say.

thanks

Are you talking front or rear??

I have a new style ZQ8 equipped truck that I would me more than happy to take some pics of if you think they would help. It has both a front and rear bar from the factory that has not be altered :yet:

Let me know if you are interested.

Mike D

 

[canadian]

tydriver:

i was in on the original gp of the addco sway bars. i had 2" drop blocks on the truck and it worked fine. switched to the bell tech springs and it's a no go with the addco. might be going on ebay soon.


2kwik4u:

if you could take pics and mail them to the address in my profile, i'd appreciate it!

thanks again for the replies

 

[2kwik4u]

2kwik4u:

if you could take pics and mail them to the address in my profile, i'd appreciate it!

thanks again for the replies

No problem...I will be away from the internet all weekend, but will get them sent out to you promptly monday morning, unless you need them sooner, in which case I could probably round up a few before I leave the office today.

Mike D

 

[Bear Dog]

As Product Manager for both Belltech and Suspension Techniques and holding both sets of rear sway bar instructions in my hand I can tell you the the rear sway bar is designed to be mounted UNDER the rear axle not on top of it. If anyone has a set of instructions with our logo on it that states anything else, I would like to see them. I have a Belltech bar on my Ty (lowered 2") and have no clearance issues at all and will be happy to email pics to anyone that would like to see it. Addco does make a good product and I would like for somebody to send me pics of one of the ADDCO bars installed to see if we can help correct the clearance issues when your Ty is lowered. Also, see my update on the new Ty sway bars. I hope this clears it up.

Eric

 

[GM TURBO]

My ST bars mounts under the axle.

I like it.

It doesn't bang on anything.

I do know the ATR bar mounted OVER the axle.

 

[Tydriver]

As Product Manager for both Belltech and Suspension Techniques and holding both sets of rear sway bar instructions in my hand I can tell you the the rear sway bar is designed to be mounted UNDER the rear axle not on top of it. If anyone has a set of instructions with our logo on it that states anything else, I would like to see them. I have a Belltech bar on my Ty (lowered 2") and have no clearance issues at all and will be happy to email pics to anyone that would like to see it. Addco does make a good product and I would like for somebody to send me pics of one of the ADDCO bars installed to see if we can help correct the clearance issues when your Ty is lowered. Also, see my update on the new Ty sway bars. I hope this clears it up.

Eric

I understand what you are saying but being 'In the Biz' you also oughta understand the benefits of mounting the bar to the frame VS anywhere on the axle, ABOVE OR BELOW IT. When its bolted to the axle its becoming part of the UNSPRUNG weight, which as most performance places mention is BAD. Adding to the UNSPRUNG weight affects: Handling and Ride quality. If you have any input as to the design of this bar you may want to consider something that allows for it to be mounted to the FRAME not to the axle. Unsprung wieght is soo important with performance vehicles, thats partly the reason GM installed Magnesium wheels on the Z06, to help with unsprung weight.

FWIW, when we installed the bar on Keith's truck we followed exactly as the directions indicated, unless they were different for some odd reason they should be exactly as described in the instructions provided. I am not questioning the QUALITY of the overall kit, rather just the design itself, the kit and hardware provided looks exceptional, I just strongly disagree with the idea of attatching the bar to the axle.

:Canadian: Can you explain why the ADDCO bar doesnt fit with lowering springs ? I anticipate changing over to lowering springs and dumping the blocks eventually and want a heads up as to why it doesnt fit with lowering springs.

 

[canadian]

i don't have any pics of the sway bar installed on my sy with the lowering springs. pretty sure daron knows that it won't fit 100%. do a search for lowering springs and it's in that topic.

the main reason i want to go with the newer gm style is:

* i like how the brackets are attached to the frame for the end links.
* the end links themselves are beefier.

i did not like how the addco endlinks simply screwed through the frame on both sides. the only thing holding it all together was a grade 8 nut and bolt. i personally have seen this bolt bend on another sy which made me leery of going back to that style of end link.

i'll try to get pics up tonight of the newer style sway bar and how the end links are set up.

2kwik4u:

if you can snap a couple quick pics tonight i'd appreciate it.

 

[Tydriver]

i did not like how the addco endlinks simply screwed through the frame on both sides. the only thing holding it all together was a grade 8 nut and bolt. i personally have seen this bolt bend on another sy which made me leery of going back to that style of end link.

Not to beat a dead horse, perhaps the SYCLONE bar is different, but NOWHERE on my ADDCO bar does the endlinks attatch to ANYTHING except the axle.

I cant understand why the SY bar would be soo much different. I'm going to see if I can find the directions that came with my ADDCO. The bar I have installs ON THE FRAME RAILS and the end links attatch at the axle near the wheels where the leaf spring attatch braketry is. I will go snap some pics if I have to.. I am wondering if you have the OLD STYLE bar and not the one that was updated for the very most RECENT GP.

 

[Tydriver]

Ok boys and girls, here it is:

Canadian, I think I can see where you would possibly run into an issue with the lowered spring deal. You are referring to it hitting on the springs just forward of the axle ??

Yes ??????

 

[canadian]

my addco is from the first gp ever. they did the prototype over here on doug's old typhoon, then once that was all done they had the initial group purchase. you had to specify if you had stock ride height or a lowered truck, a typhoon or a syclone.

the one i had was like most other sway bars. the bar attached to the rear axles like the xtreme does with the end links pointing towards the front of the truck. here's the picture of mine from russ bland's site. plus it mounts under the rear axle.

http://www.syclone.freeserve.co.uk/web/addco.jpg


off topic, but what ever happened to russ?

 

[Mad Mike]

ST bar on a Typhoon

 

[Tydriver]

my addco is from the first gp ever. they did the prototype over here on doug's old typhoon, then once that was all done they had the initial group purchase. you had to specify if you had stock ride height or a lowered truck, a typhoon or a syclone.

the one i had was like most other sway bars. the bar attached to the rear axles like the xtreme does with the end links pointing towards the front of the truck. here's the picture of mine from russ bland's site. plus it mounts under the rear axle.

http://www.syclone.freeserve.co.uk/web/addco.jpg

Ahhhhhh makes perfect sense to me then, that bar is just like the ST Bar, mounting to the axle is an ASS way to do it. If you look at the front of the truck then you will see the preferred way on 99% of new vehicles is to have the frame mount to the bar and then endlinks out to each wheel. I can tell you that there was a GP after the one you mention and Addco worked with one of the SyTy'ers here to redesign the bar. THEY NO LONGER SELL the bar that you have they replaced it with the bar I have pictured in that scan of the directions. Same thing they want to know about ride height and also about Sy or Ty. You may want to check with them as the new bar is the best out there for the SYTY land (atleast if you subscribe to mounting it to the frame vs the axle), at the moment.

Daron and I had a debate on this along time ago and I understand what you are saying about it hitting, that was COMMON on the OLD STYLE bar and NOT at all a problem on the new bar, in fact, I went out to my garage and looked at my truck, I am quite sure it should even clear WITH LOWERING SPRINGS. Best part of all is, it was $105 shipped on the GP.

off topic, but what ever happened to russ?

I assume you are talking about RUSS BLAND ?? He sold his Syclone quite some time ago and moved into another truck. I think its been like a year and a half or so, possibly almost 2 years ago now.

 

[truckins10]

Todd, I was in the latest GP of the Addco swaybar and Mine wasnt mounted the way your picture has it. Are they a different setup on a Typhoon or didn't I install it correctly??? The instuctions were definitly no help at all with those terrible pics. Anyone got a picture of the Addco bar mounted on a Syclone?? Also I know for a fact that this back will not work with Belltech drop springs, for anyone wondering. I was wondering if you could shorten the bracket where the endlinks bolt to to give more travel clearance for the belltech spring?? This might just be enough to prevent the endlink from contacting the leaf spring(which it does).

By the way Todd, thanks for all the advice on the LS1 rear disc brake install. I put them in and they work nice, got the ABS workind and the E-brake. But Ive noticed that the pedal does drop(almost like an ABS event) and vibrate slightly and only for a moment when braking hard from speeds above 60mph?? I know its not the abs kicking in, was wondering if you experianced anything like this??? Im thinking it could be the E-brake shoes possible vibrating inside the disc assembly??? Sorry for getting off topic....

Fern Sy#477

 

[Tydriver]

Todd, I was in the latest GP of the Addco swaybar and Mine wasnt mounted the way your picture has it. Are they a different setup on a Typhoon or didn't I install it correctly??? The instuctions were definitly no help at all with those terrible pics. Anyone got a picture of the Addco bar mounted on a Syclone?? Also I know for a fact that this back will not work with Belltech drop springs, for anyone wondering. I was wondering if you could shorten the bracket where the endlinks bolt to to give more travel clearance for the belltech spring?? This might just be enough to prevent the endlink from contacting the leaf spring(which it does).

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead::banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Well this is what I am trying to tell people. I think people are getting confused, the GP I participated in was one I think LEWIS STRAUGHN put together. I was under the understanding that ADDCO redesigned the bars for that GP since there was lack of interest in their bars before because they had issues and mounted like the ST bar does. There were like 15-20 participants in that GP and I never EVER heard of a problem with anyone's bars from THAT GP. Through the years there have been 2 different Typhoon bars from Addco (not related to lowering the truck, the only difference in lowering dealt with the length of the end links).

I dont know nor have I seen a Syclone equipped with the latest style bar however I DO KNOW they were offered in the same GP. What I am wondering is, if due to the gas tank location on the Syclone if possibly that has an issue or caused the bar to be different than the Typhoon bar ?? I dont own a Syclone so I never ordered a bar for it or ever saw a truck equipped with the NEW STYLE BAR.

I haven't seen anyone mention any issues the NEW DESIGN on either a lowered or stock height truck with ANY WHEEL available. I know there were issues that existed for the OLD BAR, but since its no longer offered I dont think if you were to order one now it would cause problems.

By the way Todd, thanks for all the advice on the LS1 rear disc brake install. I put them in and they work nice, got the ABS workind and the E-brake. But Ive noticed that the pedal does drop(almost like an ABS event) and vibrate slightly and only for a moment when braking hard from speeds above 60mph?? I know its not the abs kicking in, was wondering if you experianced anything like this??? Im thinking it could be the E-brake shoes possible vibrating inside the disc assembly??? Sorry for getting off topic....

Fern Sy#477

NO, I haven't experienced any issues with my swap, PM me and we can talk about it, I wanna try to keep this ON TOPIC if possible.

 

[canadian]

i appreciate all the comments on the sway bars. sounds like the old style sucked ass compared to the new style. i do have a new style GM sway bar with all the associated hardware so i can't see buying yet another sway bar (although having more than one of the same part has never stopped me before).

i'm going to try this new version eventually and if it doesn't work, i'll switch. i still can't come around to then end link design though. i guess the new style mounts it better with less chance of bending the bolt, since i've never heard of anyone doing it.

might be time for people to check it out and see if they have any issues with it. i don't see it being a problem with this new version, the old one i can since to get everything to line up properly half the time the end links attached to the frame were at an angle.

 

[Daron]

Addco..

I've installed numerous Addcos on Typhoons and they all worked well with stock height springs. Once springs with less of an arch are used ( lowering springs) the clearance between the sway bar and the spring is reduced considerably. This distance varies with springs but I can tell you for sure the ADDCO will hit the spring at some point. Mine contacted at any bump. Bob Hoop's Ty is pretty much always hitting ADDCO against the spring. Look at the instructions; putting the bar in the compression travel range of the spring is less than desirable, especially when the ST bar works well at a similar cost and doesnt have this problem. I heard from an insider that the only difference between the old bar and new is end link length. Which rings true since the supplied end links were so long there was no way on earth they would work. Fortunately pep boys sells ADDCO end links of various sizes... Anyway, I aint bangin on ADDCO since their bar works awesome on a stock truck. I just dont reccomend anyone using it in a lowered application that uses springs instead of blocks.

Good luck,
Daron

 

[Tydriver]

Addco..

I've installed numerous Addcos on Typhoons and they all worked well with stock height springs. Once springs with less of an arch are used ( lowering springs) the clearance between the sway bar and the spring is reduced considerably. This distance varies with springs but I can tell you for sure the ADDCO will hit the spring at some point. Mine contacted at any bump. Bob Hoop's Ty is pretty much always hitting ADDCO against the spring. Look at the instructions; putting the bar in the compression travel range of the spring is less than desirable, especially when the ST bar works well at a similar cost and doesnt have this problem. I heard from an insider that the only difference between the old bar and new is end link length. Which rings true since the supplied end links were so long there was no way on earth they would work. Fortunately pep boys sells ADDCO end links of various sizes... Anyway, I aint bangin on ADDCO since their bar works awesome on a stock truck. I just dont reccomend anyone using it in a lowered application that uses springs instead of blocks.

Good luck,
Daron

My only question for you Daron is, have you installed any of the NEW BARs from ADDCO ? Well its funny how the world works. I know Jeff's bar (the ST) makes noises on his truck and I dont even want to think about KEITH's bar, he is at stock ride height/wheels etc and its beating itself to death (also the ST bar), both were installed as per the directions included. And on the other hand I havent had a single bit of problems with my bar on my truck, installed like cake, everything lined up and works as advertised. ROFL Oh well chalk it upto on of 'THOSE THINGS' I guess.... So sounds like to me the swaybar world is still a crapshoot.