I just opened the box that contains the Helwig rear swaybar kit. Very interesting and not in a good way. After reading the mounting instructions a very big negative came to light. The bar mounts under the rear axle not on top of it. The mounting brackets hang low and the endlinks are about 10" long. Not a good design to say the least. I plan to look harder at it on Friday and see whay I can do to mount the bar on top and shorten the endlinks. If I can't fab up a suitable way to mount it, then it's not going on and I am on my own to make one.
Question for the 2wd X-Runner owners. Is your rear swaybar above or below the rear axle?
Might end up being the only way to mount it but it sure does not look logical at all. I have either used Hotchkis or made my own bars in the past. Haven't had any time to do any personal fun fab work so I thought I would just buy what's available. Should have known better. Oh well may still be able to salvage it.
Well I went ahead and decided to install the Helwig bar as designed. The more I thought about it the more it makes sense to try it first. Best to get an idea how the truck will react with a rear bar. Heading out for a road test shortly. Overall the desisn of the installation by Helwig looks like 8th grade engineering at best. If the bar makes the improvement in handling I am hoping for I will completely redesign the mounting method. It is a bolt-on system, no drilling or cutting. Beyond that it's cheesy. Now to see how it functions.
aww that sucks, i was interested in the Hellwig sway bars as well. Been think of trying to increase the handling of the truck on on and off ramps. I know it's a truck but anything that make it corner a little flatter would be nice.
does anyone know if you can mount or modify an x-runner rear swaybar to fit on prerunner/4wd d-cabs and a-cabs?
Road test update. After installing the Helwig as designed I finally got a chance to hit the road. As much as I hate the design it actually works quite well. The truck is much more stable, the cab doesn't have that wollowing feel, and feels much more planted in the corners. Our freeway here (I-5) is has very bad ruts. With stock wheels/tires it wasn't too bad. When I up sized to the 285-60's it wanted to tramline (follow the ruts) pretty bad. The rear sway bar has tamed that down. Overall I would say it is a good addition. I do plan to revamp the installation method. A few minor changes will clean up the install and have no loss of clearence. Truck feels much more stable on the on/off ramps.
No. The traction bar is to prevent the leaf springs from warping, allowing the axle to twist under hard acceleration. Has nothing to do with cornering or body roll. I wouldn't worry about the traction bar until you supercharge the motor.
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