Stabilizer Bar
Stabilizer / Sway bar for Chevy Pickup
This is the easiest way to see a giant difference in the handling of a vehicle. This sway bar was taken from a junked 1980 Chevy pickup truck from a wrecking yard. I payed $10 for it and the brackets. The new rubber bushings (2 pr.) were just $3.99 per pair from Auto Zone. A sway bar was an option for my '79 Chevy Pickup. Unfortunately, the original owner opted not to have one, the $50.00 increase in price was too much I guess. Well, after 23 years, the truck received what it deserved, better handling around turns, nearly like a sports car. This bar really stiffens up the front suspension. I do not have to slow down nearly as much while driving through curves in a road or turning.
The holes where the brackets bolt onto the frame were already pre-drilled from the factory. No drilling was necessary.
The following pictures show the installed sway/stabilizer bar with new rubber bushings and bolts holding the bar in place.
The bigger brackets (actually attached to the frame) were originally riveted onto the frame of the trucks equipped with a sway bar. This makes it very tough to retrieve these two brackets from the donor vehicle. A big titanium drill bit was used (with cordless drill, due to no electric in wrecking yard) to drill out the big old rivets. New 3/8" by 1 1/2" bolts were used in place of rivets for installation. Drilling out the two rivets for each of the two brackets was the most difficult part of the entire project. Again, holes were already predrilled in the correct places from the factory on all frames. Therefore, placement for these brackets did not require any measuring.
Please ignore the signs of fluid leaks. This was done when my old wore-out 350 engine was in the truck. Gotta 383 Stroker in her now. www.delbridge.net/install
Go to the 383 intallation site
Go to www.delbridge.net
The following pictures were taken of the lower control arms prior to application of the bar. It is very easy to imagine the 'body roll' of the vehicle during turns. The lower control arms freely move too far up and down while turning.
