Superscrewd, looking forward to seeing the pics of your diff cover. As you can see one winter here and the whole underside is a mess. I took a peek at your gallery, where did you find that hitch cover?

I got a good feeling my bushings will be shot. Anyone certain these are poly bushings? I'm not sure by the cracks in mine. If they are shot I think auto zone has some poly bushings on display, hopefully they have a match. Worst case I'll have to get them from hellwig.

 

Great tip, that was an "issue" I had. I also found that dropping/removing the spare gave me a much more room to work under there. I used a torque wrench (long handle) with an extension to get those locking nuts on, using an impact would be a better way to run them up! Also, dont forget to have your deep well sockets on hand!

Scorpio333-Loosenng the axle u-bolts and rotating the clamps upwards on the axle while bringing those end links down would also bring it more parallel to the ground too, this may make the bushings seat better.

 

Scorp,

got the hitch plug from my brother who manages a Ford store. It a nice solid chuck of rubber, ask your dealer nicely, he may just give you one. I actually had that one on three Supercrews. After looking at Doc's pics I may lower the nuts on the rod ends to level my bar another 1/4 inch, he is right about getting it as parallell as possible. Funny about the deep socket comment, I did my original install all with a 3/4 box wrench, talk about a pain. When I went back a few days later to tighten it all up and recheck the torque, I invested in a new Craftsman 145 piece socket set that included 30 deep six point sockets, in both SAE and Metric. Our trucks have quite a few metric nuts and bolts. So far I have found the tranny pan, caliper bolts and shocks bolts are all metric. I will take the Nikon out there at the crack of dawn and snap a pic of the diff cover, it dried to a real nice finish.

 

Here's the update...I removed the bushings and they don't look good. No local stores have anything close so I had to reuse them, we'll see how they hold up after a week or so. I tried to rotate the axle mounts, but they're pretty much right up against the brake lines. Now with the uprights just hanging through the bar I noticed that they are up against the holes in the bar on the outside side of the truck. Looking at the uprights I can't remember if they are perpendicular at the top or if they were angled at the top a little. In other words if I removed them and turned them around would they then hang straight down through the hole in the bar. Well it's about 20 degrees outside with flurries so I just put the bushings back on and left the bottom nut slightly higher than flush to the end of the upright. I'd be happier if the bar wasn't so angled across the uprights, it's a little higher on the inside than the outside. Anyways thanks for all the pics and advice, it's helped limit my insanity.

 

Scorpio,

I wouldn't worry about the swaybar being level...if your truck ain't lowered the swaybar is probably more inline with your frame. Also the angle of the leaf springs is raised in the rear. Just replace the bushings and you'll be fine...just don't squash them again.


Ed

 

Does anyone have an aftermarket exhaust and the Hel-wig sway bar?
How about a Magna-flow SISO and a Hel-wig out back?

 

The SISO on my '06 I had to rotate the bar down a bit ( have the U bolt pointing more towards the ground ) , so it would not hit the tail pipe.
With the bar in this position, I am starting to bend the end links where the bushings are at.
I ordered the one that mounts to the front instead, to see if it works better. Summit has it on B/O until next week. Once I get it I am going to take some picks of the Helwig, then the Hoskins and post them.

 

Cool, I'd like to see how they both work out.
I'm wrestling with a Belltech right now.
I put some pictures of my trials in my gallery.

 

Maybe I should clairify.
I'm putting a 2 wheel drive Belltech rear sway bar on a 4 wheel drive truck.
I spoke with Belltech on the phone and the Engineering department told me it the 2 wheel drive sway bar would work on my 4 wheel drive truck.
They didn't tell me it would have to be modified to make it work.
Not so pleased with Belltech right now.

 

redelsinore,

That looks like a nightmare fit. My Hellwig is on the UPS truck for delivery. I did notice the axle mounting flanges on the Hellwig do look beefier from the pics I've seen. Good luck.

Ed

 

When Belltech told me, "We will not gurantee that it will work on a 4x4" and I asked, "So you are saying you have done no R&D on it?". They replied, "We cant say it will or will not work for your application sir". Thats when I thanked them and ordered the Hellwig!

I have a JBA exhaust with a Magnaflow and it took a very minor adjustment to make it fit. I have about 2 inches from the bar to the exhaust.

It's been an added handling improvement, but certainly wouldnt want to run it with the softer stock shocks. To be honest, I wish it was a tad smaller in diameter. There is just a touch to much understeer for my taste, but everywhere else it shines. I'm sure with a front end leveling kit (or my future Donahoe front coil overs!) it would be perfect. Really helped lessen the bed shake and makes the truck a blast in the back roads.

 

I got a voice mail from Belltech last night.
They tell me they have a 4X4 coming in and they are going to try to fit a rear sway bar on it.
They will call me when they have the results.
Meanwhile, I'm making my own end links for the Belltech rear bar.
I am interested in what they come up with though.
Can anyone tell me what diameter are the end links on the Helwig bar?

 

I just stuck a caliper on it. It is 0.49" in diameter.
If you are looking for longer end links, you could try try Energy Suspension. They have end link lengths that go to 4.5" ( the distance between the upper mount and the bar, thread length not included ). Nice stuff, I replaced my from end links on my '01 with them, nice bushings and hardware. Don't know if that is enough for what you are looking at. The Hellwig is ~12" of end link distance ( give or take, didn't measure it ).

Good luck.

 

Thanks SSCULLY.
I thought the Helwig end links looked pretty thick.
I'm making a set of .375 dia end links, not sure if they'll stand up to the load.
If not, then I'll make a larger dia set, that is if Belltech doesn't beat me to it.
I should have it together in a few days.
Thanks again for your help with the dimensions.
More to follow in a few days.

 

So it sounds like the Helwig will fit a 4x4. Will there be issues with my Magnaflow SI/DO?