Sway bars for '60-62: I DID IT!! Woo-Hoo!

[Brad54]

For those of us who have '60-62 trucks, we know there are no sway bars available for them.

Until fairly recently, there were no drop spindles, disk brake kits or even dual reservoir conversions.

I've tried three times in the last 5 years to have sway bars made for our trucks. Yesterday, while picking up an order of 50 bars for '54-'56 Buicks (another project I've been working on), we finally did the final prototype for sway bars for our T-bar trucks.
1 1/8-inch, only four holes to drill in the frame rails, and it seems to clear everything--no small feat given the tight turning radius of these trucks.
I drove the prototype home over 250 miles yesterday, and have run around town a bit in it today... damn, talk about a night-and-day difference in handling!

This is with the t-bars cranked down to lower the front of the truck a couple inches.
Hopefully next week I'll be ordering the rest of the front suspension rebuild parts I need (I've been picking up bits whenever I can find them cheap... like $50 for a pair of ball joints rather than $125 EACH, etc), plus a pair of drop spindles and disc brakes, and will be doing the full rebuild and conversion.
This will make sure everything clears stock rebuilt trucks, trucks with the T-bars cranked and stock spindles, and trucks with the suspension in the stock location using drop spindles and disc brakes.

The plan is to have sway bars for sale by the Fall... That's business.
But as an enthusiast, I'm so thrilled with this upgrade, and so happy it finally came together after more than 5 years of false starts, I had to share!

-Brad

[MusicMan70]

That's great news Brad! Would you post a pic of the prototype?

[doobiebro]

Originally Posted by MusicMan70

That's great news Brad! Would you post a pic of the prototype?

X2..

[Reyals Bemus]

We wanna see pictures!

[Bazooka]

Thats really cool! I bet this is going to make the T-bar guys realllly happy

[markeb01]

Good for you. Hopefully this will turn out to be a profitable adventure for you and a nice safety and comfort upgrade for the 60-62 guys.

[JMR5]

Cool deal!!

[hop sing]

mahalo i'll be ordering fall aloha hop

[LostMy65]

Another request for pics, please.
Posted via Mobile Device

[slepysal]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

Another request for pics, please.
Posted via Mobile Device

and one more

[brokenspoke]

No pictures= it didnt happen

[Brad54]

Alright guys, been busy.
Will shoot a pic and post it tonight.

-Brad

[newbe351]

Originally Posted by Brad54

Will shoot a pic and post it tonight. -Brad

Is it tonight yet?

[Brad54]

Originally Posted by newbe351

Is it tonight yet?

Why yes, yes it is!
Best shot I could get between dodging rain storms and not putting the truck on jack stands.
This one is bare steel, but the production units will be powder-coated black, the coating applied to modern OEM manufacturing specs for thickness, coverage and durability.
Bushings are black urethane.
The saddle bushings use extra bracketry to sandwich the frame rail, guarding against flex and metal fatigue at the mounting points.

The bar is 1 1/8-inch diameter.

It really is a vast improvement over no bar at all... I'm going to end up getting in trouble because I'm catching myself going through corners and turns a lot faster than I normally do: 40-45 rather than 20-30mph, without realizing it.

It will really get out of hand when I rebuild the front suspension, have decent tires and design a rear sway bar for our trucks! (one that doesn't clamp or bolt to the trailing arms)

-Brad

[Reyals Bemus]

Looks superb! I think it will be a hot seller for the '60-62 crowd.

[Brad54]

Originally Posted by Reyals Bemus

Looks superb! I think it will be a hot seller for the '60-62 crowd.

I do too.
Part of that is optimism, because I'm the guy making them.
BUT, I'm making them because I've put over 70,000 miles on my '61 Suburban, and oh Lord have I wanted a sway bar!

The Torsion Bar suspension is fantastic... I love the ride quality of it. The problem has always been that it's expensive to rebuild, and there's never been performance upgrades available. That's why people always swap out the later cross member/coil spring assemblies.

But now you can get drop spindles and disc brake kits, and rebuild parts have come down a little too. But still no sway bar!
And as we all know, everyone who sells sway bars always lists them as "60-87." Which is BS... they aren't any closer to working than one for a BMW Z-3, a Corvette or a Dodge Dakota.

Now I've got one designed specifically for the T-Bar trucks, and I couldn't be more happy about it... Like I said, yeah, there's business involved here, but my truck is my daily driver and I've driven it through 20 different states. It's my only running vehicle, I love this truck, and having a good sway bar on it makes it an even bigger joy to drive.

-Brad

[Low Elco]

Question: You mentioned having the bars cranked down. (I know nothing about these suspensions) Is there a separate key? If there is, have you investigated having reclocked keys made to give full torsion at a lower ride height, a la the leveling kits for the late model 4x4's? Might be another easy product for your line that any competent machine shop should be able to crank out. Please respond, I'm kinda interested to know, and I've never torn into one of these. Congrats on the final product!

[Greenman]

Congratulations Brad! I'm sure you're developing a customer list for when you are production ready. Make sure you add me to the list. Me and my '61 can't wait!

Thanks,
Greenman.
Posted via Mobile Device

[lasher78]

will these work on a 66 or do you plan on making a version for the 63-66?
Posted via Mobile Device

[Captainfab]

The factory '63-'87 sway bars bolt right up to your '66 front suspension. The '73-'87 C20 and C30's had an option of a 1.25" sway bar.

Originally Posted by lasher78

will these work on a 66 or do you plan on making a version for the 63-66?
Posted via Mobile Device

[Blue Blood]

Any updates?
Posted via Mobile Device

[GMCNUT]

OK - question. When you add a sway bar to a coil spring truck it makes a huge difference because without the Torsion bars they get bad body roll on cornering - but I own several torsion bar trucks and they handle great around corners already with almost no body roll at all compared to 63-66 trucks, so I guess I am wondering why anyone would need a sway bar on a 60-62? maybe its something you need when you modify one - all mine are stock w/ T-bars adjusted to factory height etc....

[par4tom]

Hi GMC,
You're truck must ride completely different than mine. Like you, I have the torsions bars but the ride can sometimes get a little bit scary.

The truck "wobbles" on some uneven roads where I live. And going around corners, it really can lean to the outside of the turn.

From a mechanical standpoint, I agree with what you are saying. But from my own driving experience, my old '61 really does not handle that well compared to the more modern trucks I have driven.

I had a 1975 1/2 ton stepside with a swaybar for almost 20 years, it's handling (while crude compared to today's more modern trucks) was much more stable than this '61.

I think a swaybar would really help stabilize the "wobbles" and leaning on turns. Also, I have added airshocks to the back of the truck which should help just a bit in those hard corner leans.

Just my opinion...

Best regards,
Tom

[Brad54]

Originally Posted by GMCNUT

OK - question. When you add a sway bar to a coil spring truck it makes a huge difference because without the Torsion bars they get bad body roll on cornering - but I own several torsion bar trucks and they handle great around corners already with almost no body roll at all compared to 63-66 trucks, so I guess I am wondering why anyone would need a sway bar on a 60-62? maybe its something you need when you modify one - all mine are stock w/ T-bars adjusted to factory height etc....

My Suburban felt like it was going to scrape the door handles on the ground when I went around corners without the sway bar.
Torsion bars vs coil springs don't affect body roll any differently. A torsion bar is simply a straightened coil spring--they do the exact same thing: control the lower control arm.
They do, in my estimation, ride better because of the dynamics involved in compressing a coil versus twisting a torsion bar, but as far as cornering, the outside suspension is still going to compress while the inside suspension extends, giving body roll. That's basic vehicle dynamics, unless you have extremely stiff springs that keep the suspension from compressing through a corner.
A sway bar connects the two sides, and is in effect a torsion spring. As the outside suspension compresses, the sway bar tries to make the inside suspension compress, which minimized body roll.

On my Suburban, brakes and tires are now the limiting factor when I come into corners... which, after 7 years and over 70,000 miles, is taking some getting used to!

-Brad

[verdell]

Actually, my handling improved slightly when I went from factory height to dropped spindles. But there was a very noticeable improvement when I added the '75 half ton sway bar to my current torsion bar suspension. I only paid $20 for the sway bar and less than $30 for the bushings. I'm very pleased with the way it handles now VS the way it used to roll in curves. This is my 2nd torsion bar pickup too...just my opinion