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

[bosephus]

I want one!

[Blue Blood]

I'm absolutely in...we should do a group buy. Suggest you set up paypal too..
Good news!
Posted via Mobile Device

[62Stick]

I'm interested in a set as well. Please post when you have them ready for sale!

[K98AL]

I'd like one, too!

[slepysal]

any updates?

[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

[Brad54]

Originally Posted by slepysal

any updates?

Working on raising the funds to place the order.
Should have it in a couple months.

I don't want to take pre-orders or money from people until I have the bars on my shelves ready to ship--Too much can go sideways until they're sitting on my shelves.

-Brad

[62 Longbed]

I'm very interested !! Keep me informed ..