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No problem, take your time.
OR VietVet Is Still Throwing $$$ at 2005 Z71
- Thread starter OR VietVet
- Start date
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No problem, take your time.
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Just for grins, on one of my many trips up to Paradise when I was in the service, myself, my brother, my cousin Dave and my friend Bill were on our way to a party near Lime Saddle Marina and a guy coming from the same party crossed the centerline and hit our 63 Impala half and half head on. He skidded sideways down the road and rolled his tires off the wheels and he had a leather jacket on that had 4 front pockets. He had a full can of beer in each of the 4 pockets and on impact he hit the steering wheel and exploded all 4 tops off the cans. I hit the w/s from the passenger side and had to get stitches on my face. Everyone else walked away miraculously. I took these pics the next day at a body shop the cars were towed to in Paradise. We ended up skidding sideways in to a ditch and almost hit a telephone/power pole.
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In one of the sway bar pics you can see the new rear coil springs. Here is the radio pic as well. Had to reset the clock, so that is the incorrect time that I took the pic.
I took it out on a road test today and there is a 45 MPH curve outside of town. I waited for the exact right time for traffic to clear and turned out and took off. I went thru that curve at 75 MPH and then turned around and went back thru it at 80 MPH.
That vehicle felt FLAT going thru that curve. It was an AMAZING feeling.
I took it out on a road test today and there is a 45 MPH curve outside of town. I waited for the exact right time for traffic to clear and turned out and took off. I went thru that curve at 75 MPH and then turned around and went back thru it at 80 MPH.
That vehicle felt FLAT going thru that curve. It was an AMAZING feeling.
Tonyrodz
Resident Resident
So sway bars are def worth it eh!
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Sounds like a very positive initial assessment with your test run. Great to read. Thank you for the photos.
Can you provide a bit of additional detail on your installation for both the front and rear? I want to do it right, the first time, when the weather improves, and I buy my set.
Position of truck during installation (body on jack stands or wheels on ground)
Need to temporarily move/remove any other existing components, in order to install the bars
Rationale for selecting the middle hole position on rear bar
Criteria for the final vertical links adjustment position on the rear bar
Type of lube, if any, on the new bushings
Any things to look out for, during the installation the will make the installation easier
Thank you in advance.
Can you provide a bit of additional detail on your installation for both the front and rear? I want to do it right, the first time, when the weather improves, and I buy my set.
Position of truck during installation (body on jack stands or wheels on ground)
Need to temporarily move/remove any other existing components, in order to install the bars
Rationale for selecting the middle hole position on rear bar
Criteria for the final vertical links adjustment position on the rear bar
Type of lube, if any, on the new bushings
Any things to look out for, during the installation the will make the installation easier
Thank you in advance.
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Ok, fortunately I was able to get my friends to allow me, with their help, to use their shop lift and tall jack stands to do the sway bar work. I just did not want to crawl around on the ground. They charged me some money for shop time and lended a hand when needed and helped with pics. I chose the mid range stiffness because I felt at that setting I would feel a "seat of the pants" difference over stock and could always adjust later if needed. The kits come with complete instructions. Follow them. I had AC Delco lube that I used for the door seals, hatch seal and the sun roof seal. I used that for all bushings. I can tell you that the seat of the pants feel is noticeable even with turns at lights and turning in to home driveway. Anywhere you turn you can feel it and the best feeling is at high speed in a curve. It's like the body leans just a hair but the frame down is stuck like glue to the road. The feedback feeling in the steering wheel is great.
That and seeing my new dash cluster and seeing trans temp climb to a point and hearing my new radio and cd player, I was happy as a pig in shit.
I now have all my pics loaded in my computer and will share all of them. Sorry for any duplicates.
That and seeing my new dash cluster and seeing trans temp climb to a point and hearing my new radio and cd player, I was happy as a pig in shit.
I now have all my pics loaded in my computer and will share all of them. Sorry for any duplicates.
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More pics:
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More pics:
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More pics:
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Pics:
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Sparksalot
Elite Member
Looks good!
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Dantheman1540
Full Access Member
Nice work and awesome pics! That truck is super clean underneath.
It's funny looking at the pic you have of the bars lined up next to each other the Hellwig bars don't appear drastically different. However, since they are solid the weight and stiffness is definitely there, and it seriously shows with the seat of the pants feel!
It's funny looking at the pic you have of the bars lined up next to each other the Hellwig bars don't appear drastically different. However, since they are solid the weight and stiffness is definitely there, and it seriously shows with the seat of the pants feel!
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When you pick up the old and new bars you feel the difference in weight. The truck lives in Oregon where we don't have rust from salt. None of the bolts/nuts gave us problems. There is more work to be done now. Steering wheel position sensor and all components for the knock sensors are here and will be installed likely within a couple of months. New Flowmaster exhaust is coming. New tires in summer. But before the new tires I am going to be doing all new control arms and ball joints, tie rods, idler arm and pitman arm. When we did the sway bars I did a complete front suspension/steering inspection. Has very slight play at the idler and pitman. Greased up and it got tight again but I know for a fact that grease is not a fix. Not even close to dangerous play at this time. The hub bearings were tight but they will be done while apart. My two shop owner friends had told me that over all the years they had worked on rigs and the 2000-2006 GM Tahoes, Suburbans and pickups, that my rig was by far the best condition they had ever seen and just gets better. The lead tech of the two said that if I did all this work and ever wanted to sell it, including all the work I just listed to still be done, he would give me $20k for it. He was also the one that rode with me during the new sway bar kits test drive. It will not be for sale but he said if I ever changed my mind, he wanted it.
This is costing me well spent money, IMO, but it is fun to do and I still get to break out my shop coveralls sometimes to get dirty again. Each day that goes by and I get older means me less and less getting down on the ground. I have them for that or any major work. The rig was already at the shop for the rear main seal, oil pan gasket, oil pump pickup tube and o-ring, torque converter seal, transfer case adapter gasket and new trans mount. That was work they did because there was no way I was going to crawl around on the ground to do all that.
The dash cluster and install of the OE radio/cd player was a piece of cake. Plug and play and all works as it should. I also did those door seals, hatch seal and sun roof seal lubes and blew out the sunroof drains.
I love knowing this is not going to end real soon.
This is costing me well spent money, IMO, but it is fun to do and I still get to break out my shop coveralls sometimes to get dirty again. Each day that goes by and I get older means me less and less getting down on the ground. I have them for that or any major work. The rig was already at the shop for the rear main seal, oil pan gasket, oil pump pickup tube and o-ring, torque converter seal, transfer case adapter gasket and new trans mount. That was work they did because there was no way I was going to crawl around on the ground to do all that.
The dash cluster and install of the OE radio/cd player was a piece of cake. Plug and play and all works as it should. I also did those door seals, hatch seal and sun roof seal lubes and blew out the sunroof drains.
I love knowing this is not going to end real soon.
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Tonyrodz
Resident Resident
Nice work! I wish I had the $$ to get sway bars myself.
I know this is for adjustments, but does it make a difference if you adjust it longer or shorter--with the handling or anything else?
I know this is for adjustments, but does it make a difference if you adjust it longer or shorter--with the handling or anything else?
Dantheman1540
Full Access Member
Keep the good quality pics coming! 
Sparksalot
Elite Member
The rod length shouldn’t. Only the position of the lower end, closer or further from the centerline of the sway bar.
