Growing up doesn't have to suck

[iamdub]

IMHO, when you shim it, no matter what you use, to impersonate the flat mount surface of the frame, the shim should be as large an outer diameter as is allowable. Otherwise the flex forces allows the bushing bracket to rock side to side and cause possible breakage/cracks in the bracket.

If there's a weak point, I will find it and report back with pics!

 

[iamdub]

Finally had a chance to test it a little yesterday. With no "helpful" pressure in the bags, it doesn't wag and wallow when performing the "emergency lane change/obstacle avoidance test". I got rough with quickly jiggling the wheel quickly from around 10 and 2 o'clock. It immediately stabilized.

Took an exit ramp that becomes a secluded feeder before a cloverleaf on ramp. The feeder has a nice chicane in it. I'm very familiar with all of this and know about how fast I should go before it's uncomfortable. All curves slid me out of the seat well before it felt like it was leaning too much. I threw it into the start of the cloverleaf and had to hold onto the center console to keep from sliding into the door. Before, I'd have to moderate my speed due to the swaying. Now, I have to moderate due to the tire's grip. I triggered the traction control before the body felt like it was swaying to a dangerous extent. And the Pirellis I'm running are considerably stickier than the Brickstones on my 20s. I'm very pleased so far! I know these bars are gonna help me find the next weak link in the chain. I just hope that'll be a cheap and easy fix/upgrade!

 

[Tonyrodz]

Finally had a chance to test it a little yesterday. With no "helpful" pressure in the bags, it doesn't wag and wallow when performing the "emergency lane change/obstacle avoidance test". I got rough with quickly jiggling the wheel quickly from around 10 and 2 o'clock. It immediately stabilized.

Took an exit ramp that becomes a secluded feeder before a cloverleaf on ramp. The feeder has a nice chicane in it. I'm very familiar with all of this and know about how fast I should go before it's uncomfortable. All curves slid me out of the seat well before it felt like it was leaning too much. I threw it into the start of the cloverleaf and had to hold onto the center console to keep from sliding into the door. Before, I'd have to moderate my speed due to the swaying. Now, I have to moderate due to the tire's grip. I triggered the traction control before the body felt like it was swaying to a dangerous extent. And the Pirellis I'm running are considerably stickier than the Brickstones on my 20s. I'm very pleased so far! I know these bars are gonna help me find the next weak link in the chain. I just hope that'll be a cheap and easy fix/upgrade!

Hopefully you had the gf with you when you were jiggling the wheel you know, for entertainment.

 

[RAMurphy]

@iamdub Just finished your entire build. Great build detail and dialogue. Found myself bookmarking some pages, taking notes and adding things to my "to do" list. Awesome job.

 

[iamdub]

@iamdub Just finished your entire build. Great build detail and dialogue. Found myself bookmarking some pages, taking notes and adding things to my "to do" list. Awesome job.

Huge compliments! Thank you!

 

[Sam Harris]

@iamdub Just finished your entire build. Great build detail and dialogue. Found myself bookmarking some pages, taking notes and adding things to my "to do" list. Awesome job.

FACTS!

 

[iamdub]

Last Friday, I was on my work phone walking another tech through some stuff so I was in work mode. I stopped for gas and accidentally put 9.3 gallons of 87 in my Tahoe before I realized what I had done. I drove it home gently. Took it Saturday morning to a RaceTrac about 22 miles away cuz that's my nearest E-85 station. I've been wanting to try a tank of E-85 since replacing the O2 sensors a couple years ago, anyway. I brought my laptop to scan for knock to see just how bad it was. Maybe the 45° IATs helped, but I could drive pretty normally and it was fine. But, as soon as I got a little frisky with the throttle- 4° of KR.

I got 16.75 gallons ($2.38/gal for those counting) of the corn oil and continued down the highway to get some miles on it to see what the virtual sensor would settle at. I've only tried E-85 once before, a couple of years ago. The highest it calculated back then was around 22% with an actual measured content of 65%. I've done the engine work and replaced the O2 sensors since then. Today, the highest I saw was in the 50s percentiles. After about 11 miles, it seemed to have settled at 40.8. The E-85 made a huge difference. I got a little more aggressive leaving each traffic light while watching for KR and there was none. I pulled in to Walmart and, while stopped at the far end of the lot, stomped it and saw 2°. I went in the store for a few things and grabbed a couple bottles of Lucas Octane Booster as well. Once home, I took a sample at the fuel rail to see what the actual net alcohol content is, then poured in the two bottles of booster.

The fuel in the test vial settled to 45%:

I'm feeling a lot better about mine accurately calculating the alcohol content. But, I still want a physical sensor.

I've been racking my pea-brain trying to figure out what that E45 blend yields in octane. The interwebz say that E85 is around 108 octane. I guess I need to know how many gallons I have of whatever is now in the tank to calculate it. I just thought I could equate "If 85% alcohol equals 108 octane, then 45% alcohol would equal 52.9 octane." I know this isn't right. I'm not mathing today.

 

[iamdub]

Was parked at a friend's house yesterday and had my wheels turned. I've decided that I don't like the angle of my front sway bar. My end links, while shorter than stock, are still way too long:

These links and bushings were new when I installed these bars about 1.5 weeks ago. Side view showing angle of bar:

Roughly eyeballing it looks like I could chop that center hex stock spacer to put the two bushings it separates touching back-to-back and the bar would be about right. Or, remove those two bushings altogether and use a single thick bushing between the bar end and control arm. I'd have to see how much misalignment actually takes place during the range of motion. There's not much uptravel cuz the tire is stopped by the inner fender. Down travel is probably my bigger concern and that might not be an issue, either.

 

[89Suburban]

Was parked at a friend's house yesterday and had my wheels turned. I've decided that I don't like the angle of my front sway bar. My end links, while shorter than stock, are still way too long:

View attachment 388117


These links and bushings were new when I installed these bars about 1.5 weeks ago. Side view showing angle of bar:

View attachment 388118


Roughly eyeballing it looks like I could chop that center hex stock spacer to put the two bushings it separates touching back-to-back and the bar would be about right. Or, remove those two bushings altogether and use a single thick bushing between the bar end and control arm. I'd have to see how much misalignment actually takes place during the range of motion. There's not much uptravel cuz the tire is stopped by the inner fender. Down travel is probably my bigger concern and that might not be an issue, either.

Those upper link bushings are definitely hurting with that angle. I would imagine somebody out there makes custom or adjustable links.

 

[randeez]

Was parked at a friend's house yesterday and had my wheels turned. I've decided that I don't like the angle of my front sway bar. My end links, while shorter than stock, are still way too long:

View attachment 388117


These links and bushings were new when I installed these bars about 1.5 weeks ago. Side view showing angle of bar:

View attachment 388118


Roughly eyeballing it looks like I could chop that center hex stock spacer to put the two bushings it separates touching back-to-back and the bar would be about right. Or, remove those two bushings altogether and use a single thick bushing between the bar end and control arm. I'd have to see how much misalignment actually takes place during the range of motion. There's not much uptravel cuz the tire is stopped by the inner fender. Down travel is probably my bigger concern and that might not be an issue, either.

have you tried mounting it the other way around? swap left and right sides

 

[iamdub]

I would imagine somebody out there makes custom or adjustable links.

I tend to be a bit out there and I make custom links.

 

[iamdub]

have you tried mounting it the other way around? swap left and right sides

I haven't. But I stared at those pics for about five minutes then held my laptop upside-down to help with a visual, because I eat crayons. It would help with the height, but not the front-to-back slope of the flattened end. The bar needs to be as parallel as possible to the ground and it looks like shorter links are all that's really needed. My only concern is if the holes will be aligned with it that close. Worst case, I move the sway bar back on the frame a little, drill some holes and through-bolt it. All in all, a relatively easy fix. I bet the bar will be even more effective once it's properly aligned.

 

[George B]

You could make custom bent links too.

EDIT: Offset links…

 

[wjburken]

You could make custom bent links too.

 

[randeez]

I haven't. But I stared at those pics for about five minutes then held my laptop upside-down to help with a visual, because I eat crayons. It would help with the height, but not the front-to-back slope of the flattened end. The bar needs to be as parallel as possible to the ground and it looks like shorter links are all that's really needed. My only concern is if the holes will be aligned with it that close. Worst cast, I move the sway bar back on the frame a little, drill some holes and through-bolt it. All in all, a relatively easy fix. I bet the bar will be even more effective once it's properly aligned.

yea i dont think the length is going to be any different but i think the mount of the bar will sit more parallel to the LCA. mine would do the same thing lowered, lifted i flipped it over from where i had it when lowered.
is your drop all spring/shock? no spindles?

 

[89Suburban]

 

[iamdub]

yea i dont think the length is going to be any different but i think the mount of the bar will sit more parallel to the LCA. mine would do the same thing lowered, lifted i flipped it over from where i had it when lowered.
is your drop all spring/shock? no spindles?

1.75" spindles and 1.75" struts (lowered spring perch).

I can hold my original bar up into position, but flipped, to get an idea. It'd be MUCH lighter holding that in place for mock-up.

 

[iamdub]

Ugh. I don't like having to do a bunch of things just to find out I can't finish, then undo everything I just did to reschedule for another day. Such is life.


Here's the scoop. I removed the wheels and set the lower ball joint studs on some blocks and the rear diff on a same-height block so that the Tahoe would be resting at its normal angle, with the weight on the suspension. I removed the end links to inspect the misalignment of the hole in the lower control arm to the eye in the sway bar. Here's what I have:

I rotated the bar as flat as reasonably possible-

Eye is about 1/2" forward-

And maybe 1/4" inboard-

I'm not worried about that 1/4" inboard misalignment. But I have two options for fixing the bigger mess. OPTION 1: I could move the sway bar back, but I don't have much space in the bracket for the rearmost bolt. To get the absolute most gain, I'd drill a hole as far back as possible then shave one side of the head of a bolt down to the shank and drop it in from the top. The head being against the "wall" would keep it from turning and I'd use a nut on the bottom side. The frontward half would just be drilling a hole and bolting it. I'd use a flat plate for a shim instead of the ring currently in place, as seen in the pic-

OPTION 2: Make custom offset end links. This is really where I'm leaning. There's not enough space between the adjacent surfaces to use any kind of offset (Z-shaped) bar stock. Also, the angles of the two flat surfaces aren't parallel, as seen in the third pic. I'd need the two bushings between the bar and LCA to be as back-to-back as possible. Due to all the angles involved- the misalignment of the holes and the angles of the surfaces, I'm thinking of bolting the upper and lower bushings to each component with separate bolts. I'd put the head of the one going into the sway bar under it and the head of the one going into the LCA above it. Snug them up just as they fall out so the bushings aren't forced at any funky angles. Then, weld the heads together just as they meet. Even slicing half off each head to "Siamese" them together if that's necessary. Reinforce as feasible. This would simultaneously account for the hole misalignment and the angles. I'll look into using regular donut style poly bushings since they'd possibly be flatter than these thermoplastic ones, giving me a few millimeters more breathing room between the bushings.


I didn't have time to do any more than just assess and take pics. I might get back into it and decide to just slide the bar back and use regular, straight, but really short end links (Option 1). Either way, I wanna wait 'til I have time to actually do something about it and not just look at it.

 

[iamdub]

While I had it up, I checked on how the rear was doing. The bar is still clearing everything, so the panhard mount mod is a confirmed win:

 

[89Suburban]

Ugh. I don't like having to do a bunch of things just to find out I can't finish, then undo everything I just did to reschedule for another day. Such is life.


Here's the scoop. I removed the wheels and set the lower ball joint studs on some blocks and the rear diff on a same-height block so that the Tahoe would be resting at its normal angle, with the weight on the suspension. I removed the end links to inspect the misalignment of the hole in the lower control arm to the eye in the sway bar. Here's what I have:

I rotated the bar as flat as reasonably possible-

View attachment 388700


Eye is about 1/2" forward-

View attachment 388699


And maybe 1/4" inboard-

View attachment 388701


I'm not worried about that 1/4" inboard misalignment. But I have two options for fixing the bigger mess. OPTION 1: I could move the sway bar back, but I don't have much space in the bracket for the rearmost bolt. To get the absolute most gain, I'd drill a hole as far back as possible then shave one side of the head of a bolt down to the shank and drop it in from the top. The head being against the "wall" would keep it from turning and I'd use a nut on the bottom side. The the frontward half would just be drilling a hole and bolting it. I'd use a flat plate for a shim instead of the ring currently in place, as seen in the pic-

View attachment 388702


OPTION 2: Make custom offset end links. This is really where I'm leaning. There's not enough space between the adjacent surfaces to use any kind of offset (Z-shaped) bar stock. Also, the angles of the two flat surfaces aren't parallel, as seen in the third pic. I'd need the two bushings between the bar and LCA to be as back-to-back as possible. Due to all the angles involved- the misalignment of the holes and the angles of the surfaces, I'm thinking of bolting the upper and lower bushings to each component with separate bolts. I'd put the head of the one going into the sway bar under it and the head of the one going into the LCA above it. Snug them up just as they fall out so the bushings aren't forced at any funky angles. Then, weld the heads together just as they meet. Even slicing half off each head to "Siamese" them together if that's necessary. Reinforce as feasible. This would simultaneously account for the hole misalignment and the angles. I'll look into using regular donut style poly bushings since they'd possibly be flatter than these thermoplastic ones, giving me a few millimeters more breathing room between the bushings.


I didn't have time to do any more than just assess and take pics. I might get back into it and decide to just slide the bar back and use regular, straight, but really short end links (Option 1).

This ain't SHIT. WE WILL SURVIVE AND CONQUER!!!!