Rear sway bar links

[Berger83]

Just did a 2/3 drop on my 2005 Chevy Tahoe and the sway bar is angled downwards I measured the stock link it's about ten inches long and it looks to me to get it back parallel with the frame it's going to have to be around 6-7 inches long now has anyone found any sway bar links I know djm has some but it's not clear how long there links are or are they for drops four inches and lower

 

[Rocket Man]

DJM are the way to go. They're the only ones I know of that will also move the swaybar to the side so it won't hit the panhard bar mount. I used them for a 2/3 drop.

 

[01ssreda4]

I have the djms also, I believe they were approx 6 inches long.

 

[Berger83]

Thanks guys I've been over some bumps that would make the suspension travel quite a bit in the back and have seen no indication of the axle hitting the bump stop bracket (removed mine they where dry rotted pretty bad) nor have I seen any marks from the sway bar hitting also does anyone know about the nivomat shocks and how to tell if they are bad I noticed before I put the lowering kit on that the back would hit bumps and it seems like the shocks where hitting and bottoming out kinda like banging bumps weird to describe but I bought it with 130,000 miles on it so I have no clue if they ever have been replaced if anyone can tell me some ways to check for them being bad that would help. Does a 2/3 drop with a mcgaughys ride the same as factory or close to it? Cuz what it's like now is no where near factory

 

[Rocket Man]

It should ride pretty close to factory. Not sure about the Nivomat shocks. The swaybar may hit the panhard bar mount when you use shorter endlinks and the swaybar moves up unless you use the DJM ones, but if you leave it angled down like it is now it won't hit for sure!

 

[Berger83]

Red rocket so if I leave it like it is now angled down it won't hit? But isn't is better to have it parallel with the ground and the frame. So with the djm kit it moves it to the right and allows it to be parallel and also allows it to not hit the pan hard bar? Oh and I'm guessing the nivomat shocks might be bad if it rides close to stock cuz it sure isn't riding smooth like it used to but I know it wasn't from the lowering kit because it was like that before I dropped it

 

[Rocket Man]

You're correct about the swaybar geometry. It needs to be parallel to the ground to work right, but when you lower your rig and use shorter endlinks the panhard bar mount gets real close or hits over hard bumps because you're decreasing the vertical distance between them, which decreases even more when the suspension travels up. The DJM's solve that problem by moving the swaybar to the passenger side about an inch or more, allowing horizontal distance instead of vertical.

 

[01ssreda4]

Heres a pic of the DJMs, notice they are offset to move the swaybar over.

 

[Berger83]

Red rocket oh I forgot to ask I've read where some say the sway bar can affect the ride and some say it won't is it angled down like I have it affecting the ride quality any? And I didn't do much research other then the fact of which drop kit is the best and got three answer so I choose the macguahys but they never mentioned the sway bar or any other things that would need to be done. On the two three drop do I need the bracket kit to lower the trailering arms or is that for 4 inches and lower kits

 

[Rocket Man]

If the swaybar is angled down it can affect the ride to some extent, but mainly it won't do it's job as far as sway. For a 3" rear drop you probably won't need adjustable trailing arms or panhard bar. The trailing arms are for centering the wheels front-to-rear in the fender wells and the panhard bar is for side-to side. The more you drop, the more the wheels will move towards the passenger side and forward. If your tires start rubbing or if they're off-center enough to bother you then you need to look into these items, otherwise don't bother. I have 26" wheels and the tires were rubbing a bit when cornering hard so I got a Spohn adjustable panhard bar to adjust the tires to the left about 3/8", just enough to stop the rubbing for the most part. If you don't have shock extenders though, that will affect ride quality since your shocks will be too far compressed. You can see the DJM one in 01ssreda4's pic above, in front of the spring on the right.

 

[Berger83]

Thanks so much yeah I have the shock extenders on mine and I have stock 17 wheels I will eventually go up to a twenty but probably no bigger then that I have the lt self leveling shocks and I've read u can convert them to standard by switching the springs I don't really want to pay $260 a shock for the rear do you have or no any info of how smooth the ride is on a LT spring shock swap to bilsteins for the rear. Oh what about front sway bar links I have the spindles up front I don't think they changed any of that did they

 

[Rocket Man]

I have no experience on the shock conversion, I have Autoride enabled. As for front swaybar endlinks, go to www.energysuspension.com and look in their catalog at universal endlinks ( not vehicle specific) and there are instructions on how to measure and order. You might have to cut or grind some of the plastic bushings to fit your swaybar where they fit into the holes but it's pretty minor. They have the only ones that I have heard of that can be ordered in all different lengths for the front.

 

[Berger83]

So I installed the djm's rear end sway bar links and now the sway bar is rubbing the shock does anyone have a solution to fix this the way the end links are made it shoves it right onto the shock I have the zw7 three inch thick shocks in the back need help fixing this

 

[Rocket Man]

I have the Autoride shocks which are big too. I remember it being real close when the suspension was hanging but as I lowered the truck down it cleared fine. Also I believe I reversed the shock bolts. Is it hitting just when it's hanging or after you lower it off the jackstands?

 

[Berger83]

It's hitting off the jack stands I can go down our main road and make a right turn into the gym I go to and when the body rolls a bit I can hear it make a deep rub noise I've almost thought about trying to bend them to give it clearance it really just pisses me off these are supposed to work and having no vehicle lift and having to get on the ground underneath it is not fun at all

 

[Rocket Man]

When you installed them, did you have instructions? Just wondering because mine didn't come with any so I had to contact DJM. Anyway, when you installed them did you reuse one bolt on the driver side and drill one new hole? That puts the swaybar one inch to the right. Also do you have the shock relocators? I believe they are necessary for this mod. They move the lower shock mount down.

 

[Berger83]

Yes I have the shock relocators and my sway bar links where ball joint type so I only had the two bolts from the factory endlinks and the two bolts with the kit I drilled a new hole and had to use the same bolts and get new nuts to bolt it to the frame the two big black bolts in the kit I had to use to connect the sway bar to the links at the bottom it bolts on the right clear the shock forward its about two inches flowing back down the sway bar is where it's rubbing the shock u can't see it in the pic but it's rubbing can I bend these damn end links to make it shift a lil bit back over to the left for clearance

 

[Rocket Man]

Here's mine. You can see it's close but this is with the suspension hanging. It gets more clearance as the suspension travels up when the truck is lowered off the jack.

 

[Rocket Man]

If you look at mine, you can see my swaybar looks like it's back to the rear more than yours, and as it comes down it goes back even further so there's clearance front-to-rear between the shock and the mounting bolt for the swaybar at the bottom of the endlink. The swaybar itself you can see is close to my shock, probably 1/2". Is that where yours is rubbing because your shock at the bottom is thicker? You might try to bend the endlinks. I'd get ahold of DJM first though.
Edit: since they're not open today, get ahold of Tony @ tbssowners. He's the resident guru on these suspensions and he'll help you, even if you didn't but them from him. He has a link at the top of this page or look up his info in the vendor section. IM him or even call him. He answers questions at any time.

 

[Berger83]

Thanks man sorry for the late reply I will contact them and see what they say yeah all did was move the drivers side sway bar mount over to where they said to mount it then slide the sway bar over to mount up with the links and I have the thick self leveling shocks from the sway bar bolt back about an inch or two towards the frame is where the sway bar rubs but will contact tony soon just haven't had time to get under there and deal with it thanks man for the info