Sway bar orientation during install

[ValleyTahoe]

I removed my calipers, brake lines and sway bar/bushings then painted my bar during my RC 7.5 lift. I'm not 100% the bar is flipped correctly. I believe I have it on correct but keep doubting myself. The hump in the center of the bar is hanging down when the vehicle is on jack stands. I've tried to picture flipping it but not sure.

 

[Fless]

I removed my calipers, brake lines and sway bar/bushings then painted my bar during my RC 7.5 lift. I'm not 100% the bar is flipped correctly. I believe I have it on correct but keep doubting myself. The hump in the center of the bar is hanging down when the vehicle is on jack stands. I've tried to picture flipping it but not sure.


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Gotta say it hurts a lot to see those calipers hangin' by the hoses.

 

[ValleyTahoe]

Gotta say it hurts a lot to see those calipers hangin' by the hoses.

Yeh lol. Knew that was coming. Got new hoses and calipers are being refinished. Even worse in the picture the hose is behind the bar and you cant even attach caliper hahaha jokes on me.

The more I look at it I belive the bar is the wrong way. The way it currently is if you put tires and weight on the suspension the bar hump will hang lower down. I believe if I flip the bar the hump will be up with tires hanging and when adding weight and putting vehicles back on tires it the hump will hang downward but not as far as down now. Its hump currently in center is almost pointing downward and there is no weight on suspension.

Thoughts?

 

[Joseph Garcia]

I don't know anything about lifts, but I believe that your sway bar is oriented correctly.

 

[ValleyTahoe]

Thanks for the response def tricky. I just believe when I get the weight back on the tires that the bar in the center section is going to be pointing straight downward. If I start with bar flipped the hump is higher off weight and upon dropping back on the wheels the hump should sit sngled lower but not as low as starting now with the bar this direction. Hard to explain.

Anyone who can give it a glance or has a RC 7.5 and can take look under it would be appreciated. I'm going to try to move forward and finish the install today.

 

[Doubeleive]

Thanks for the response def tricky. I just believe when I get the weight back on the tires that the bar in the center section is going to be pointing straight downward. If I start with bar flipped the hump is higher off weight and upon dropping back on the wheels the hump should sit sngled lower but not as low as starting now with the bar this direction. Hard to explain.

Anyone who can give it a glance or has a RC 7.5 and can take look under it would be appreciated. I'm going to try to move forward and finish the install today.

Pretty sure you are fine

 

[ValleyTahoe]

Pretty sure you are fine
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Really appreciate the photo. Mine looks like yours but mine has no weight on the wheels. I can see my bar being straight up and down once weight is on it. Picture my bar flipped or picture yours with no weight and the U in the bar would be upward. With weight downward. Thats my concern mine has no weight and looks like this. Picture it Picture it haha I think I need to flip it. lol

 

[ValleyTahoe]

After looking at your photos more closely and looking and comparing angles unsprung. I'm goint to leave the bar as is till I get it on the ground. The bar is easily replaced wheels on or off. I'm going to proceed. Thanks again for the photo Doubeleive.

 

[Doubeleive]

Really appreciate the photo. Mine looks like yours but mine has no weight on the wheels. I can see my bar being straight up and down once weight is on it. Picture my bar flipped or picture yours with no weight and the U in the bar would be upward. With weight downward. Thats my concern mine has no weight and looks like this. Picture it Picture it haha I think I need to flip it. lol

well mine is a Hellwig and I installed it just like it shows in the hellwig guide

 

[ValleyTahoe]

So here is the dilemma now. So sway bar is on. Link tight. I figure I’d finish front and drop on tires. Sway bar itself will hit kicker bars if I try to install. Something isn’t right here. it if I flip sway it hits the driveshaft above when unsprung on jacks. May not hit with the weight on the tires but it will put the link like 12 inches or more from lower control arm. That didn’t seem right either.

RC kit doesn’t say anything about needing new or longer links. I’m waiting on RC tomorrow for help then finishing the rear and new wheels and tires come Monday if all goes as planned.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@ValleyTahoe From the looks of things, longer end links would only make the hoop contact the kicker bar even more

 

[Dustin Jackson]

The installation instructions mentions that the kicker bar is an optional to the kit, I wonder if they did that on purpose.

How do the kicker bars tie into the center crossmember?

 

[ValleyTahoe]

Kicker bars have predrilled holes in the crossmember for the mounts.

RC says I have the sway bar mounts are backwards. They want me to flip them and switch sides. Guess there is a small angle to them. I dont see how this will make a huge difference but hoping for one.

 

[89Suburban]

So here is the dilemma now. So sway bar is on. Link tight. I figure I’d finish front and drop on tires. Sway bar itself will hit kicker bars if I try to install. Something isn’t right here. it if I flip sway it hits the driveshaft above when unsprung on jacks. May not hit with the weight on the tires but it will put the link like 12 inches or more from lower control arm. That didn’t seem right either.

RC kit doesn’t say anything about needing new or longer links. I’m waiting on RC tomorrow for help then finishing the rear and new wheels and tires come Monday if all goes as planned.

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That dog is like "WTF" LOL.

 

[ValleyTahoe]

That dog is like "WTF" LOL.

You caught my boy Boston the Boxer. May even see a new C8 in there if you look closely ha.

 

[ValleyTahoe]

Just an update. Compared bars to another tahoe and avalanche. Sway is correct and in right orientation. Issue is the sway bar drop is too much still. i’m waiting on RC and have confirmed a bunch of dimensions but seems this one is a weird one for them. Even stranger the sway bar mounts to the frame and so does the crossmember so should be zero articulation points or difference in dimensions. I’m at a loss. Can’t figure this one out. Will update when RC responds

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@ValleyTahoe Could you relocate the kicker bar mount lower to tie into the skid plate mount or just go without the kicker bars all together?

 

[Doubeleive]

So here is the dilemma now. So sway bar is on. Link tight. I figure I’d finish front and drop on tires. Sway bar itself will hit kicker bars if I try to install. Something isn’t right here. it if I flip sway it hits the driveshaft above when unsprung on jacks. May not hit with the weight on the tires but it will put the link like 12 inches or more from lower control arm. That didn’t seem right either.

RC kit doesn’t say anything about needing new or longer links. I’m waiting on RC tomorrow for help then finishing the rear and new wheels and tires come Monday if all goes as planned.

View attachment 424329

what happens if that kicker bar is moved to the other side? flipped I guess you could call it, so the bolt goes the other way...

 

[Doubeleive]

So here is the dilemma now. So sway bar is on. Link tight. I figure I’d finish front and drop on tires. Sway bar itself will hit kicker bars if I try to install. Something isn’t right here. it if I flip sway it hits the driveshaft above when unsprung on jacks. May not hit with the weight on the tires but it will put the link like 12 inches or more from lower control arm. That didn’t seem right either.

RC kit doesn’t say anything about needing new or longer links. I’m waiting on RC tomorrow for help then finishing the rear and new wheels and tires come Monday if all goes as planned.

View attachment 424329

kind of looks like the bracket is not in the right spot, can you drill a hole and move it over? more towards the outside so it clears the sway bar

 

[ValleyTahoe]

I'm still waiting on RC to confirm a few things. The holes in the crossmember were drilled by RC in the right place according to dimensions.

My thoughts are go without the kickers all together. Leaving me wondering why this wasnt a simple install. RC says this has never happened.

The other would be to drill new holes or even get a set of the rear brackets for the kicker and use them for the front. If you bolted the rears up front it drops the bar about and inch or so. You actually have two holes in the rear bracket so you could adjust it vertically if mounted in the front.

Just at a loss which stinks. Everything else in kit looks right and went together perfect. I'm no slouch of a mechanic and was in automotive for the past 20 years. This seems so simple but with the fixed mounting points I cant for the life of me dechiper the issue here.

One slight thing I'm noticing is my sway bar hump doesnt start right outside of the mounts. I checked an avalanche in my lot and the bar looks very similar but I'm starting to think this Border Patrol came with a different bar. My hump starts several inches from inside of mount and the angle is slightly different. Take a look. Maybe its just a aftermarket or heavy duty sway.

Thanks for hanging in there with me on this one.