sway bars

[hag6888]

Why are rear sway bars useful

[Schwartz Performance]

Because they help the rear of the vehicle not lean so much, and they're like adding stiffer springs but don't sacrifice ride quality like a stiff spring would. If the rear of the vehicle is stiffer and sways less, it typically becomes more predictable.

[Slick68]

Hmm.......I don't have a rear bar and mine is predictable......it will break traction and spin!!! LOL

[tyrfryer]

Lol too funny, anyone have some suggestions on who has products that will work well for the 67-72 73-87 C-10 trucks? Rears or maybe sets front and rears?

[low68]

Just about all the big suspension companies sell mostly bolt-on sway bars for these truck. ridetech, hotchkis, no-limit. I think no limit might have better prices than the other two companies. You could also check to see if you could find any made by hellwig. For a long time I ran a 1 1/16 sway bar up front and a 1 1/8 hellwig out back. I don't know that you want a bigger one in back, but that is what I had. If I remember correctly, my old front bar came from early classic. I just put the hotchkis front bar on my truck and it made a big difference on lean. It stays nice and flat through the corners.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

We went with a Hotchkis set-up on the '71. The front is a 1-7/8" Hollow Tube design and for the rear, went with their "Blade" style sway bar, which is more specific to the '63-'72 Truck arm style suspension. They also make a Sport rear sway bar (Part # 22108R) that would also probably work with the later '73-'87 trucks. Hotchkis has had some great success on the Autocross circuit. Check out Mike Hickman's truck on youtube, mike hickman c10 - YouTube

[rustomatic]

To define this feature, they used to make a bigwheel (three-wheeled plastic thing + handbrake) when I was a kid, which I think was called the Spinout 360, or something to that effect...

[lilbill72]

CPP has a 1-1/4 front bar and a 1-1/8 rear bar set up that's pretty affordable

[RobNoLimit]

As mentioned above (thanks low68) we do make front and rear bars for C10's. There are many good bars out there. My caution would be to the rear bar, watch the clearance. many of these bolt below the trailing arm, and can be the lowest thing, below the scrub line. Our rear bar mounts over the top of the frame rail, which means the bed has to be unbolted and lifted 3" or 4" for installation. Yes, it's extra work, but doesn't hang down. Matching bars, usually from the same manufacturer, is a good idea. Also, sway bar diameter is not the only measure of a bars stiffness. Bar length (width between mounts), arm length, arm angle, and the suspension connection point (motion ratio) all come into play.

[bovey]

Hey Rob,

Do you have a photo of yours installed? Also, hear you on the fact that diameter is not the only measure. Does the weight difference between a short box and a long box affect bar choice at all? As most are designed with the short box in mind.

[Slick68]

I tried to use a 36mm front sway bar from a 99-06 GM fullsize truck on my 68. It actually would have worked if I had a rack on the truck. The idler and pitman arms hit the bar, though. It actually extends out to almost 2" from the balljoint on the LCA.