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How To: Factory Rear Swaybar Upgrade

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Old May 21, 2011 | 12:48 PM
  #1  
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Default How To: Factory Rear Swaybar Upgrade

Things you need

Rear swaybar from a NBS Tahoe, Suburban, Escalade, etc..
Factory Endlinks
Bushings and hardware
2 - 3" exhaust U-bolts
2 inch wide 3/16 steel stock (at least a foot long)
1/2 Shock mount tabs Link
4 - 1/2 Grade 8 bolts 1" long
2 - 1/2 Grade 8 bolts 2 1/2" long
6 - 1/2 Washers
4 - 1/2 Lock Washers
6 - 1/2 Nuts



First you will want to make the brackets that will bolt to the frame and hold the endlinks.

Cut the steel stock to about 3 inches, drill two 1/2 holes on either side and weld the shock tabs to them. I will also note a helpful way to make these is to bolt the tabs to the end link and then tack them to the steel so that they will be aligned.

Here is what the frame brackets should look like



Then you will need to put the sway bar up to the axle to determine where you want to mount the bushings.

I chose to mount them as far to the outside as possible which was where they were on the escalade. This required to grind off the bump stop brackets.

The u bolt goes over the axle and then the bottom bracket slides on the studs, then stick the bushing bracket over the studs and put the nuts on



then position the swaybar so the bars facing the back are perfectly level. (use an angle finder)

then, using a level, mark the center on the frame where the endlinks will also be perfectly vertical. Position the frame bracket so that when the level is vertical, the two eye-holes line up. Mark where the bracket sits, drill the holes and mount the brackets to the frame.



Then all that is left to do is to bolt the endlinks from the swaybar to the brackets.

Here is the finished product.





This made the truck handle soo much better. I was genuinely surprised how much the responsiveness and handling improved. It also made the truck more predictable around fast corners.

Also i would like to note that if you are dropped (like mine) you will need to shorten the endlinks. I do not have a welder so i am going to get my endlinks shortened tonight. You will want the Bar and endlinks to be perfectly level so you will need to measure to figure out how much you will need to shorten to get maximum effectiveness. (you can see in my pictures mine are not shortened and the bar is not level, but i accounted for this so when they are shortened, it will be perfect)
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Old Aug 25, 2011 | 11:28 AM
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Bumping this to the top as it's great info and something that I'm considering in the future...curious as to what other bolt in end links might be available out there, as well as end link brackets...
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Old Aug 25, 2011 | 07:24 PM
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I though the truck and suv frames were different widths. Good ingenuity! The endlinks definitely need to be shortened though. Ideally where the bar attaches to the endlink should be parallel to the frame.
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Old Aug 25, 2011 | 08:01 PM
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looks good, this is on my to do list now.
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Old Aug 25, 2011 | 11:40 PM
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Do you have a part number for the rear sway bar? It looks the same as the 07+, but i'm not sure.
To do list for sure.
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Old Aug 26, 2011 | 04:25 PM
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i do not, i purchased it from a member on here parting out an escalade.

I bought some endlinks from rockauto and some 1/2 shock bushing inserts and cut the links down to the right size and welded the sleve so its stronger, works much better now.

Oh, and i got urethane bushings for everything.

Heres a pic with the shortened endlinks





everything is parallel and working great.

it also does not effect the ride quality at all because the bar rotates with the suspension, its only in effect if there is body roll.
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Old Aug 26, 2011 | 05:00 PM
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So you no longer have any bump stops on the truck?
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Old Aug 26, 2011 | 06:49 PM
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Moved you over to the tech write ups

Great info here
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Old Aug 27, 2011 | 06:22 PM
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Originally Posted by SnakeOiler
So you no longer have any bump stops on the truck?
there are bump stops, they are located on the frame notch.
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Old Sep 11, 2011 | 05:14 PM
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great minds think alike, i got mine from a 02 escalade rear that i bought, which i also took the brakes from, everything works great
How To: Factory Rear Swaybar Upgrade-img_2522.jpg
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