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Fabbed up some front sway bar mounts(PIC'S)

BobK

BobK

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I spent the last few days fabbing up some front sway bar mounts for my 71 Blazer.

As some know our year 4x4 Blazers and 4x4 trucks did not come with front sway bars.

A front sway bar from a 70's-80 Blazer can be swapped in,you just need to take the sway bar,mounting bushings and spring plates from the doner truck.The spring plate bolt right on to our year trucks.

Here's the spring plates.
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After making some templates out of cardboard I started fabbing up the mounts.

I used 2x4 boxed tube,.120 wall thickness.I also utilized some 1/4" flat stock as well.
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After some intial cuts I determinded where the sway bar would mount to the mounts.I then welded in two nuts on the inside of the boxed tube.
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After a little more cutting and rough fitting,I tack welded the pieces together and made a final test fit.
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Once I was satisfied with the fit I welded up all the seams and ground my crappy welds smooth.
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I repeated the process for the other mount.

Here's how it all turned out.
In these pic's I didn't have the sway bar mounts permanently fastened yet.But they ARE in their final position.
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Here's the beefy sway bar.
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ALL the pic's I took while fabbing up these mounts can be seen HERE

I give credit to Steve Chin for the idea of these mounts.I just made them a little beefier.


I welcome all comments questions or critiques.
 
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Give me your driving impressions with the sway bar installed.....

I really liked having a bar up front (when it still worked on my setup) especially with soft springs. It was probably the best ride quality I've had in my K5.... At that point I was on 35" radials and a front D44 with conventional draglink steering but a soft set of the ORD springs, and RS9000s.


The good old days! :usaflag:
 
I'll update with pic's once it's in the truck.
The paint is still drying.

Was it named Stomper back then?Or did that come with the ....ah...jezz,don't know what size tire's your running....what are you running now...44's?
 
BobK said:
I'll update with pic's once it's in the truck.
The paint is still drying.

Was it named Stomper back then?Or did that come with the ....ah...jezz,don't know what size tire's your running....what are you running now...44's?
Click to expand...


Oh, I didn't realize you were posting pics in "real time".....figured the bar was already installed! :D


[history lesson]

Back in the swaybar days, the truck was unnamed and it ran on 35" radials, and for a short time on a set of well-used Hummer 36" tires. On the first road trip to Moab in 2002 (Burt, Frizz, Tori and Myself), all the trucks in the caravan were parked at a hotel on the Las Vegas strip, and Tori was standing back looking at my truck sitting on a fresh set of 38's and commented that it reminded him of those old Stomper 4x4 trucks he used to remember having as a kid.... that name has stuck with it ever since. :pimp:

[/history lesson]
 
I reinstalled the sway bar yesterday and took a drive.

It REALLY tightend up the handleing.It feels like you get "pulled" through corners now:woot:

I also cleaned up the sway bar.Took about 6 hrs of sanding and polishing but I now have "blingin" front sway bar.
I clearc oated it and reinstalled the urethane bushings.Turned out o.k.

Here it is before
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And here it is after.

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Here it is installed.
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nice!:D on my 67 i stole the front crossmember with the factory swaybar mounts out of a 74 4x4. i took my stock one out and the new one slid right in. i did have to drill new holes but it fits like it was factory. i currently have a 4' lift with ORD swaybar disco's. truck is much tighter than with no swaybar!:thumb:
 
Did you use that chrome paint? If so, what'd you think about it? I've always wanted to try it on something...
 
Dude, nice job Bob! Bling Bling Sucka!
And you polished it even! Damn dude.. you been reading too many of my posts about polishing stuff.. :rotfl: I think i can predict whats gonna happen next time that tpi comes off. and with that you can expect about 20 hours of sanding and polishing. :cool1:
My BBC aluminum heads are next for the buffing wheel.. that should take many hours of sanding and polishing. :crazy:

So did you get the idea from steve chin's old posts on here? I haven't seen him on here in a year or two! :crazy:
 
Ryan,ya got the idea from him and then went overboard with it.

Polishing that sucka was a PITA.I thought about doing the TPI but I think not.

pvfjr,no it's not chrome paint,it's polished.

Thanks for the comments guys.
 
Wow, I never would have imagined someone would put that much effort into their sway bar. Looks good though. So, when are you going to polish your axles?:D
 
rubbinz raczn said:
nice!:D on my 67 i stole the front crossmember with the factory swaybar mounts out of a 74 4x4. i took my stock one out and the new one slid right in. i did have to drill new holes but it fits like it was factory. i currently have a 4' lift with ORD swaybar disco's. truck is much tighter than with no swaybar!:thumb:
Click to expand...

Did you have to grind rivets out to steal that crossmember out? My Blazer is really scary to drive with the Lock-Right in the back now. I really want to get this thing stable.
 
My spring perches already have a boss molded into them, I should be able to drill and tap those, correct?

Nice work, how about designing a set of quik disconnects now.

First chance I get, its off to the junkyard.

Dude your all blinged up with the diff. cover and sway bar.
 
jaros44 said:
My spring perches already have a boss molded into them, I should be able to drill and tap those, correct?

Nice work, how about designing a set of quik disconnects now.

First chance I get, its off to the junkyard.

Dude your all blinged up with the diff. cover and sway bar.
Click to expand...

I know...there's a nice contrast there...you know,between the chrome and oil:wink1:
 
69TowRig said:
Did you have to grind rivets out to steal that crossmember out?
Click to expand...

Finally got the answer to this question on my own yesterday. Spent a couple hours in the junkyard and cut this out of an '88 4x4 Sub:

Blazerprogress067.jpg


I won't bother installing it until I have torn down the front end to repair the fenders and radiator support (so that I have better access to the front crossmember). 8 rivets, 8 u-bolts, a few assorted brackets and etc and it was out. Nothing the angle grinder couldn't handle (it was raining though, which sucked).
 
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