Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
What a fun day. I installed the Hellwig anti-sway bar on the Ram. The install wasn't too bad. But as usual, there were a coupla' surprises.
Included in the kit were two flat headed 3/8" bolts. They are much like a carriage bolt with the square section under the bolt head but in this case the head itself is much larger (about 1. 25" in diameter)than a typical carriage bolt. These bolts, according to the instructions, are meant to be installed under the shock when bolting the sway bar mounting plates in place. Apparently Hellwig feels these flat head bolts are necessary.
According to Hellwig's instructions, these bolts are supposed to drop into the pre drilled holes on the shock mount and the square section keeps them from rotating while tightening them down. When I dropped them into place they did not appear to be long enough for the job. I decided to "pull" them down into place using a nut and washer. Imagine my surprise when I managed to strip out the first one using only a standard 9/16" combo wrench. I had to cut that bolt off with my pneumatic chisel, losing about 30 minutes of install time in the process. Personally, I don't believe that a good 3/8" bolt should be ruined using only a standard combo wrench, especially one wielded by a dedicated couch spud like myself. Frankly, the quality of the included hardware did not impress me even before stripping the flat head bolt.
Still I used the included hardware to complete the install save for the flat head bolts. The included instructions pointed out that the gold colored washers should be installed on the bar end of the link and the zinc plated washers were to placed on the frame end. The bag of hardware included with the kit contained only one gold colored washer for some reason. By my calculations there should have been two gold washers as there are two links in the system.
I junked the other flat head bolt. A standard hex head bolt appears to yield more than adequate clearance in my estimation. There appears to be about a 3/16" to 1/4" gap between the bolt head and the shock mounting ring. So I substituted a nice grade 5 bolt I had lying around the shop to use on the driver's side. The special bolt isn't necessary on the passenger side shock mount as it turns out anyway.
According to instructions, the end link is supposed to be installed as close to vertical as possible. There are already 3 bolt holes in the frame very close to where the frame end link mounting bracket would need to be, so I used two of them. This put the end links very close to vertical without the need for any more holes to be drilled in the frame. I am not wild about drilling holes in the frame unless absolutely necessary. The links themselves were set up on the second to the last notch to make the span between the frame end bracket and the sway bar. This combination yielded a sway bar that was very close to horizontal and parallel to the truck's frame.
The next surprise, at least I didn't see it coming anyway, was when I went to bolt the driver's side upper link bracket into place. I quickly discovered that the fuel tank is rather inconveniently positioned for this little operation. I managed to get the reinforcing plate and one of the two mounting bolts dropped into place on the first try, but the second bolt fell out and rattled down the frame. I fished it out and tried again, but it was apparent that there simply was not enough clearance for my fingers between the frame and the tank to drop the second bolt into place. I ran a very fine wire into the bolt hole and then wrapped the end of the wire around the second bolt threads. I managed to pull it into place on the first try. Quite a relief.
The next hurdle was to tighten these two mounting bolts. Fortunately, I was able to position my 9/16" combo wrench and hold both bolts from above while torquing them down to 35 ft lbs. It was not an easy task to say the least, but it can be done obviously. You gotta hold your tongue just right though.
From there on it was just a matter of tightening bolts to the appropriate values and re-installing the shock absorber's lower mounting bolts and tightening them as well. I did not encounter any other problems with the hardware torquing them to Hellwig's specs.
I installed the Hellwig sway bar with the hopes that it will reduce the amount of sway I sometimes encounter with my slide in camper installed. The bar itself is a beefy 1 1/8" diameter which is heavier than the stock bar.
No special tools are required for this install. Thank God for that pneumatic chisel though. I would've been hacking on that too soft bolt for a long time with a cold chisel and hammer. Now it's time to go watch the Raiders.
Tim
Included in the kit were two flat headed 3/8" bolts. They are much like a carriage bolt with the square section under the bolt head but in this case the head itself is much larger (about 1. 25" in diameter)than a typical carriage bolt. These bolts, according to the instructions, are meant to be installed under the shock when bolting the sway bar mounting plates in place. Apparently Hellwig feels these flat head bolts are necessary.
According to Hellwig's instructions, these bolts are supposed to drop into the pre drilled holes on the shock mount and the square section keeps them from rotating while tightening them down. When I dropped them into place they did not appear to be long enough for the job. I decided to "pull" them down into place using a nut and washer. Imagine my surprise when I managed to strip out the first one using only a standard 9/16" combo wrench. I had to cut that bolt off with my pneumatic chisel, losing about 30 minutes of install time in the process. Personally, I don't believe that a good 3/8" bolt should be ruined using only a standard combo wrench, especially one wielded by a dedicated couch spud like myself. Frankly, the quality of the included hardware did not impress me even before stripping the flat head bolt.
Still I used the included hardware to complete the install save for the flat head bolts. The included instructions pointed out that the gold colored washers should be installed on the bar end of the link and the zinc plated washers were to placed on the frame end. The bag of hardware included with the kit contained only one gold colored washer for some reason. By my calculations there should have been two gold washers as there are two links in the system.
I junked the other flat head bolt. A standard hex head bolt appears to yield more than adequate clearance in my estimation. There appears to be about a 3/16" to 1/4" gap between the bolt head and the shock mounting ring. So I substituted a nice grade 5 bolt I had lying around the shop to use on the driver's side. The special bolt isn't necessary on the passenger side shock mount as it turns out anyway.
According to instructions, the end link is supposed to be installed as close to vertical as possible. There are already 3 bolt holes in the frame very close to where the frame end link mounting bracket would need to be, so I used two of them. This put the end links very close to vertical without the need for any more holes to be drilled in the frame. I am not wild about drilling holes in the frame unless absolutely necessary. The links themselves were set up on the second to the last notch to make the span between the frame end bracket and the sway bar. This combination yielded a sway bar that was very close to horizontal and parallel to the truck's frame.
The next surprise, at least I didn't see it coming anyway, was when I went to bolt the driver's side upper link bracket into place. I quickly discovered that the fuel tank is rather inconveniently positioned for this little operation. I managed to get the reinforcing plate and one of the two mounting bolts dropped into place on the first try, but the second bolt fell out and rattled down the frame. I fished it out and tried again, but it was apparent that there simply was not enough clearance for my fingers between the frame and the tank to drop the second bolt into place. I ran a very fine wire into the bolt hole and then wrapped the end of the wire around the second bolt threads. I managed to pull it into place on the first try. Quite a relief.
The next hurdle was to tighten these two mounting bolts. Fortunately, I was able to position my 9/16" combo wrench and hold both bolts from above while torquing them down to 35 ft lbs. It was not an easy task to say the least, but it can be done obviously. You gotta hold your tongue just right though.
From there on it was just a matter of tightening bolts to the appropriate values and re-installing the shock absorber's lower mounting bolts and tightening them as well. I did not encounter any other problems with the hardware torquing them to Hellwig's specs.
I installed the Hellwig sway bar with the hopes that it will reduce the amount of sway I sometimes encounter with my slide in camper installed. The bar itself is a beefy 1 1/8" diameter which is heavier than the stock bar.
No special tools are required for this install. Thank God for that pneumatic chisel though. I would've been hacking on that too soft bolt for a long time with a cold chisel and hammer. Now it's time to go watch the Raiders.
Tim
