Rear Sway Bar

[DHull]

I am trying to get some information about installing a rear sway bar. I have a 2008 Ram Quad SLT 4X4 it did not come with a sway bar. I have used the truck for many tow jobs but none with any distance. I just purchased a 26ft travel trailer with a gross weight of 6000lbs which is no problem for the truck. I am asking if the sway bar install would help with the ride the truck does what I would call a see/saw affect when riding on the road that has some roll to it. Thanks

 

[Regcabguy]

I carry a camper around but don't tow. I can vouch for the greatly enhanced street handling and reduced sway with the Hellwig swaybar.
The boxed,hydroformed frame is way stiffer than my 2nd gen.
If I ever chuck the popup,the swaybar will come off for greater articulation.
My 285-75-17 spare fits fine with the Mag Hytec and swaybar.
I use a ratchet strap stretched between the holes in the inner frame rails. The hooks go in there and I tighten the strap down after pulling the spare rearward toward the hitch. The winch will hold it temporarily and the ratchet strap seals the deal.
I returned from a Baja run in my 2nd gen with my spare touching the driveway.
I had the winch replaced under warranty and have never trusted them since.

 

[SnoKing]

A sway bar will cause stiffer handling empty and there is no reason to install one with a travel trailer. Dodge dropped it in 2003 stating that wider frame and spring placement negated the need. As above people with truck campers benefit from them.

I wish I had an unlatching link on one side. I disconnected one side a few years ago as a test and ride improved empty. Snoking

 

[AH64ID]

A sway bar will cause stiffer handling empty and there is no reason to install one with a travel trailer. Dodge dropped it in 2003 stating that wider frame and spring placement negated the need. As above people with truck campers benefit from them.

I couldn't disagree more.

I have had my sway bar on for 2.5 years and nearly 30K miles, and it has been nothing but an improvement for every single mile.

The empty ride did not change. There is nothing stiffer about the ride. The empty and loaded handling is greatly improved. The truck is more stable in corners and at high speed. During slow speed driving the truck feels like it stays much flatter in big turns. I drive lots of miles on winding mountain roads, as well as dirt roads.

With the TT the back end of the truck is much more stable at low speed on curvy roads, which is where I saw the biggest improvement while towing. If you use a WDH then the rolling motion of the TT in a corner can be transferred to the back of the truck. I didn't notice too much transfer on my 5K 22' TT, but when I stepped up to my current camper which is about 8K loaded and 1,200 on the tongue I saw a lot of transfer on slow winding roads. The sway-bar eliminated that completely, and a more stable truck will lead to a more stable TT.

I often take 2 ATV's with me camping, which ride above the bed rails and I am quite happy to have done the sway-bar install even more.

The change to the ride has been one of the best mods I have done to my truck, for both empty and loaded driving.

I run the standard Hellwig sway-bar. They also make the Big Wig which is larger and better for higher CG loads like a TC.

 

[SnoKing]

I often take 2 ATV's with me camping, which ride above the bed rails and I am quite happy to have done the sway-bar install even more.

Well a sway bar would be great for an extra 1200-1500 lbs up there! Snoking

 

[AH64ID]

Well a sway bar would be great for an extra 1200-1500 lbs up there! Snoking

It certainly is! I had the sway-bar for about 2 years before putting the quads up there so I am not sure what it would be like without it, but based on what it did to improve the truck the rest of the time I am certain it helps.

The engineers obviously felt they weren't needed with the wider and longer springs, but it's one of the few mods I should have done the day I bought the truck.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I couldn't disagree more.

I have had my sway bar on for 2.5 years and nearly 30K miles, and it has been nothing but an improvement for every single mile.

The empty ride did not change. There is nothing stiffer about the ride. The empty and loaded handling is greatly improved. The truck is more stable in corners and at high speed. During slow speed driving the truck feels like it stays much flatter in big turns. I drive lots of miles on winding mountain roads, as well as dirt roads.

With the TT the back end of the truck is much more stable at low speed on curvy roads, which is where I saw the biggest improvement while towing. If you use a WDH then the rolling motion of the TT in a corner can be transferred to the back of the truck. I didn't notice too much transfer on my 5K 22' TT, but when I stepped up to my current camper which is about 8K loaded and 1,200 on the tongue I saw a lot of transfer on slow winding roads. The sway-bar eliminated that completely, and a more stable truck will lead to a more stable TT.

I often take 2 ATV's with me camping, which ride above the bed rails and I am quite happy to have done the sway-bar install even more.

The change to the ride has been one of the best mods I have done to my truck, for both empty and loaded driving.

I run the standard Hellwig sway-bar. They also make the Big Wig which is larger and better for higher CG loads like a TC.

This is the kind of feedback I've been looking for. I have installed RSB's on other vehicles so I know it doesn't stiffen the ride but I've been curious as to whether it helps handling with a TT.
Thanks for the feedback Allen.

BTW, does it interfere with the spare tire or diff cover?

Scott

 

[AH64ID]

I have a 245/70R19.5 spare tire, BIG Class V receiver, and a MH diff cover and the sway-bar makes getting the tire in a little trickey as it takes a decent angle to start but it still fits. The sway-bar doesn't have clearance issues with anything.

Due to the MH cover I do have to use a ratchet strap and hold the tire all the way aft against the hitch to allow for suspension compression.

 

[Bill Stockard]

This is the kind of feedback I've been looking for. I have installed RSB's on other vehicles so I know it doesn't stiffen the ride but I've been curious as to whether it helps handling with a TT.
Thanks for the feedback Allen.

BTW, does it interfere with the spare tire or diff cover?

Scott

My Hellwig bar doesn't interfere with the standard size spare tire, but may interfere with a Mag-Hytec differential cover. I run the standard size tires and don't have a Mag-Hytec cover and there's no interference with either on my '03 dually.

Bill

 

[Prairie Dog]

Thanks Bill and John (dont know where Allen came from..)

 

[SnoKing]

What happen to the OP DHull? It is amazing that 100's thousand of post 2002 RAMs have stayed on the road without the factory sway bar. The truck camper group is the main customer of after market RSBs. All I really know is that disconnecting one end on the OEM RSB on my truck removed a fair bit of harshness from my brick truck ride while empty, allowing rear wheels to react independly to bumps in the road.

Having the camper option it is heavily sprung. RSB was part of that option. Option provided rear spring packs similar to the 1T duallies, with under and overload leafs. It is really a SRW 3500 with 2500 badges. Snoking

 

[AH64ID]

It is amazing that 100's thousand of post 2002 RAMs have stayed on the road without the factory sway bar.

Kinda like all the 2nd gen's that have survived without gauges, upgraded transmissions, exhaust brakes, injectors, and turbo's..

Just because it works well in OEM trim doesn't mean it cannot be upgraded to preform better.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I can see in theory how it would make one side at a time stiffer. If you hit a bump with just one wheel it isn't any different than leaning that direction. The SB would be trying to hold that side down. Going over a speed-bump wouldn't be any stiffer because both sides are working together.

 

[AH64ID]

I can see in theory how it would make one side at a time stiffer. If you hit a bump with just one wheel it isn't any different than leaning that direction. The SB would be trying to hold that side down. Going over a speed-bump wouldn't be any stiffer because both sides are working together.

In theory yes, but over the years I have ran several vehicles with and without sway-bars (front and rear, OEM or non-OEM) and I have never noticed an increase in harshness with a sway bar attached vs not.

 

[crispyboy]

Dhull,
When you say "sea-saw" effect are referring to right to left sway or front to back porpoising because of the weight on the hitch of the truck?
Are you using a weight distribution hitch?

 

[Prairie Dog]

If you have a WDH (which you need) and still get some porpoising (front to back), Bilstein shocks work wonders. (Much better than the stockers or Rancho's).

 

[campertruck]

Hello,
I have a 2006 3500 SRW and I installed the Hellwig Big Wig unit
I carry aN 11.5 truck camper and it was a huge improvement.
When the truck is empty it feels very stable and not harsh.
I put on Torklift Stabil loads and that virtually eliminated all the porpoise effect it had.