Bent Rear Sway Bar

[jlwelding]

So it never caught my eye before but Its bent. Either someone before me backed into something or jacked it up by the sway bar. Its got to be replaced so go back with stock or is there something better?

 

[Mopar1973Man]

I've never really seen a sway bar bent but... Now I can say I have... 

 

 You know what stock has to offer. So I would consider asking around at the local 4x4 shops and see what options you might have locally. Ask what kinds of performance options there are for the different kinds of sway bars they have. 

[Threadzy]

I took my rear sway bar off a few years ago once I put the Timbrens on. Pull my travel trailer with no problems. 

[Great work!]

Mine is bent too.

[Tractorman]

I have removed my OEM rear anti-sway bar.  I no longer have my truck camper (high center of gravity load), so the rear anti-sway bar is not needed.  Get a little better ride with the truck empty on certain roads.  The truck tows very well without the bars.  Just arrived home from a round trip to Boise picking up two pallets of pavers.  GCW coming home at 18,000 lbs.

 

- John

[jlwelding]

Interesting

 

[Tractorman]

You may  recall that during the late '90''s and early 2000's, trucks were being sold with the "Camper Special Package" option.  This included auxiliary rear leaf springs and a rear anti-sway bar for carrying slide-in truck bed campers.   Otherwise, trucks did not come with those options, even if they had the trailer tow package. 

 

- John

Edited September 7, 2023 by Tractorman

[JAG1]

I have the camper package on my 02. When running with the top heavy camper you can feel the sway bar kick in. It feels like it's going to sway on turns and then it stops at a certain moment. It,s fairly effective and can feel it's effect even before I put airbags on.

[Mopar1973Man]

12 hours ago, Tractorman said:

I have removed my OEM rear anti-sway bar.  I no longer have my truck camper (high center of gravity load), so the rear anti-sway bar is not needed.  Get a little better ride with the truck empty on certain roads.  The truck tows very well without the bars.  Just arrived home from a round trip to Boise picking up two pallets of pavers.  GCW coming home at 18,000 lbs.

 

- John

Interresting... Is this a bumper pull trailer right?

[Tractorman]

Yes bumper pull, well actually truck hitch receiver pull.  You may not have read my post regarding my OEM hitch receiver failure.  I have replaced the hitch receiver with a Curt Class V hitch receiver which allows for a much better safety margin.

 

OEM hitch receiver:

 

 

 

Curt hitch receiver:

 

 

 

- John

Edited September 7, 2023 by Tractorman

[JAG1]

That's amazing John where it failed. Right where it was bent / folded. I know I can count on you always getting good the stuff.

[Great work!]

Saw that on a friends truck. Same exact place.

[Mopar1973Man]

This is why I have a small length of chain welded to the frame of the truck and a snap hook for my breakaway brake cable attaches too. This way if the hitch breaks from the frame the brake cable can still pull the brake pin on the trailer. So many people attach the brake cable to the hitch pin or to the safety chains. What would happen if the hitch completely failed and the brake cable was attached to the hitch? Bye Bye trailer...

[Doubletrouble]

@Tractorman,

 My truck has the same old hitch on it. Never made sense to me why they install a class 3 hitch on a 1 ton truck. Pointless 

 I want to eventually replace mine with a class 5 as well.

[Tractorman]

1 hour ago, Doubletrouble said:

Never made sense to me why they install a class 3 hitch on a 1 ton truck.

 

Your hitch receiver should be a Class 4 - 1000 lb / 10,000 lb with weight distribution, but only 500 lb / 5,000 lb weight carrying.  Horrible safety factor.

 

Is the label still on your hitch receiver?

 

- John

[Doubletrouble]

 Yes, label is still there. I believe it was the same as your old one. Still no heavy enough for the truck in my opinion.

[Tractorman]

I fully agree with you there.  Not even close to being heavy duty.

 

- John