rear anti sway bar

[Tunacious]

Why dont Silverados comewith a rear anti sway bar? Would a bar from a Suburban or Avalanche fit. Appreciate any advice or suggestions.

[carguru]

The rear bar from the Suburban and Avalanche does not fit the Silverado.  The mounting is different due to the coil spring rear suspension setup.  Cost, handling, and suspension travel are the reasons they normally don't put them on from the factory.  If they made the trucks corner very neutral, most people will push the envelope further.  Suspension travel if offroading in the 4x4 is limited by the amount of travel the springs and antisway bars.  I have the Helwig bars front and rear.  Pretty happy with them. :thumb:

[Tunacious]

How difficult was it to install the Helwig rear sway bar. I'll sacrifice a little suspension travel for better handling on road.

[carguru]

It was a pretty easy install.  The only real hassle involved is holding the U bolts, sway bar, and brackets together while tightening the nuts down. The bar mounts to the axle and to the frame crossmember that mounts the spare tire. I highly recommend the front bar too.  Stock bar is hollow.  Aftermarket is a solid bar, so it will deflect less and give you better handling.  If not doing the front, I recommend replacing the front bar bushings with polyurethane bushings to tighten the front "spongy" feel when cornering. :thumb:

[BDBWTE]

Chevy's aren't designed for sway bars...what the he!! are you thinking...we wag our tails going down the roads at excessive speeds overloaded by a margin of two...

[siskiyou]

I added the Hellwig rear sway bar to the rear of mine and I have a very neutral steer. I haven't found a reason to change the front sway bar but I am curious as to how you tell the front sway bar is hollow. I have seen that in this group before but I looked at mine and I can't tell that it is not solid by looking at it or tapping on it. As for installation, it was a pretty straight forward job but it would really help to use an impact wrench to install the nuts because they are locknuts.

[carguru]

The front bar is hollow.  If you have ever had the bar out, there are 2 dead giveaways.  1. The weight of the front bar.  It is very light.  If you had the Hellwig front bar to compare, the weight is very much different.  The Hellwig bar would weight twice what the stock bar weighs.  2. If you look at the ends of the bar (where the endlinks attach), the bar is crushed flat.  If you look carefully there are horizontal marks that suggest that the bar was made from hollow stock.  A solid formed bar would have smooth ends. You will not be able to tap on it to tell whether or not it is hollow, especially if it is installed in place.