Rear sway bar hardware issues

AlanK · March 10

Just got the Hellwig rear sway bar (#7780) for my '23 Silverado. Bar and adapter plates all look good. Nice welds and powder coating.

However,

Attaching bolts were messed up. Some bolts too short and bolts were 1/2-13 thread with 1/2-20 thread nuts. It's like they threw in the bag what ever they had in bin.

Anyway,

$22 later at Ace hardware I go the right length bolts and thread pitch for the install.

A little disappointed a mature ISO-9001 company like this makes such a basic error.

Will comment back later after install.

davester · March 10

did you contact them?

any sign of the stuff having been opened? depending on where you got it from, you might have got someone else's return.

AlanK · March 11

I did not contact them. I bought the sway bar off of Amazon for free shipping. The box looked good on arrival. Well packaged. Hardware was in a heat sealed plastic bag. Looked like the plastic bag was original.

But, you are right, it could have been a return and not Hellwig's fault at all.

Badbird2000 · March 18

Were y0uo able to get it installed? If so, how does the truck handle now?

AlanK · March 19

Not installed yet. Been too cold and windy last few days. Warming up this weekend. Will report back.

bluemonstercali · March 23

I've been on the fence for this upgrade. Please report back your opinion; I'd love to know the value of the upgrade. Thanks

Rook126 · March 24

If you haven't already seen this, here's an old post with some opinions for you.

AlanK · April 14

Just installed the Hellwig rear sway bar (#7780) on my '23 Silverado. Set the bar at the lowest setting (outer hole) for starters. Noticed the improvement immediately! Truck has much less sway taking corners. It also feels more "planted" taking corners. I don't have any cloverleafs near me but the 90 and 180 turns I did felt a lot less challenging and the truck had a lot less sway taking the corners. I like it. Gives a feeling of more confidence taking corners. Recommended.

Also noted several others posted about the parts bag being wrong. So it wasn't a fluke with mine. Hardware store trip was required.

MrLeadFoot · April 26

On 4/14/2026 at 9:19 AM, AlanK said:

Just installed the Hellwig rear sway bar (#7780) on my '23 Silverado. Set the bar at the lowest setting (outer hole) for starters. Noticed the improvement immediately! Truck has much less sway taking corners. It also feels more "planted" taking corners. I don't have any cloverleafs near me but the 90 and 180 turns I did felt a lot less challenging and the truck had a lot less sway taking the corners. I like it. Gives a feeling of more confidence taking corners. Recommended.

Also noted several others posted about the parts bag being wrong. So it wasn't a fluke with mine. Hardware store trip was required.

Is the ride a little stiffer, too?

AlanK · April 27

I did notice a little stiffer ride on the bumpy roads. But nothing harsh, terrible or objectionable. Truck overall seems more stable to me. Hard to quantify.

66ss3964spd · April 28

Other than a tiny bit of added friction (stiction) from the bushings and end links a sway bar (front or rear) shouldn't really make the ride any stiffer from dips or bumps that effect both sides at the same time.

They will make the ride stiffer when only one side is affected because they are basically adding spring rate.

AlanK · May 2

Exactly. If both side of the bar (wheel side) move in the same direction and deflection there is no reverse torque applied to the chassis. So other than friction from the bushings there is no effect. The bushing friction is truly minor. If the bar ends move in opposite direction, then a torque is applied to the chassis in the reverse direction to "flatten" out the ride and keep the chassis/body from twisting.