Front Atni-sway Bar on Dana 60

[G35Vortec454]

Anybody using a stabilizer bar / anti-sway bar on a front Dana 60? If not, what are the alternatives?

My Van-RV, before I installed the Dana 60 axle in the front, had this u-shaped anti-sway bar connected at both sides of the frame and slip-fit (not bolted) inside bushings on the A-arms on both sides. But now since the solid axle moves backward I imagine it won't work with a solid axle.

 

[spencyg]

Once I "fix" the crappy Pathfinder suspension links under my van, I have contemplated adding a front sway bar as well. I have seen a couple iterations, but the one I like most actually attaches the bar to the axle with the links going up to the frame. You'd need to find a sway bar with a hoop over the pumpkin...after that it should be fairly straightforward. I've also thought about a couple hydraulic cylinders hooked up through a "damper" style accumulator. If it is plumbed correctly, it could act as a very effective and tunable sway bar. Regardless, you'll find one to be very necessary...

Spence

 

[ntsqd]

Why not just add some short toggle links between the ends of the existing bar and the axle housing?

 

[Desert Dan]

I would take a look at how SFA Chevy trucks have the sway bar set up and make your van's similar to that.

If you have lifted your van you may also need longer or adjustable links.

The links will allow for axle movment backwards.

 

[ntsqd]

OE the way the '91-down GM's worked the sway bar is less than ideal. The shown toggle links don't exist in the stock assembly, those are ORD quick releases turned into simple links to free up the suspension. Normally the bar is attached directly to the spring plate, which puts everything in a bit of a bind and long term tends to kill the bar bushings at the frame (BT, DT - twice).

My memory of the 2WD IFS bar of that era is that it has no attaching feature at the end. They are simply poked thru a bushing mounted on the lower control arm. Could heat the end and flatten it enough to drill an attaching hole, or could search mcmaster.com for "split shaft bushing" and use those to clamp onto the ends. One version of a tunable swaybar, as used on road racers, employs exactly that method, a split clamp that can be moved along the length of the lever arm portion of the swaybar, so the basic concept works and is worth considering even if you don't need it to be tunable.

 

[Curmudgeon]

My Van-RV, before I installed the Dana 60 axle in the front, had this u-shaped anti-sway bar connected at both sides of the frame and A-arms on both sides. But now since the solid axle moves backward I imagine it won't work with a solid axle.

I have a Chevy K30 with a front Dana 60 that is equipped with a standard anti-sway bar as you described. It is connected to the axle on each end by a short link. GM, and I'm sure the other manufacturers, built them that way for years. You should be able to find everything you need at a salvage yard.

JP

 

[alosix]

For reference, here's a pic of the front sway bar we grafted onto our M725 from a 2500 dodge pickup. (D44 pictured, but the D60 is the same).

You should likely be able to find a good pickup donor. I'd probably go measure your frame and wander around a pick and pull place until you find something that fits.

Jason

 

[G35Vortec454]

I saw this on pirate4x4 - where can i get the end links? Another question is: Does the anti-sway bar take the place of the track/panhard bar?

 

[ntsqd]

Open the attachments on my first post. They look like the ORD parts.

 

[adventureduo]

No it does not take place of a panhard/track bar. Two different animals.

Our Sportsmobile had a quick disco sway bar on it. It was a Dynatrac Pro Rock 60.. i don't know if SMB or Dynatrac made it. You can check with them if they sell it off the shelf. I think they just manufactured the links and used a factory sway bar.

 

[G35Vortec454]

OK, so I want to ask the question: If you can use only one of the two, which one would you rather have: trackbar or anti-sway bar? It's getting too crowded under there to have both. The use is 99% highway or offroad flatlands, 1% rockcrawling.

 

[ntsqd]

Refresh my memory, is this a linked or a leaf spring front axle conversion?

For a linked you very likely need the tracbar.
For a leaf sprung you may be able to do without it.

 

[G35Vortec454]

NTSQD, it's leaf sprung using a 5-leaf 4-inch lift Superlift spring pack, with one leaf removed (too high). Therefore it's using a 4-leaf 2.75-inch lift leaf-pack. The springs are 3-inch wide.

Here's the build:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30892

 

[G35Vortec454]

This anti-sway bar search was for naught :-( and before Brian steps forward and says: " Art, your axle came with the stock Ford anti-roll bar" I have to admit I had a senior moment. I had set it aside away from all this build and forgot about it - it was there sitting in my tool truck with all the installation hardware except the end links.

So, good end to the story.

And btw this anti-sway bar is the kind that installs behind the front axle and the end links install vertically to the frame - so the front is not, after all, cluttered, such that the thought of a trackbar is practical once again.

But the question remains: Do I really need a trackbar? I've got too much weight added to the front - the cross memebr, bumper reinforcement, winch, skid plate, and soon a custom bumper.

 

[ntsqd]

The trackbar will tighten up the steering response. Without it the only thing to resist the lateral push-pull of the steering are the leaf springs, which really don't have a lot of rigidity in that direction. If it is in the wrong place it can induce bumpsteer, but in the right place it will try to reduce it.

EDIT: I see that the steering linkage is very unconventional and should produce large changes in toe as the suspension cycles. How does it drive?