I picked up a Hellwig front swaybar from Krawlers Edge a while back when they first came out and just recently got around to installing it. Back when I purchased, Krawlers Edge was the only available vendor but now it appears Wild Horses also carries it. Either way it's a premium (expensive) product and as far as I know the only available aftermarket complete EB swaybar kit.
As for impressions, I'd like to start with the bad then cover the good. I may seem a little negative here but the bar is certainly raised due to the premium price this product demands.
First the BAD:
Narrow mounting blocks for the D bushing straps. The kit includes these mounting blocks that insert inside the frame which you then drive threaded studs into. The width of these blocks is really narrow (maybe 1/2"?) but the width of the frame is close to 2". I would have liked a more stable (wider) mounting block within the frame.
Endlinks are too short. I purchased the 0-2.5" kit and I have exactly 2.5" of suspension lift. I ended up threading the heim joints nearly all the way out in order to fit my rig and still was unable to achieve the proper horizontal position of the swaybar. I left about 3/8" of the hiem into the endlink rod which any less and I'd be worried it would snap.
Poor packaging - missing bolts and incorrect size swaybar lock ring. The kit says it supplies replacement extended bolts to replace the stock ones for the lower spring plate due to the additional thickness introduced by the lower endlink mounts. My hardware bag only had 2 when 4 are required. Also I spent 30-minutes cursing and spewing fire trying to get the swaybar lock ring to fit the bar. It wasn't until I grabbed the other one did I realize that I had 1 properly sized ring, and 1 incorrectly sized ring (too small). This really left a bad impression on me as I currently only have 1 lock ring in place and will likely have to fight with Hellwig on Monday for another of proper size.
The kit uses what appears to be nickel coated grade-5 hardware. Since I had to replace the spring plate bolts away, I did so with grade-8 zinc coated HW. For the stresses of a suspension system I was rather disappointed to see grade-5 hardware throughout.
Endlink mounting plates misalign lower spring buckets. The kit seems to assume you're using aftermarket lower spring plates which must be flat. The stock plates are not flat on the bottom and instead contour to the spring base. The Hellwig lower endlink plates that are included in the kit assume a flat surface to mount. This puts the lower spring plate in a bit of bind as you sandwich the spring plate & endlink plate onto the radius-arm perch.
Mix of Metric and Standard hardware. This isn't really a negative, just weird and a little sad (for an American product being installed on an American classic car with 100% standard hardware - until now).
Poor instructions. The instructions make multiple references to the pictures, however the print quality is poor and therefore the pictures are hard to see. This leaves you with a lot of squinting and head scratching.
Now for the GOOD:
High quality parts. Nice heim joints, thick plate that's bent not welded, and all steel parts are powder coated very well.
Massive swaybar. I don't know the size but it's probably the thickest swaybar I've ever messed with.
Ingenious disconnect system which swings out of the way.
Nice bushings and quality lubricant.
Really nice end-link design. Usually the end-links in a kit like this would be puny, but these are nice quality pieces.
IMPRESSIONS:
The swaybar performs really great and has an immediately noticeable improvement. It basically feels like you're running a much stiffer front spring, only without the adverse impact to ride quality. When cornering the whole ride is really stiffened up yet when hitting bumps there's zero change to the travel or rigidity of your front suspension.
The disconnect system is really slick and easy enough to do with one person. The whole bar swings up out of the way when disconnected.
The tolerances of the swaybar are really well engineered. It clears the pitman arm well but is tight enough that it doesn't rub the tires.
OVERALL:
Overall I give it 7 out of 10. The product itself is high-end and warrants a better review, but it's the negative items above that are holding the score down - at least in this EB owner's opinion
As for impressions, I'd like to start with the bad then cover the good. I may seem a little negative here but the bar is certainly raised due to the premium price this product demands.
First the BAD:
Narrow mounting blocks for the D bushing straps. The kit includes these mounting blocks that insert inside the frame which you then drive threaded studs into. The width of these blocks is really narrow (maybe 1/2"?) but the width of the frame is close to 2". I would have liked a more stable (wider) mounting block within the frame.
Endlinks are too short. I purchased the 0-2.5" kit and I have exactly 2.5" of suspension lift. I ended up threading the heim joints nearly all the way out in order to fit my rig and still was unable to achieve the proper horizontal position of the swaybar. I left about 3/8" of the hiem into the endlink rod which any less and I'd be worried it would snap.
Poor packaging - missing bolts and incorrect size swaybar lock ring. The kit says it supplies replacement extended bolts to replace the stock ones for the lower spring plate due to the additional thickness introduced by the lower endlink mounts. My hardware bag only had 2 when 4 are required. Also I spent 30-minutes cursing and spewing fire trying to get the swaybar lock ring to fit the bar. It wasn't until I grabbed the other one did I realize that I had 1 properly sized ring, and 1 incorrectly sized ring (too small). This really left a bad impression on me as I currently only have 1 lock ring in place and will likely have to fight with Hellwig on Monday for another of proper size.
The kit uses what appears to be nickel coated grade-5 hardware. Since I had to replace the spring plate bolts away, I did so with grade-8 zinc coated HW. For the stresses of a suspension system I was rather disappointed to see grade-5 hardware throughout.
Endlink mounting plates misalign lower spring buckets. The kit seems to assume you're using aftermarket lower spring plates which must be flat. The stock plates are not flat on the bottom and instead contour to the spring base. The Hellwig lower endlink plates that are included in the kit assume a flat surface to mount. This puts the lower spring plate in a bit of bind as you sandwich the spring plate & endlink plate onto the radius-arm perch.
Mix of Metric and Standard hardware. This isn't really a negative, just weird and a little sad (for an American product being installed on an American classic car with 100% standard hardware - until now).
Poor instructions. The instructions make multiple references to the pictures, however the print quality is poor and therefore the pictures are hard to see. This leaves you with a lot of squinting and head scratching.
Now for the GOOD:
High quality parts. Nice heim joints, thick plate that's bent not welded, and all steel parts are powder coated very well.
Massive swaybar. I don't know the size but it's probably the thickest swaybar I've ever messed with.
Ingenious disconnect system which swings out of the way.
Nice bushings and quality lubricant.
Really nice end-link design. Usually the end-links in a kit like this would be puny, but these are nice quality pieces.
IMPRESSIONS:
The swaybar performs really great and has an immediately noticeable improvement. It basically feels like you're running a much stiffer front spring, only without the adverse impact to ride quality. When cornering the whole ride is really stiffened up yet when hitting bumps there's zero change to the travel or rigidity of your front suspension.
The disconnect system is really slick and easy enough to do with one person. The whole bar swings up out of the way when disconnected.
The tolerances of the swaybar are really well engineered. It clears the pitman arm well but is tight enough that it doesn't rub the tires.
OVERALL:
Overall I give it 7 out of 10. The product itself is high-end and warrants a better review, but it's the negative items above that are holding the score down - at least in this EB owner's opinion
