VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Trucks and Vans Should an AD Sway or Not?

I know there was an anti-sway bar GM option for the front of the Burbs but was this ever an option on the earlier AD pickups such as the ’50 or ’51? And was there ever a rear anti-sway bar option offered by GM for any model of the AD?

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

A front sway bar was standard on the front of 1/2 ton panels, suburbans and forward control models from 1939 and up. Was "revised" through the years. I would suspect the taller rear body structure was the reason for its use.
I don't see it as being an option on the other 1/2 ton models and the 3/4 ton and up have such a stiff suspension it wouldn't be necessary.

Thanks Gene,
Ya got a point there, at least something to ponder, but I do get quite a bit of roll on a sudden hard turn and mine is a stock 3/4 ton. Been thinking about adding a CPP aftermarket anti-sway bar. The instalation is unobtrusive and nothing has to be distroyed, changed or drilled for the instalation. My moto has been "do no harm" on this truck and I've stuck to it pretty much so far.
Apparently there never was a rear option offered. At least I can't find any evidence of it.
I'd like to see a picture or illustration of the stock bars installed if anyone has one. I don't know any one with an early panel.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Your wish is my command....I sent you a picture
The rear sway bars didn't become popular until the box mounted campers came along.

Generally sway bars are not needed with leaf springs nor very effective. It is the coil spring suspension that benefits from sway bars.

Must be wishful thinking on the part of the guys that have been putting them on, they sure have a lot of positive feed back after installing them. Wonder why the factory put them on the panels from ’39 and up as Gene mentioned earlier????
Any way I’m gonna give it a try and see for myself.
Got the scan Gene, kind of late getting to my email, thanks, that paints a little more of the picture.
I’m sure that there were a lot of these added to the pickups by dealers over the years.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Hey Denny,

You must live closer to Indy that I figgered. Sway bars on a 3/4 ton?!? I figgered you were kidding. I guess not....

Well, have fun and I hope it works out for ya....

Your buddy in Portland....

We never added a sway bar to a pick-up at the dealer I worked at.
The factory put them on panels because they were more top heavy. The panel was about 250 pounds heaiver than a pick-up and the weight was all above the window line.

Just heard from another buddy this afternoon that has an early AD and said he put one from a '49 Burb on his pickup and it made a good bit of difference, corners a lot flatter.
For $140 I'm willing to try one especially since I won't have to drill any holes to mount it up.
DG

The Advance Design trucks had 2 different designs on swaybars.

Although they were most commonly seen on Panel/Suburban & Single body trucks.....
The swaybar was avaliable as an option for the pick up trucks { although I have never seen one on an original stepside truck }.

The 1947-1950 swaybars coincided with the lever shock equipped trucks.

The swaybar was changed from 1951 to 1955 first series & was engineered for tube shocks.

Anymore.... we install these swaybars on every truck we have.

We have a nice selection of both style of original truck swaybars & rebuild kits avaliable if anyone is interested.

1947-1950 Bar....


1951-1955 1st Bar....

The 1950 trucks had tube shocks.
The 1947-1950 sway bar bracket was clamped to the I beam with the spring U bolts, The 1951 and up had its own clamp to fasten a bracket to the I beam and a short link was used.
Neither style was tied in with the shocks directly.....correct?

There is one in a local junkyard that I was thinking about getting and see if I can make it work on my 37,I thought it was a aftermarket part and not a factory option but will get it the next time I go there.

Thanks a lot Joe, that was exactly what I was looking for, couldn’t ask for a better description. Gene sent me a scan from the ’51 Engineering Features and it has the very same thing in illustration on page 26.
Gene, if your referring to Joe’s statement, “The 1947-1950 swaybars coincided with the lever shock equipped trucks”, I believe that he just meant that aesthetically it fit in with the lever shocks on the early design. It’s quite obvious from the pictures and illustrations that it wasn’t physically tied in to the shocks.

The kit that CPP sells is a petty durn good representation of the later sway bar arrangement and if one would take the time to replicate the I-beam clamp and put a little kickup in the middle of the bar it would be hard to tell it from the original bar.

I understand that the panels and CO’s had a higher CG than the pickups but it seems that the engineers may have had this option in mind for the rest of the fleet because the cross members appear to be drilled for the addition of the bar supports, at least from 50 on up.

Thanks guys, very much.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

The sway bar design was changed the same year that the tube shocks were introduced (mid-late year 1950 }. Neither bar connect to the shocks.

The earlier style bar connects to the front X member & the spring bumpers. The later style connects to to front X member & directly to the axle.

The front X member of all trucks were predrilled at the factory for the swaybar mounting brackets ...weather the truck got one or not.

Although these swaybars were designed for the single body trucks..... they also work great on the pickups to reduce body roll & they help tighten up the steering.

I wish GM had more documentation on these bars but ,info. on them is sparse.

All 1950 1/2 ton trucks had tube shocks....as per parts book, engineering features, and various other Chevrolet literature. The early 1950 parts truck that I drove back in 1950 had tube shocks.

We can argue back & forth forever about when the shocks were changed but....this topic is actually about the factory swaybars..... So lets stay on topic.

Books are one thing. Real hands on experience is another.

I have parted out over 100 A.D trucks over the last 30 years & based on my experience.... 1950 was a transitional year from lever to tube shocks on the trucks.
I have parted out early 1950 trucks that still had lever shocks & have parted out late 1950 trucks that had tube shocks.

I was able to locate some info. in the factory assembly manual { sheet 5 section 3 } on the later '51-'55 first series swaybars.

Well I'm making some progress, I did find out that the AD bars that CPP sells are made by Addco, although the do not buy then directly from Addco, and Addco is an american company that does OEM and aftermarket anti-sway bars and they are QS9000 certified.
They should deliver my bar next week and I'm gonna see if it's possable to use it with the original late style articulating link that clamps around the I-beam.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

If originality is of no concern....
You could pull a sway bar off of anything in a junk yard for cheap .....& then hack fit it to the truck.

So in the end, I couldn’t make an exact repleca of the original GM bar from the CPP aftermarket bar because the legs are spread to wide and it is also a couple of inches short of hitting the axle center line. How ever it does mount up easily using the original holes in the cross members and the link bracket simply mounts under the shock plate on the front spring U-bolt so nothing is disturbed on the trucks frame. http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/113628961

Now the other question earlier in the thread was, why add a sway bar to a 3/4-ton truck? Well, to stabilize it in the turns of course and it does make a big difference. I drove the old gal from out in the far western Chicago suburbs down around the bottom end of the big city earlier this week. I had to drive thru heavy traffic to get through Joliet and keep up with the traffic on I-55 and I-80. Before, negotiating the on and off ramps at 55 and 60 mph used to feel real unsettling because of the leaning of the cab and it’s no problem whatsoever now. I’m also able to make those sharp dodging moves working my way through city traffic that I couldn’t do comfortably before.
In short, I have a much more stable ride and it feels much safer now, even if it’s not an original GM sway bar. And I think I’ll be able to live with the criticism from the purests.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Hey ....you are the one who has been ranting & raving about keepin' the truck "all original".

As soon as someone answers your long list of questions regarding original parts.... You run off & buy the cheapo repop part from the orient... hang it on the truck & refer to the original GM part as being only for "purists".

Hey Denny... you can build a whole truck by ordering cheap repop parts out of the Chinese reproduction catalogs.....

If thats what you want to do.....
Please Save us the time & trouble of researching original GM parts & info. if all you want to do is build a cheapo Chinese reproduction truck.
:vcca:

Welcome to the dark side of the modifiers,so whats the next non original part to be installed and glad you came over as it was getting a little lonely over here in the dark side.

Glad to bring a little more light to the dark side Jeff. Although the Flames are lighting up the area pretty well all by them selves. I’d read about this flaming thing before but never been victim to it. Hope my research and report helps make some of the guy’s AD trucks that are used as drivers a little safer.

Spose I shouldn’t even think about installing a seat belt. That sort of upgrade would really raise some blisters huh? Even though they were an accessory sold by GM and probably installed later by a dealer in the AD trucks for customers. I know we sold a lot of them as accessories back in the late 50’s and early 60’s when I was a Chevy parts man.

Let’s see now, other non original parts installed on my truck: Reproduction mirrors inside and out left and right, reproduction seat covers, floor mats, headliner, door panels, sun visors, arm rests and pedal pads. Five Power King 7.00x15LT tires, tubes and flaps, two reproduction hubcaps, brake shoes, cylinder rebuilding kits, springs and clips, new hoses and steel lines, F&R wheel brg, seals, universal joints. After market shocks, king pins, tie rod and drag link rebuilding kits, spring shackles and bushings. PPG paint, front and rear bumpers, right rear tail light, numerous bulbs. Water pump, thermostat, hoses, clamps, half dozen various new springs, carb kits, new fuel lines and tank flex hose, points, condenser, cap, plugs, wires, rebuild kits for starter and generator, battery cables, battery, battery hold down. New valves, seats, guides. Reproduction radio antenna, radio parts, i.e., speaker, resistors, capacitors. New pine bed wood kit, to many bolts, screws and brass fittings to mention.

So yes, there are some parts that are not NOS or original GM on my 1950, 3604 truck, but it is still mostly in its original configuration as it may have appeared in the 50’s.

And I don’t know where this Chinese junk bit is coming from in regards to the sway bar. The answers to all the questions that I have posed to the companys indicate that the source for the CPP anti-sway bars are right here in the good old USA made by ADDCO down in Linville, NC., which last time I checked isn't owned by a Chinese company, yet.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny, don't forget the air in the tires. some of us still have Pre-WWII air in out tires. Pre WWII air does not have the manmade Radioactive Isotopes present that all Post WWII air has. Any good VCCA judge should carry a sampleing kit and a precision Spectrometer isotope analyzer & detector to evaluate the "correct air" in the tires of pre-WWII trucks and tires, also for p0st 1953 air that will also have some R.A. isotopes associated with the Hydrogen Bombs that were tested in the 1950s and 1960s. Goll...ee, I almost forgot about the radiator coolant and the battery water that may be contaminated with post WWII isotopes!

:devil

We gotta be careful what we call "in original as sold by the dealer" condition for a 1000 point vehicle!


:vcca:

I would like to look into one of those sway bars for my 37 as it needs all the help it can get,lowering helped it some but its still a old truck and I kind of want to keep it like one but with improvements. I might also look into one for the rear too as I had a 80s 1/2 ton with front and rear sway bars and it handled great for a truck.