Steve O.
03-30-2005, 20:07
Thought some people would like to know how this went.
Some highlights:
-I installed a front bar and a rear bar. Very beefy piece up front. 1 7/16 o.d. Much heavier than stock.
-The instructions were pretty good. Not perfect, but much better than a lot of automotve related instructions I've come across. They stress that getting the front bar in and out is a bit tricky. They weren't kidding. It was sort of like doing one of those Chinese puzzles where you have to untangle different metal rings from each other. Once you figure it out, you wonder why it took you sol ong to get it.
-Although not in the instructions, I ended up disconnecting the one bolt to the steering damper and moved it out of the way. This made all the difference in the world once I did that.
-The instructions said some minor grinding may be needed on part of the cross member up front and this proved true. I used a cutoff wheel and then a grinding stone to remove some metal near the frame mounted bushings to buy the 1/8 clearance they said the bar needs. Pretty easy though, but you would need air tools for this.
-Rear bar install required drilling out some holes and a good bit of fiddling to get the dogbones and the bar's frame brackets lined up, but it was not too bad. One length of brake line had to be nudged out of the way by a few inches. No bending or anything like that.
-The real news for me was that the rear bar cleared my Mag-Hytec rear diff cover. Some people have asked about this on the board.
The proof will be in how it all feels on the highway and towing I think. Hard to tell any improvement just driving around town afterwards. All in all not a bad install and very nice quality on the parts and hardware.
Steve
Some highlights:
-I installed a front bar and a rear bar. Very beefy piece up front. 1 7/16 o.d. Much heavier than stock.
-The instructions were pretty good. Not perfect, but much better than a lot of automotve related instructions I've come across. They stress that getting the front bar in and out is a bit tricky. They weren't kidding. It was sort of like doing one of those Chinese puzzles where you have to untangle different metal rings from each other. Once you figure it out, you wonder why it took you sol ong to get it.
-Although not in the instructions, I ended up disconnecting the one bolt to the steering damper and moved it out of the way. This made all the difference in the world once I did that.
-The instructions said some minor grinding may be needed on part of the cross member up front and this proved true. I used a cutoff wheel and then a grinding stone to remove some metal near the frame mounted bushings to buy the 1/8 clearance they said the bar needs. Pretty easy though, but you would need air tools for this.
-Rear bar install required drilling out some holes and a good bit of fiddling to get the dogbones and the bar's frame brackets lined up, but it was not too bad. One length of brake line had to be nudged out of the way by a few inches. No bending or anything like that.
-The real news for me was that the rear bar cleared my Mag-Hytec rear diff cover. Some people have asked about this on the board.
The proof will be in how it all feels on the highway and towing I think. Hard to tell any improvement just driving around town afterwards. All in all not a bad install and very nice quality on the parts and hardware.
Steve