Ford E450 sway bar?,s

[suprz]

My 2006 E450 has the original sway bars and sway bar links. I cannot afford new hellwig sway bars at this point. I am wondering if anyone has changed the original sway bar links, bushings, etc and how much of a difference it makes.

[RedRollingRoadb]

The sway bar replacement isn't difficult if you can get underneath. I did both of mine on an '07 in a easy day, with a l-o-n-g lunch. I ran mine up on some 2X6's to get a little more clearance for my belly.

I was extremely pleased with the end result. When I got mine sdtrucksprings.com was the best buy.

The local tire place did my front shocks with their house brand. Price was good and the install was like $15 each so it was worth it. I understand that the E-450 shocks are rather hard to do on one side but can't confirm that.

[Home_Skillet]

Bilstein shocks made a big difference in my RV.

[j-d]

Link to 7008 Front Bar Image with Link to Installation
Same for 7180 Rear

[j-d]

PartyOf Five wrote:
Can you guys say a few words on what changes I'd notice on the road, and set an expectation on what I'd pay to upgrade to the Helwig (parts & labor cost). 31' e450 v10, 2001. Thanks!

On the road, it will sway less, wander less, and corner with much more confidence. On the Campsite it will rock far less when occupants move around. You can be 200-pounds and not notice the entry step push down when you climb in!

You can price the parts on Amazon, SDTruckSprings, and others. I think the two bars will add to less than $500. 7008 for Front, 7180 for Rear.

Somebody who has done the job before, has a lift or pit to work with, could probably mount both bars in 1.5-2.0 hours total. If you can't find the installation instructions on line, call Hellwig. Their website is really hashed up. Then show the instructions to your mechanic.

Or recruit helper(s) and do it! At age late 60's I did my own. Now early 70's I could do it again.

[PartyOf_Five]

I've seen a few posts about upgrading the sway bars- but don't get it yet. Can you guys say a few words on what changes I'd notice on the road, and set an expectation on what I'd pay to upgrade to the Helwig (parts & labor cost). 31' e450 v10, 2001. Thanks!

[stripit]

I can tell you from my experiance, there is night and day difference in the factory set up and the Helwig new bars. I put them both on in the driveway and even my wife that doesn't know a thing about cars or suspensions, knew there was a change on the very first drive. I would think the rear was the one that would show the most change, but I can't tell you that for sure as I installed both before pulling out of the drive. I would not spend the time nor money to just replace the bushings, lot of work and probably nowhere near the same results.

[j-d]

The problem with 1992-2007 E-Series (besides the OEM bars way too small for RV use!) is the way the Front Sway Bar pokes into bushings in the axles. If you can find an aftermarket kit with "hard" bushings, you might gain something on the front. It's just a poor design and it took Ford till 2008 to either realize it or acknowledge it and change the design back to End Links.

Those bushings in the axle are harder to change than end links, so develop a strategy. The auto parts chain stores like Autozone have loaner tools. It'd possible their "balljoint press" might have adapters that'd let you remove and install those odd bushings.

The OEM rear bar is designed well but it's way too small. If all you can swing right now is bushings, go ahead, but I think I'd replace rear first if I was only buying one.

You should see a difference with hard bushings, but it won't be the Day and Night difference you get with Hellwig bars.