Hellwig or Roadmaster sway bar?

Could not find any RM's on e-bay but did find HW's and most say delivery in 3 days, free shipping to boot!
As was my Torklift tie down equipment last week, all of it showed up in a couple three days, from 3 different suppliers!
Maybe I can get one and install it before my trip to MN on the 2nd.

finsruskw wrote:
Towpro,
I am leaning towards the HW at present
Could you expand on the rear frame mounts, different location" a little.
Some pictures would be greatly appreciated.
You could PM me for my e-mail address if you wish.
Any installation instructions you could share w/me?

Thanks!
Dave S

Every model/year truck is different, mine is a 2015 Ram 3500 Diesel 4x4 dually. For my truck there is 2 different models, I went with the larger "bigwig" one.

I was adjusting the location of the rear frame mount plates as they can move forward or backwards some. The nuts are those locking nuts so it can be a PITA to hold the mount, hold the wrench, and turn the socket (I did use an impact gun some). first they were installed to far forward so I moved them back to get the vertical links that connect from the frame plate to sway bar so they were perpendicular to the frame.

Also the bigwig kit came with a bunch of stuff to mount on the axle to move some brake lines. it looks like in 14 this brake mount stuff was attached to a vent on the axle tube, but on the 2015 this mount moved to on top of the pumpkin so I did not have mess with this part.
All I had to do was unclip the brake line on both sides of the pumpkin so the center U bolts would not crush them, then bend them just enough so they would not rub on the Ubolts.

on mine I had to remove (un-clip) 2 electrical connectors (one each side) from the side of the rear frame (connectors for rear fender clearance lights). this same wire going to the connector is also attached to the top of the frame with a nylon plug that goes into a hole in the frame, but I did not have to remove that part (I think plate is slid back until it was hitting this wire attachment point.

all and all it was not a hard job.

Some of the directions might be on line at hellwig's site.

When you order this stuff 99% of the orders go back to hellwig who bents them to fill each order, so expect a coupe extra days delivery.

I got mine from a place called SD Truck Springs. They had free shipping and a coupon for $35.00 off. they got my order on Monday AM, I received my bar 10 days later in UPS.

EDIT: I did mine on the ground, with truck wheels sitting on ground. You want suspension loaded with truck weigh twhen installing it. On the vertical links between the frame and sway bar I have the lower lock nut on just enough to cover the end of the threads with none sticking out. the bar is angled down just a little in the back. Now after I load the camper and truck body drops, the bar should become level. (hellwig said to look for a 10deg angle (back down) with truck empty so it will become more level when truck body drops with camper weight.)

No way it is worth that difference in price. But do shop around on the internet, I think you will find them both for less. There was very little difference between them for my truck, both sourced from the cheapest credible internet retailer.

Towpro,
I am leaning towards the HW at present
Could you expand on the rear frame mounts, different location" a little.
Some pictures would be greatly appreciated.
You could PM me for my e-mail address if you wish.
Any installation instructions you could share w/me?

Thanks!
Dave S

I just put the rear Big Wig on my 2015 Ram 3500 Thursday night, but have not had the camper on it yet. Some time after Laborday we head to Outerbanks with the Wolf Creek.

But it feels pretty good empty :).

Install was not bad, took about 2 hours but I fooled around moving the rear frame mounts to where I thought they would work best.

I could not justify the added $ for the RM...you may feel differently.

You should be able to adjust/disconnect either. The HW is adjustable.

Bill

I realize this is an old thread but here goes anyway...

Just priced the Hellwig BigWig and the Roadmaster for my '15 3500 dually w/Lance 1181 and was wondering if the $220 price difference between the Roadmaster @$559 and the BigWig @$339 is really worth the difference??

2nd ?? is are they both adjustable for use when the TC is off the rig??

Thanks in advance!

Dave S.

Thank you so much for all your replies. It was very helpful! I have a roadmaster sway bar on order.

btggraphix wrote:
Are the two brands using the same metal and treatment techniques? Is size the ONLY factor between them?

I doubt the metal is going to break on either and the stiffness of steel is the same regardless of alloy and temper. But on the ones I bought, the hardware and rubber pieces were nicer on the Roadmaster, and the Hellwig had a cheesy hammertone paint finish while the Roadmaster was cad plated.

Boatycall wrote:

HMS Beagle wrote:

I put a Roadmaster on the back of my '99 F350 2WD and a Hellwig on the front because Roadmaster did not make a front bar.

I wonder if that's just a 2wd/4wd thing, because other than that, we have the same truck and I have a Roadmaster in the front.

Exactly - no Roadmaster front bar for the 2WD truck.

River&Sand wrote:

btggraphix wrote:
What I am curious about is if that is still something you can easily change after the fact or if it would be a big PITA to change it later if you decided it needed to change and even change it around until you got it dialed in for your application.

I have a Bigwig and yes it adjustable, has 3 settings (holes) on the end of the bar. I do adjust mine, when the camper is on I have it set in the middle, when I pull the 5th wheel I set it to the inward hole. Takes about 10 minutes a side to unbolt the end and move it. It's been a great addition, takes a lot of side to side wobble out, when transitioning uneven surfaces

10 minutes per side is being very generous. I'm pretty sure I can grab two wrenches, crawl under there, move both ends to a different hole, put two wrenches back in the tool box, and have my hands washed in 10 minutes.
Having said that, I'm using the "softest" setting and just leave it there. I tried the stiffest setting and found it to be a bit too much, especially when unloaded.