Chevy Body Roll Control
We all know the feeling of riding in an old Cadillac or Lincoln Continental, and experiencing that wallowing body-roll sensation in corners. Unless you’re a grandmother on her way to bingo night, it’s pretty embarrassing. Sloppy, loose handling may be fine for a plush highway cruiser, but it’s absolutely unacceptable for a performance application. So, for our high-performance 1989 C1500 build, dubbed Project Rehab, we chose to upgrade to a set of larger and firmer Hellwig sway bars. These new front and rear bars improve cornering traction, quicken turn-in response, and most importantly, kill the truck’s body roll once and for all. Read on to see how this quick and easy install improved our Chevy’s handling in an afternoon.
| 1. Since we previously lowered our truck with a 4/6-inch DJM Suspension kit, Hellwig provided us with bars tailored to this lowered application. The 15⁄16-inch front bar (PN: 7801, $194.99 at Summit Racing) and 1-inch adjustable rear bar (PN: 7802, $205.99 at Summit Racing) included endlinks, bushings, hardware, and step-by-step instructions.
| 14. Once the bushing brackets were torqued down, the install was complete. We promptly took the truck on a test drive, and immediately noticed that it felt more stable in the corners, more precise on turn-in, and understeered less overall -- not bad for an afternoon’s work. This install showed us once more that upgraded sway bars are one of the best bang-for-your-buck suspension mods on the market, so call Hellwig if you’re looking for an inexpensive and easy-to-do upgrade for your truck.
