Rear sway bar links

[Berger83]

Just did a 2/3 drop on my 2005 Chevy Tahoe and the sway bar is angled downwards I measured the stock link it's about ten inches long and it looks to me to get it back parallel with the frame it's going to have to be around 6-7 inches long now has anyone found any sway bar links I know djm has some but it's not clear how long there links are or are they for drops four inches and lower

 

[Rocket Man]

DJM are the way to go. They're the only ones I know of that will also move the swaybar to the side so it won't hit the panhard bar mount. I used them for a 2/3 drop.

 

[01ssreda4]

I have the djms also, I believe they were approx 6 inches long.

 

[Berger83]

Thanks guys I've been over some bumps that would make the suspension travel quite a bit in the back and have seen no indication of the axle hitting the bump stop bracket (removed mine they where dry rotted pretty bad) nor have I seen any marks from the sway bar hitting also does anyone know about the nivomat shocks and how to tell if they are bad I noticed before I put the lowering kit on that the back would hit bumps and it seems like the shocks where hitting and bottoming out kinda like banging bumps weird to describe but I bought it with 130,000 miles on it so I have no clue if they ever have been replaced if anyone can tell me some ways to check for them being bad that would help. Does a 2/3 drop with a mcgaughys ride the same as factory or close to it? Cuz what it's like now is no where near factory

 

[Rocket Man]

It should ride pretty close to factory. Not sure about the Nivomat shocks. The swaybar may hit the panhard bar mount when you use shorter endlinks and the swaybar moves up unless you use the DJM ones, but if you leave it angled down like it is now it won't hit for sure!

 

[Berger83]

Red rocket so if I leave it like it is now angled down it won't hit? But isn't is better to have it parallel with the ground and the frame. So with the djm kit it moves it to the right and allows it to be parallel and also allows it to not hit the pan hard bar? Oh and I'm guessing the nivomat shocks might be bad if it rides close to stock cuz it sure isn't riding smooth like it used to but I know it wasn't from the lowering kit because it was like that before I dropped it

 

[Rocket Man]

You're correct about the swaybar geometry. It needs to be parallel to the ground to work right, but when you lower your rig and use shorter endlinks the panhard bar mount gets real close or hits over hard bumps because you're decreasing the vertical distance between them, which decreases even more when the suspension travels up. The DJM's solve that problem by moving the swaybar to the passenger side about an inch or more, allowing horizontal distance instead of vertical.

 

[01ssreda4]

Heres a pic of the DJMs, notice they are offset to move the swaybar over.

 

[Berger83]

Red rocket oh I forgot to ask I've read where some say the sway bar can affect the ride and some say it won't is it angled down like I have it affecting the ride quality any? And I didn't do much research other then the fact of which drop kit is the best and got three answer so I choose the macguahys but they never mentioned the sway bar or any other things that would need to be done. On the two three drop do I need the bracket kit to lower the trailering arms or is that for 4 inches and lower kits

 

[Rocket Man]

If the swaybar is angled down it can affect the ride to some extent, but mainly it won't do it's job as far as sway. For a 3" rear drop you probably won't need adjustable trailing arms or panhard bar. The trailing arms are for centering the wheels front-to-rear in the fender wells and the panhard bar is for side-to side. The more you drop, the more the wheels will move towards the passenger side and forward. If your tires start rubbing or if they're off-center enough to bother you then you need to look into these items, otherwise don't bother. I have 26" wheels and the tires were rubbing a bit when cornering hard so I got a Spohn adjustable panhard bar to adjust the tires to the left about 3/8", just enough to stop the rubbing for the most part. If you don't have shock extenders though, that will affect ride quality since your shocks will be too far compressed. You can see the DJM one in 01ssreda4's pic above, in front of the spring on the right.