A Hellwig 7529 kit was installed on the rear axle of an '89 Aerostar shorty.
This was done for sport driving in the hills but I certainly could have used it while contracting.
Usually it would be 800 lbs concrete in back and 200 lbs lumber on top.
Took a pass on the Addco 1-1/8" but might have gone there if I was pulling.

Your stock Aero will have a 35mm hollow front bar and no rear bar.
The concept for the rear is slightly different than the front.
In the rear, the bar mounts to the axle rather than the frame.
The rear suspension forms a rectangle (axle on a long edge, arms on short sides) that can twist.
A rear bar adds twist resistance to the two corners with the springs.
Then the arms have greater resistance to operating independently.

**********
Out of the box. First step: inventory the kit by pre-assembling each of the four attachment points.


Arm clamp and end link.


Axle U-bolt and bushing.


The kit did not come with goo, so I used some out of my inventory.


Installed. I'm getting with the factory on longer U-bolts.


It seems I'm not the only one who came across the U-bolt issue.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...tml#post876833

 

Nice, I am on the fence about whether to just do this or to add a second set of shock absorbers. I'm kinda leaning to the shocks because bounce is one of my issues, body roll doesn't seem to bad with the other upgrades I already have. The problem is that once I get some weight on, especially if I have the trailer, the body will bounce as I go over bumps. But increased roll resistance would be nice. Maybe I should try that first. Let me know how yours works.

 

Mine's been working fine for almost 10 years. I can take turns with less drama than before. But to better control suspension motion, you will need stiffer dampers. One problem with towing anything significant is that the tongue weight pushes the static suspension height to a lot lower point from standard. That means the damper will be pushed closer to its travel limit at the new static ride height. You need to compensate for this with stiffer springs to bring the suspension back to the middle of its position. Of course, stiffer springs will need stiffer dampers to control.

 

khan,
think seriously about a weight distribution hitch with sway control.
Equal-i-zer® Hitch - The “American Original” with 4-Point Sway Control™ and Weight Distribution

I won't tow without one.
made my Aero safe towing in the coastal curves and the mountains.

I already had all the add ons, air bags, HD sway bars, poly bushings, high pressure gas shocks.

 

That won't help me much, my trailer is only 4x6 bed with an 8 foot total length. It tends to be well balanced. My van can bounce when loaded whether I have a trailer or not. So whatever my solution is, it has to be on the van itself. I do already have a sway control hitch for hauling my Dad's pop up camper trailer, which I have never hauled with this van. I'm looking forward to trying it this coming year. I have been thinking about it, and I think that adding a second set of shock is my best option, it will give me better sway resistance and bounce control. I have already upgraded to improve ride height and weight handling, but those lame Monroe shocks used in the coil overs are way too soft. They ride ok when I have no weight on the van, but add weight, they just can't dampen the bounce. I have never liked Monroe, but I was unable to KYB shocks with the coil overs.

 

Swaybar installation was combined with a front suspension overhaul, so its difficult to attribute changes to one or the other.

- Straight line stability is much improved.
- During continuous hard cornering, it feels like the front wheels are scrubbing less. There is no indication that the rear end wants to slide. In other words, I'm happy with the 7/8" bar size.
- I have no plans to test hauling improvements and there is no A/B comparo for pulling.
- One revealing test of the new chassis dynamics occurs on the road near my house. A side street Teeing in the middle of a turn wreaks havoc with the crest {edit: crown} and makes the road fall away right as you steer into the turn. Before installation/overhaul, the chassis would enter the turn and then, a half second later, deal with the consequences by coming down hard on the outside suspension. After the install/overhaul, the chassis starts to deal with the consequences of the turn immediately, even as the road falls out from under the front, rather than in a separate one-two step process. The previous abrupt landing following the turn-in is now a longer, more linear event.

 

I went ahead and got mine ordered, it is apparent with the 15" rims and taller wheels that body roll is the main issue going on now.

 

I look forward to your report. I'm still very pleased with my results.

Here is a follow up on the U-bolt issue. It was slightly annoying to discover that nearly ten years after this was flagged, a kit was delivered with bolts too short to reach around the stock 7.5 axle. One call to customer service quickly got something that worked, but a little too long and thinner than what was originally in the kit. I'll need to cut the bolts back before they find a rock or road debris.

Orignally kitted: 4-3/4 long, 1/2 thk. Too short, doesn't work.
Replacement: 6-1/2 long, 7/16 thk. It gets the job done.
Ideally: 5-1/4 long, 1/2 thk

 

Perfect, that helps me get the right ones right from the start.

 

I just ordered this kit, based on the reviews and ease of installation. I just picked up a cherry 93 California Aerostar with only 24k miles. It's an XL with no power options and absolutely, totally rust free. The original tires and they are not dried out. The thing must have been covered most of its life. All the rubber parts are not sun dried. Carfax shows it was drivin only 3k miles in 11 years. The underside is spotless. Even the clamps, hoses, fuel lines look like it came off the showroom floor. I was totally stoked to find it. Had ALL fluids replaced, just to be sure. Nineteen years is long enough for any fluid. Runs perfect.

Had to replace the clock spring and wiper/signal assembly to restore the cruise, horn and airbag.

Thing about the repair is that now my cruise quits holding the set speed when I lift the turn signal to change lanes from left to right. Does not turn the cruise off; it just does the same as hitting the brake. When I hit the resume button, she goes back to the set speed. Replaced it with a new assembly, thinking it was a defective part. Not so. Will post this in the main section for comment and advice.

 

Ok, went and got mine installed (they took forever to ship). It definitely reduces body roll, not a bad upgrade at all. It installed pretty smoothly. I went and bought the longer u-bolts ahead of time, so there were no headaches. It went surprisingly fast.

 

Say, what kind of goo did you use?

 

I don't recall my Hellwig bars coming with lubricant either, and I think I just used some multi-purpose grease. Since then, I've a couple of incidents of oil leakages that have kept them lubed automatically.

When I replaced the bushings on the front sway bars, Energy Suspensions included a little packet of some really sticky grease. It was almost like a glue.

 

Energy Suspension branded goo is sold thru an ES online dealer, Summit Racing or O'reilly. aka polyurethane bushing grease.

 

I thought it was something like that, but was not sure without any wording on the package.