I went to order at the dealership today a swaybar, the brackets that hold it, and the bushings that connect it with the I-beams. I have new, stiffer, springs all around, and need a larger diameter sway bar to go with it. The specialist at the dealer told me that according to the part numbers, e150's use a different sway bar than e250/350 vans, which would be on par with what I know to be true of the I-beams themselves (ball joints vs kingpin, 5 lug vs 8 lug).

Does anybody know if the parts are interchangeable? I had a Hellwig system that failed within a couple weeks and have been swaying around with no sway bar at all for awhile, however my buds and I are taking a long trip soon and I want this bad boy to roll down the highway straight and without drama. I'm about to add some shims to the driver side coil spring (bottom end) because this thing has always leaned significantly to the left before and after new springs and pulls left as well, despite having it aligned twice recently.

Please don't answer trying to preach me back to aftermarket set-ups like addco or hellwig. I want advice from somebody that's tried to install a 1-ton sway bar in a half ton van.

Back in L.A., I would have gone to one of dozens of Pick-a-part lots in the San Fernando Valley and pulled parts from various shuttle busses and ambulances never exposed to salted roads or the beach air and worked from there, but up here in upstate NY I don't have that option. I appreciate all advice you can give me!

 

My 02 E-150 at NAPA parts lists a 7/8 and a 1.0 (23mm) front bar bushings, so there is a Heavy Duty model in 02 and the Links do go through holes in the I-Beams.......if it helps.

 

Did some digging out of curiosity, it's all about bar size so all 92-07 150/250/350 Hellwig front bars are 1.1/8 dia, NAPA lists 7/8 & 1inch (23mm) dia Frame Bushings for all 150/250/350. But in 08-up Hellwig lists all 150/250/350/ with 1.3/8 dia front bar and that's it until E-450. So a 92-07 1 inch Factory E-150 bar is good as it gets for a bolt-on without going aftermarket.

 

But my question is, 92-2007 front sway bar, is there a dimensional difference other than thickness across the range of e150 to e350? WILL an e350 bar fit an e150? thickness is not the issues, it's the width at the ends of the bar. That is the only critical variable.

 

Thickness is the issue, 1.0 bar on a 350 has the same anti-roll power as a 1.0 bar on a 150 because the Body weighs the same, it's just different end link mounts for the suspension. Thinking maybe regular van has the 7/8 and the EXT body has the 1.0? other than that.... Good Luck!

 

How did the Hellwig bar fail?

 

Ditto, how did the Hellwig bar fail ? Aside from that, installing shorter bar mounts (in the frame) and tightening up the "thru the axle" bushings should in my opinion signifigantly tighten up and improve the factory bar's functioning.

 

The washer snapped off so the bushing slid down as you can see in this picture. I suppose I could have doubled them up to fix the problem but I was pretty frustrated. I really thought that Ford would have had a heavier-duty factory option considering the weight of these things (shuttle buses come to mind).

Thanks Econolinemanor for the heads up. That was exactly what I was curious about. I'll have the local shop here get it all squared away from me.

 

I can understand your frustration and hope to not add to it.......

The Hellwig is a better arrangement and with VERY little maintenance it can be restored to its full function. The bushings need to be replaced certainly but apart from a new hardware kit from Hellwig there shouldn't be any real reason to scrap it out in favor of a less effective factory set-up.

If you do install the factory sway bar please use urethane bushings in both the I-Beams and frame-mounted U brackets. Those are absolutely the weakest link of that installation.

FWIW I'll be Hellwig would gladly send you a new link kit free of charge---they're highly committed to happy customers.

And no I'm NOT affiliated with Hellwig----just a bit fan and frequent user of their bars.

 

You ought to re-engineer the Helwig setup before reverting back to the factory bar. Addco's attachment needed changing on mine to get it bolted up. It's so far been fine now for 6 months with one trip each to California and Texas.

 

BadDad we're both in agreement the factory bar isn't the best set up for our van's---I couldn't go back now.

 

As they're mounted, I agree. But I'd still like to hear from someone who's tightened one up as far as the axle bushings and replacing the "long" frame brackets with the shorter ones and see how that affects the body roll. I scrapped my old bar a month or so ago, so that's not going to be something I'll try, unless something happens to the Addco

 

By the frame mounts I'm guessing you mean those U brackets up front?

I don't think reducing their height would affect much as that's not really a factor in how the sway bar works. We do need to have a bit of room between the frame and the sway bar so its travel isn't affected being too close to the frame.

I've always used the OEM brackets with urethane bushings----can't get a lot shorter than that.

 

Yea. I'm refering to the U brackets. Shorter ones would eliminate any flexing they may have, if they do. The Addco bar came with shorter brackets, so clearance isn't a factor with the Addco bar nor with a factory bar.

 

i realize this is an old thread, but just in case anyone else stumbles across it as i did, and having finally done this, the 98 150 will take the sway bar and brackets from an 09 350 - it's a 1" bar, milled to 7/8" at the ends, bushings are the same part numbers, you'll be fine. if your 150 did not come w/ a sway bar, the bracket holes are there, but they are not tapped, so have an M10x1.5 tap ready to go. if you have a blown out shock on either side, it will be difficult to fit the bar in to the 2nd poly bushing (the rubber kind in the metal sleeves may be more forgiving). i made a tourniquet out of one of the dogs' sheets and a hunk of rebar, pulled it right in there. HTH