All: Looking for opinions/experience of others with front sway bar installation.
I purchased an after-market ADDCO front anti sway bar.
The installation requires a 3/8 bolt hole thru each of the I-beams to mount the small HD steel angle that supports the bolts connecting the outward end of the sway bar to the axle.
I'm concerned that the 3/8 bolt hole will weaken the front I-beam.
And, that the location of the steel angle bolt connection, because it is below the centre line of the I-beam, will cause some twisting and perhaps wear at the beam joints to the front wheels.
Any thoughts or experience to share?
Has anyone devised another way to attach the ends of the after-market sway bars to the I-beams without drilling the 3/8 hole?
Thx. Jeff

 

I put Addco front and rear sway bars on my '66 F100 2WD LWB FE motor truck about 4 years ago. The bars seem to work well and I don't think I weakened the I-Beams by drilling them. In fact, I was surprised at how easy they were to drill. They may be a little soft on purpose as one of the approved methods of adjusting the front end alignment was by bending the I-Beams! I found the instructions supplied by Addco to be seriously lacking, and some of the hardware in the kit was wrong. I called their tech line and they sent me the right stuff and answered my questions. Install the bars with the suspension loaded (weight on it). When some part of the instructions does not meet your application, just use common sense and you'll be fine. If you do buy the rear sway bar, it is bent as if the pumpkin were in the middle. As the pumpkin is offset slightly it doesn't line up quite right, but it works fine. Good luck with it.

 

SuperSabre: Thanks for the input. I'll stop worrying, until I actually do the job and run into the instruction deficiencies you experienced.
What omissions did you find?

 

After I posted, I started to wonder if your truck is an F250, and what differences there might be to the frame and suspension as compared to my 5000 # GVW rated F100. Yours would be rated for 7500 # and I don't know enough about F250s to know where the improvements are. So what impact that may have, if any, I don't know. It's been a while and my memory is faulty, but I think my issues with Addco directions started with having to ask if the bar should be installed with the suspension loaded or unloaded (with weight on the wheels or the suspension hanging from jackstands). The answer was "loaded". Then some of the supplied hardware didn't match the list of what was supposed to be there and had to be sent to me. Then, I think I had to "reverse engineer" part of the installation - as in "mock up" trial mount everything and then see where the holes needed to be drilled. And some part of the directions talked about my frame being boxed where it wasn't (and maybe yours will be?). That's the kind of thing I ran into. But that was 4 years ago. Maybe they've improved their quality control since then. Anyway, my truck's handling is much improved over stock (it didn't hurt that I rebuilt ALL of the suspension and steering at the same time as I installed the sway bars) and I am pleased with it. Good luck!

 

OP has a 1966 F250 2WD which could have a GVW of 4800, 6900 or 7500 lbs.

GVW stamped on the 3rd line...far left...of the Warranty Plate, located on the left door face below the latch.

1965/70 F100/250 2WD & 1971 F250 2WD before serial number M00,001 use the same I-beams.

1965/73 F100/250 2WD use the same radius rods.

FoMoCo introduced a front sway bar for 1973 F250 2WD & F350, but this bar was only used thru 1974.

FoMoCo introduced a front sway bar in 1975 F100/150, this bar was also used on 1975/79 F250 2WD & F350 (1979 F350 2WD).

 

I've got the Hellwig bar which uses a u-bolt at the I-beam rather than drilling. You could duplicate that if you're opposed to drilling. With that said, I don't think it would be an issue drilling the I-Beams.

 

All: Mocked up the Addco front sway bar installation and despite many comments that drilling thru the front I-beams of my F250, it just didn't seem like the safest thing to do.
So I fabricated a set of brackets to hold the I-beam end of the bar.
See pictures.
Bracket is fabbed from 3/16 inch steel angle with 3 inch legs. Welded the legs together, drilled the 5/8 inch hole for the bolt and poly-u bushings, cut the web attaching to the axle to 5 inch, drilled 3/8 bolt holes for 3 inch square 3/8 U-bolts that hold the bracket to the I-beam.
Fit it all together, drilled holes for brackets holding bar & bushings to the frame.
Looks robust enough to prevent front sway, and I-beam is still in one piece with no holes.
Driving will prove that out-still a year away.
Thought my installation might be a useful alternative for others to consider.
Any comments, good or bad, welcome.

 

Looks good. Hellwig does something similar, but I like yours better!