So I finally got around to gathering all the parts to install a a front sway bar on to my Merc. My situation is a bit unique because I have DJM lowered I-beams, but kept my cast steal radius arms. Therefore the sway bar link brackets that came on 70's trucks wouldn't fit my truck, and I needed to come up with something different. I picked up a 1" sway bar off a mid seventies F250 from the wrecking yard. Then, I went to the Energy Suspension website and ordered some universal urethane sway bar bushings and end-links that would work for me. I started yesterday, with my two teenage sons and I crawling around under the front of the Merc, and finished it up today while they were at school. I'm happy with how it turned out, and now I shouldn't have to worry about rubbing my door handles on the ground when I go around corners.

 

With the new sway bar bushings and brackets on the sway bar, we guesstimated where it should go on the frame. I marked the frame, and my boys drilled the holes, then we bolted the sway bar to the frame. Easy!

 

....for some reason, I'm having trouble uploading pictures to the website. Could be the 0.5MBPS upload speed of my Internet.....
I'll try again tomorrow

 

Weld some kind of bracket to the beams? That was my someday plan for mine. They are just steel tube, not forged like the factory ones.

 

I made this bracket by cutting a 4" long piece of 2" square tubing. Then I sliced the piece on an angle from corner to corner, which left me with two triangle shaped pieces. I put the two triangles back to back and welded them together. Lastly, I drilled an 11/16" hole near the end for the sway bar links to attach to. I hope that makes sense.....

 

Here it is all welded together and everything bolted up. The DJM beams are not cast steel, so no problem welding to them.

 

I painted everything with "Hammered" finish paint to kind of match the rest of the finish under the truck. I worked very hard to make sure my welds look like crappy factory welds.

 

All done! Now I'm excited to go take some corners! I shouldn't say "excited" more like "not as scared!" Unfortunately, cruising season is still 3-4 months away, so the Merc won't be out for awhile. I've got a couple more projects planned for the truck this winter, so when I get around to them, I'll be sure to post them up on here.

 

Congrats and good job Murc.
One note. The end link bolts are the weak link. If you start breaking bolts you might ditch the poly bushings and go back to rubber.

 

Looks great. Please keep us posted how it performs once cruising season does get here!

 

Thanks for the heads up, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it.