I want to equip my Ex to tow our travel trailer around. So far I'm looking at the Hellwig sway bar, Roadmaster active suspension and Bilstein shocks. My question is if I order the hellwig sway bar, does it come with all the necessary parts to install even though my Ex has no sway bar now.

 

Yes. All parts are in the box. Easy install.
01'V10

 

yes it is a bolt-on. though sometimes it doesnt wind up coming with all the parts in the box. its supposed to.....did you change the rear springs yet? the roadmaster kit works well as several have reported.

 

Yep, as said above, all parts came in the box I got. Had a slight difficulty getting the passenger side ubolt to go thru the holes in the shock mount, and not having a hammer around at home didn't help. I order mine thru these guys out of Alberta, good service. They didn't have sway bar listed on their site, but a quick phone call got one on the way. Don't know if they carry the bilstens, I ordered the ranchos thru them also, and now have a true trac on order thru them now.
Four Wheel Performance Ltd - Your Source For Light Truck, 4x4, Sport Utility Parts & Accessories In Canada!

 

Thanks guys, I haven't done the spring swap yet, that will happen sometime in the near future.
Wallz: how long did it take for them to get the parts to you? I was going to try City Spring out of Edmonton because that's who Hellwig told me was their Alberta dealer. As for the shocks, Bilstein lists Essex Distributors in Richmond as their Canadian dealer.

 

When I ordered the shocks and sway bar, they said two weeks. I got a call within a few days of order saying all parts were in and how do you want shipped. Greyhound was the cheapest and is day and a half to the bc coast and only cost $60.00.


Just call both places and see who is the better rate. Funny, their site now lists hellwig. Everyone here in BC was quoting me over 250.00 per shock, and when I found their site, they were more than half price less. I went the ranchos because of the adjustability.

 

Thanks wallz. I'm not ordering the parts until April, so until then I'm just researching and shopping around.

 

I know you guys are in Canada.

JCWhitney carries the Hellwig sway bar. Here's a code for 20% off that I just got.

It is good until 3/2/09.

At checkout use BEDBBY9.

I am not sure how Canadian purchases work though.

I've done all the mods that you are talking about myself to my Ex.

Did the Hellwig first when I had my 7500# TT and that was all I needed.

So depending on the size and weight of your TT I'd do this in steps if it is in that 7500# range...you may be surprised. The key is to ensure that you have your WD hitch properly adjusted though and only a scale can truly get you adjusted properly.

If you have a larger TT like I do with lots of tongue weight...well that's when you need to get into the added rear spring capacity (even with proper WD adjustment the rear of our Ex's are just prone to some sag). I didn't like the way the 1100-1200# of tongue weight pushed around the rear of the Ex and caused some rear-steerage. The RAS will certainly take care of that for you. I went Bilsteins because of the price when I was looking. I got Bilsteins for $64 each delivered to my door versus $110 each for Rancho 9000XLs. Plus I only drive my Ex for Tow and Snow so adjustability for me wasn't a big requirement but for those that drive their Ex's as daily drivers I can see where that would be important.

A tip I learned on the Hellwig install...do the shocks at the same time. You have to unbolt the lower shock mounts anyway...and it is easier IMO to simply remove the shocks from the mount...so why not just do the shocks at the same time and save yourself some hassle.

Plus you want to do the shocks BEFORE you do the RAS. The RAS will give you about 1 to 1.25" of added lift since it holds the rear leafs in a naturally arched position...that 1 to 1.25" of added lift can make installation of your factory banded shocks challenging. At least it fought me for a little bit until I piled my family and my neighbors in the rear of the Ex and had them compress the springs...kind of a funnyscene and story actually...but for another time...so save yourself some headaches and do the Hellwig and Shocks BEFORE the RAS and you will be happy.

Of course my opinion is still that it is imperitive to properly set up your WD hitch FIRST and then adjust the truck to alter any features in the handling you do not like. Too many try and adjust the Ex when a simple trip to the scales to balance their WD would suffice.

Good luck and let us know if you have any questions!
joe.

 

Thanks for the advice Joe, my trailer is about the same size as yours (28' Okanagan Eclipse BHDS, 10,000lbs GVW) and I've read most of your previous posts about towing and how you've set up your Ex, which is why I'm making the same mods.

I was thinking Bilsteins because that's what most other guys are running, but since it's my wife's daily driver when not pulling the trailer, I'll look into the Ranchos.

Thanks again guys

 

Along with the talk about installing a sway-bar, I went out and got one. I ordered the aadco from summitracing. Shows up, instructions are awful. I think some parts are missing. Does anybody have some pictures posted to see what it should look like once installed? Do the other brands come with better instructions, does somebody have a scan available? Thanks much.

Archie