RoadMaster Front Anti-sway bar - Must drill?

[deddy]

After trying the CHF, and reading a bunch of opinions about it, I just couldn't get comfortable with the geometry. I could tell it was helping control the sway, but I wanted even more control and I wanted the endlink/sway bar angle to be 90*.

So I ordered a monster sized Roadmaster front anti-sway bar (1139-140) for my 20,500 GVWR F53.

Installed it tonight and everything went ok, 'cept for one issue.

A new upper bolt for the end link (where it attaches to the frame) is provided by Roadmaster, and that bolt is a 1/2" diameter. However, that new 1/2" bolt will not go through the hole is the Z-Bracket and frame. The metric bolt that I removed is just slightly smaller (as is the hole).

So, I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue, and if you:

a) used the OEM bolt which might allow some 'slop' at the attachment point.... or

b) drilled out the bracket and frame to 1/2"

Thanks
-Doug

[blueridge-fl]

My roadmaster front SB didn't come with the new bolts and didn't mention them in the instructions. This is on an 18K chassis. I would call rosdmaster and ask about it.

[SLOweather]

I wanted the endlink/sway bar angle to be 90*.

I had the same issue with my CHF, and fixed it with 11-14" Hellwig adjustable end links.

[twinboat]

You do realize that a 90° angle and more sway control are contradicting each other.

Any degree off 90 ° effectively shortens the length of the arm. Shorter arms increase torque to the bar. More torque, less sway.

You will probable discover that for your self.

[deddy]

Originally Posted by twinboat

You do realize that a 90° angle and more sway control are contradicting each other..

Maybe I wasn't clear on what I'm after. What I probably should have said was, I'm interested in the maximum amount of sway control and stability, so I chose to go with a sway bar that adds torsion. The Roadmaster is 1.75" and is noticeably heavier and larger diameter. The blurb from Roadmaster says:

RSS anti-sway bars have a thicker diameter than stock bars - often, a quarter to three-eighths of an inch more. Each incremental increase in diameter has an exponential effect on performance - on average, torsional roll stiffness is increased by 30 percent with every eighth-of-an-inch increase in diameter. In plain English, RSS anti-sway bars offer up to 90 percent more resistance to sway.

As far as the 90* stuff, well what I should have said was I'm looking for the sway bar arms to ride parallel to the road surface (and that seems to be accepted conventional internet wisdom), and to do this, the endlink/bar angle will end up about 90*.

Thanks for your thoughts.

-Doug

[HarryStone]

The instructions aren't clear about drilling, but it does say to replace the OEM bolt with the new 1/2" bolt, so I imagine drilling is in your future.

[deddy]

Concerning the issue I mentioned in the first post, I thought I'd post a followup with some observations about the install.

The issue here is that the end link OEM bolts are 12mm metric and the holes are drilled accordingly (at least that's the case for my F-53, YMMV). 12mm is 0.47244 inches, so just a little smaller than the 1/2" bolt RoadMaster provided.

I did call RoadMaster and asked about the need to drill the bottom end link holes. They didn't seem aware of the issue, but encouraged me to use the supplied 1/2" bolt.

Then I called Henderson Line-up, who sold me the RoadMaster bar. They, too, encouraged me to use the supplied 1/2" bolts, but they said they don't drill the holes. Instead they simply use an impact wrench to 'drive' the bolt into the metric holes.

Using a 1/2" drill bit I enlarged the hole in the bottom of the end link Z bracket. Then I learned that the hole in the frame was already 1/2"!

New anti-sway bar is now installed correct and tight.

Here's some thoughts on the install process:

* Instructions say to re-use the axle attachment bolts. Roadmaster provided bolts for this location, so I asked Roadmaster. He just said the instructions are not updated and to use the provided bolts.

* Instructions say that the bottom end link bolt on the passenger side will not install because of hitting the A/C compressor, so they recommended installing from the frame side, and placing the nut on the end link side. For me, doing this caused the bolt to end up too close to some metal lines (maybe 1/8 -1/4" gap). I was able to reverse the bolt and place it the correct direction (same as drivers side). I just had to hold those metal lines to one side while inserting the bolt. Now the head of the bolt is a good 1" from the metal lines.

* All supplied 1/2" nuts are nyloc style, and no torque settings are provided.

I get that apparently there are a lot a variations in how Ford built these F-53's over the years, and variations based on the different GVWRs. So my advice is to not take the printed instructions as 'the code'. They're more what you call 'guidelines'.

Thanks for reading.... hope this helps some else with a RoadMaster 1139-140 and a 2004 F-53, 20500#.

-Doug

[TeJay]

deddy,

All bolts on the F-53 sway control are torqued to 66 FT/LBS. You also need to add blue lock tight or they will come loose.

Drilling those sway bars is no easy task since like any spring they are hardened.

[deddy]

No, I wasn't talking about drilling the sway bar. It's the upper mount point for the end link. The Z Bracket.

[Jyrocharlie]

Originally Posted by twinboat

You do realize that a 90° angle and more sway control are contradicting each other.

Any degree off 90 ° effectively shortens the length of the arm. Shorter arms increase torque to the bar. More torque, less sway.

You will probable discover that for your self.

I can't see that distance change from any angle the struts attach.