F250 4x4 front swaybar

[LCAM-01XA]

If your ruck has one from the factory, please answer the following questions to the best of your knowledge:

1) axle type, D44HD or D50?
2) swaybar diameter, 1" or 1-1/8" or even larger?
3) length of the swaybar "arms"/"wings" running under the leaf springs?

If at all possible, a picture of the area where the swaybar passes under the leafs and attaches to the frame would be awesome!

Thanks!

 

[SparkandFire]

A rare beast indeed. I have yet to see one...

 

[Mulochico]

Look at the LMC catalog (http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fd/search.aspx?searchTerms=sway bar) this is what I got when I searched. Should give you an idea of what was/is out there.

 

[NO_SPRK]

i have one on a 1990 F250 ext cab. ill try and measure it but ill probably forget

 

[LCAM-01XA]

The one pictured in the LMC catalog is the gasser setup. Those swaybars mount to the frame via a crossmember that runs from framerail to framerail right below the radiator support. Because the crossmember is mostly flat and the swaybar bushings sit pretty much on the same level as the bottom of the framerails, the bar itself has to bend down first to go under the leaf springs, before it can bend rearwards (forming the arms/wings) to reach the axle.

Diesel radiators hang much lower than gassers, making a gasser crossmember unusable on a diesel truck as it has to occupy the same space as its rad support. Thus I'm thinking diesel trucks would require some sort of drop mounts to for the swaybar to clear the low-hanging radiator. At which point a gasser bar that already bends down to clear the leafs would end up too low and try to hang up on stuff... That's why I'm asking for a pic of the swaybar in that area in addition to just the numbers, I'm interested in how the factory went around the low-hanging diesel radiators without sacrificing ground clearance - it looks like a low-mounted (cause of the rad) swaybar won't have to drop to clear the leafs like the gasser does, but instead can be mostly straight/flat in the center section and still pass under the leafs, after which it can just bend aft towards the axle...

But that's just a guess, as I've never seen a diesel F250 4x4 swaybar, just the gasser one. If anyone is interested, here are the numbers for a gasser swaybar, IIRC that truck was a super-cab with a D50 front axle:
- diameter 1"
- length of arms/wings 17"
- drop from center section to clear under leafs 4"

 

[darkbluefoxbody2]

I have a few trucks with them. I'll get pics later as I twisted my ankle stacking wood.
One is a 1989 D44hd the other is a 1986 D50. The other is a F350 D60 (mounts to rear and NO help at all)

Believe there all 1"

There diesels but, have the short long rad. So core support is a gasser one. The gasser mount will not clear the deep core support as I've tried every way with no luck. Core support hangs down 2-3" too low.

Lots of spacing and shorter end links maybe!

 

[gandalf]

I'm pretty sure that my '86 F250 has a sway bar on the front end. It's a 4x4. As I recall the front axle is a 44HD, but I couldn't swear to it. The immediate problem is that the truck is 3500 miles away, in Maine, and I have no pictures of the underside, and no reliable way to get any.

That's the best I can do for you.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Darkbluefoxbody2, are both your F250 trucks running the short wide (non-A/C) radiator? I know those use the big-block gasser core support, and I figured they probably could run the gasser swaybar too, thanks for confirming that. Unfortunately the project in question has the deep radiator that hangs like 3" below the frame rails, fabbing drop mounts to clear it is easy but the problem is that then the bends that Ford put in the swaybar to make it drop down and go under the leafs will get real close to the ground... Still, get pics of those two trucks you have when you're feeling up to it, it's not a rush job yet on my end, just gathering information and planning right now. Also, why do you say the D60 bar that mounts behind the axle is no help at all - no help for my project cause it's like totally opposite of what the 3/4-ton setup is, or it just doesn't work very well?

Gandalf, the only reason I mentioned the D44HD vs. D50 axles is cause I figured that the D50 trucks have higher GVW and so are probably more likely to get the swaybar. Guess a D44HD truck with a tow or camper package would have it too tho, is that what your truck is? By the way if it's a regular cab diesel it will have a D44HD, super-cab diesels got the D50 - at least that's how the slantnoses like yours were optioned, not sure what mess came about with the bricks

 

[darkbluefoxbody2]

Didn't make it out back today, ankle was too bad. The F350 d60 sway bar mount solid to the axle and the end links mount to frame behind the axle. This won't work on a TTB do to the sway on each side.
My trucks don't have the deep core support and I've tried to make a sway bar fit my other deep ones, but the core support is too deep, then you run into spring issues without a lift kit.

Pics will be along

 

[Wicked97]

My 87,88,90 all were 44 HD. My 91 was a 50. All four trucks had the sway bar mounted to the bottom of the radiator support. Shockingly all four had broken radiator supports.

 

[NO_SPRK]

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[LCAM-01XA]

My 87,88,90 all were 44 HD. My 91 was a 50. All four trucks had the sway bar mounted to the bottom of the radiator support. Shockingly all four had broken radiator supports.

Interesting idea, not like I'm gonna follow it, cause, well, like you said, cracked core support would be the result, but still, wonder what the driving force behind that design was...

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss294/NO_SPRK/20130921_171005_zps479a6b89.jpg

Thanks for the picture! That looks exactly like the gas-engine swaybar setup I raided in the junkyard a while back, which I suppose means that your truck has the short & wide radiator option instead of the tall and narrow? Cause the tall & narrow core support hangs down like 3" below the frame rails, its bottom is right around where the flat center section of your swaybar sits.

 

[chris142]

No sway bar here