Disclaimer
The community here at 355nation.net urges you to please use caution and seek professional assistance when performing modifications to your vehicle. Before attempting any modification it is advised that you refer to your Colorado or Canyon service manual or contact a certified mechanic as not all GMT355 trucks are the same. The staff and the associated members are in no way responsible for any damages, injuries or other harm inflicted to your vehicle or yourself which may result in attempting these modifications. The posts and content presented on this site reflect in no way the views of 355nation.net or it’s ownership.
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A 355nation How To presented by
squeak
Project
Hellwig Swaybars on a ZQ8
Skill Level
Moderate
Project Vehicle
Make: Chevrolet
Model: Colorado
Year: 2009
Engine: 5.3L
2wd: Yes
ZQ8: Yes
Tools Needed
10mm socket
15mm socket
3/8" or 1/2" rachet
15mm wrench (racheting if available)
1/4" wrench
Penetrant
Grease
Hacksaw/grinder w/ cut off wheel
Welder
Project Time
3-5 hours
Project Cost
$400-$500
Parts List
Hellwig part #7679 for the front
Hellwig part #7680 for the rear
I'm very happy with the handling improvements on otherwise stock suspension.
The community here at 355nation.net urges you to please use caution and seek professional assistance when performing modifications to your vehicle. Before attempting any modification it is advised that you refer to your Colorado or Canyon service manual or contact a certified mechanic as not all GMT355 trucks are the same. The staff and the associated members are in no way responsible for any damages, injuries or other harm inflicted to your vehicle or yourself which may result in attempting these modifications. The posts and content presented on this site reflect in no way the views of 355nation.net or it’s ownership.
A 355nation How To presented by
squeak
Project
Hellwig Swaybars on a ZQ8
Skill Level
Moderate
Project Vehicle
Make: Chevrolet
Model: Colorado
Year: 2009
Engine: 5.3L
2wd: Yes
ZQ8: Yes
Tools Needed
10mm socket
15mm socket
3/8" or 1/2" rachet
15mm wrench (racheting if available)
1/4" wrench
Penetrant
Grease
Hacksaw/grinder w/ cut off wheel
Welder
Project Time
3-5 hours
Project Cost
$400-$500
Parts List
Hellwig part #7679 for the front
Hellwig part #7680 for the rear
- Start with your favorite brand of penetrant. This is mine.
- Soak all the bolts that have anything to do with the sway bars, front and rear. Now go order your Hellwig sway bars (Hellwig part # 7679 for the front and 7680 for the rear). Seriously, the more times you spray these before you start the less likely it is that you will break a bolt off. Once your bars arrive spray all the bolts again. This whole project can probably be done without lifting the truck at all, but I had access to a lift so I used it. Start with the front, remove the four 10mm bolts that hold the bar to the frame. In this picture I'm spraying one of them with penetrant before I take it out.
Take your time taking these out, as they are prone to breaking. DO NOT USE AN IMPACT!
- This kit reuses the factory front swaybar end links so you will only need to remove the end that connects to the swaybar unless you've elected to replace the end links. The nut is 15mm and the end of the stud has a 1/4" hex to hold to keep it from spinning. You'll have to use a wrench on the 15mm nut so you can get at the 1/4" hex. Luckily I had a ratcheting wrench, but they still seemed to take forever to remove.
- When you get these out the old sway bar will be free and you can set it down next to the new one and compare them.
My calipers may not have been perfectly zeroed before this, but the difference between the bars is accurate.
- Now take the new bushings that came with the sway bar and grease them up and install them. The bar comes with a small tube of grease, but I choose to use more than it included.
- Put the new brackets on and bolt it back up. The end links go on exactly like the old ones. The 10mm headed bolts get a washer put on them this time. *Optional: I chose to put anti-seize on all of these bolt before reinstalling them.
With all of that done the front is complete.
- Move to the rear. This is where we stray from the instructions provided by Hellwig. This swaybar kit is intended to go on a truck with no factory rear swaybar. Our ZQ8's have mounts welded to the axle that are in the way of installing the bolt on mounts that come with the kit. Rather than cut the factory mounts off we'll make them work.
- Re-soak all these bolts with penetrant.
- Remove the four 10mm headed bolts that hold the swaybar to the axle.
Despite all the penetrant I used I still broke one bolt.
I started trying to get it out by drilling and tapping a torx bit into the hole and as I was tapping the torx bit in the spot weld on the nut broke off. So if you break one of the rears I would just recommend getting a punch and a hammer to break the welded nut off.
- Even as short as they will go the adjustable end links that come with the kit are much longer than the factory ones so I chose not to try to install them. Just like the front you only need to remove the end link from the swaybar and you will be using the 15mm and 1/4" wrenches again. I removed one of the end links from the frame before I realized that I was going to be reusing them.
- Once they're off the bar will be free. I set it down to compare it with the stock bar and it seems like Hellwig copied GM's bends.
- Now comes the fun part. Compared to the factory bushings the bushings that Hellwig provides are a bit smaller on the outside with a larger hole for the larger bar. This means that the factory clamp won't work with these bushings. Look at the gap on the flat side of the bushing in this picture.
- I choose to modify what I had so that I wouldn't have to spend any more money or wait on any more parts to arrive. If you can find an appropriate bushing to work with the factory clamp this could be done with no cutting or welding. So let's cut up the clamp that came with the kit.
- And tack it back together
- Then weld it up and make sure it fits
Looks good, so do the other one just like it. Safety tip - I mocked both of them up and tacked them on the passenger side so I wasn't welding too close to the gas tank. Also only tacked them on the truck, they were fully welded top and bottom off the truck.
- Grease the new bushings and put them on the swaybar, install the four 10mm headed bolts, or in my case 3 of them and then a bolt with a nut on the backside where the one broke. You'll want to put washers on all of these as well. Just like I did on the front I put anti-seize on all of these.
- Finally you'll want to bolt the factory end-links to the sway bar. These can be accessed through the wheel well and I cheated and pulled down on the swaybar while bumping these with a cordless impact and got them to tighten up without having to use that awful 15mm 1/4" combo.
- That's it.
I'm very happy with the handling improvements on otherwise stock suspension.
