Upgrading the Rear Sway Bar

Installing a Hellwig anti-roll bar on our 2017 Unity was a relatively straightforward process that, for us, delivered noticeable handling improvements. We immediately felt reduce body roll, improve lower speed cornering, reduce swaying over speed bumps / entrance bumps.

Anti-roll bars can be designed to provide a range of stiffness’s and are used for chassis tuning. When a stiffer bar is installed at one end of the vehicle, that end will carry a greater percentage of the total load transferred during cornering.

Installation

The Unity came with a stock Mercedes-Benz rear sway bar. This bar was sized for a standard sprinter chassis, but when you add in the weight and weight distribution of the Unity CB house, it was undersized. We replaced it with a Hellwig 7254 Rear Sway Bar. You can see in the picture how much beefier the new bar is compared to the OEM.

The Hellwig comes with short 12mm allen cap head bolts and formed metal bands that wrap around the bushings. Because the bolts fit up against the flat plate area, they had to go with the cap heads to fit in that area. To install them, you need a hex allen head 10mm socket tool. Hellwig states to torque all the bolts to 89 ft. lbs. That’s a lot of torque to use on an allen head cap screw, so you want a good quality hex bit that will not round over when you apply the torque.

Basic STEPS

1. Remove factory installed sway bar leaving the end links attached to the frame. Save the factory hardware and u-plates.
2. Attach the end links to the ends of the Hellwig sway bar re-using the factory hardware. There are variances in the factory bar thickness. Some vehicles may require the additional included washer inside the end link clevis to take up the extra space as shown.
3. Lubricate and install the correct D-shaped poly bushings on the sway bar as close as possible to match the location of the factory sway bar bushings. The kit comes with the necessary lubricant.
4. Place the correct U-plates over the D-bushings on the sway bar. Note the factory style bushings have a much tighter fit than the universal style bushings.
5. Our kit instructions had us tighten the bolts on the U-plates to 89 ft-lb and end link bolts to 75 ft-lb. This will different for different kits, so be sure to follow the instructions that came with your sway bar.

MAINTENANCE & INSPECTION:

Your Hellwig Suspension Product is built to last, however it requires routine inspection. Inspect your installation by looking for secure hardware, fittings and snug brackets/bushings. If you do not perform this inspection, have your professional mechanic inspect as described.