[navila17]

Wow, they came out with the exact fit parts a week after I tried to follow LumaWJ down the custom adapter path, just my luck 🤦‍♂️

I came here to share my story of trying to get the 1970's bars to fit. I was lurking on this thread for a while thinking it would be a good upgrade someday, until mid-august when I ended up in urgent need of replacement torsion bars. I was doing a full front suspension+steering replacement and absolutely could not get the old torsion bars out.

Well heck, here's a story anyway if anyone needs some entertainment.

I couldn't get the old torsion bars out of either the key or the lower control arm, and found that one of my torsion adjusters was maxed out even though the van was around stock ride height, so I figured the torsion bars were pretty worn out and needed replacing. First bit of fun was getting the torsion bars out, seriously I tried all the hammering and heat in the world before going with the fallback plan - cutting the frame member and welding it back together 😬

I wanted to come to this thread with my solution for making the adapters which actually worked pretty well - stacking laser cut steel plate and welding or bolting them together (only one side had enough space for bolts). But y'all probably don't need this info any more 😂

I saw the same problem as LumaWJ's update, the 36" bars are a little too long. But I was able to split the difference between sticking out past both the keys and the control arm in a way that I was comfortable with.

But the bigger problem is I could not get the left-hand bar to install on the left-hand side, specifically using Journey Offroad's lift keys (since I couldn't get the original keys out and these are the only replacement I could find). The clocking was just wrong. I was able to get them installed if I put the left-bar on the right side of the van, but Sway-away's instructions specifically say not to do that as it will cause suspension sag. And they were definitely right about that, even with the lift keys and cranking the adjuster all the way up, I could not get the van to sit at a good ride height. It sat at about 29" from the ground to the fender, which I think is pretty low? I'm an idiot and didn't take that measurement before I started all this work so I'm not totally sure where I started.

If these exact replacement parts hadn't come out I would have gone down the path of adjusting the clocking with my adapters, but I'm just gonna go for the correct parts now that they exist. Thanks to everyone that worked towards getting those made!

If anyone still wants to go down the path of adapting the 1970s bars, like if you want even more stiffness than the exact-fit parts, I'm happy to send you my design files for the adapters and point you towards a laser cutting shop.


TL;DR: Making adapters for the 1970's bars was fairly easy by stacking laser cut steel, but the clocking was wrong when using lift torsion keys and I was unable to install the bars correctly with the left-hand bar on the left side of the van.

Edit to add vehicle details:
2003 GMC Safari AWD, so I had the ~36" torsion bars to begin with, not the 41" like LumaWJ had.

 

[AstroWill]

Thanks for posting, would be nice if you can attach the files here for future reference. May have to put them in a .zip file, while changing the extension to .txt for it to accept the upload.

Removing those torsion bars can be a royal PITA, even on a good day, as you found out. There was a thread where someone was looking for used bars from a rusted, swiss-cheesed van, I wouldn't even attempt to remove some that are rusted as bad as that van was.

I was able to get them installed if I put the left-bar on the right side of the van, but Sway-away's instructions specifically say not to do that as it will cause suspension sag. And they were definitely right about that, even with the lift keys and cranking the adjuster all the way up, I could not get the van to sit at a good ride height.

That would be like pulling(stretching) a coil spring instead of it compressing it

 

[NoQuarter]

Posting that cut file would be ideal.

I have pics of my crossmember and control arms on the ground attached to the torsion bars also. I cut the control arms off but had to leave them in the crossmember.
Nothing was getting them out that wouldn't end up damaging something.. air hammers, sledge hammers, jack hammer, fluids, propane level heat (didn't want anything hotter)

 

[crashaaron]

I’ve ordered a set of these from Sway Away, and they estimated a week or two for production. Fingers crossed these will work great on my 1995 Astro Tiger GT!
-Aaron


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We are at 4+ weeks now, and I still haven’t received the new bars…looking like maybe 6 weeks?
I’ll give them a call in the morning and get an updated ETA.


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[AstroWill]

We are at 4+ weeks now, and I still haven’t received the new bars…looking like maybe 6 weeks?

Good things come to those who wait, or something like that

 

[crashaaron]

Just off the phone with sway-away about the new torsion bar set, and the timeframe has been pushed a bit. It is the world these days… good thing this is not a rush for me. Materials/labor/vendors/etc all problems for everyone right now. I’m ok with waiting, they sound perfect for my Tiger GT.

ETA is another 2 months, so…December? They say there are 10 sets being built at the moment, sorry no idea how many are spoken for.


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[LumaWJ]

Quick question?
are you able to reach sway a way web site?

 

[LumaWJ]

Can someone check for me the site pls

 

[Birdshake]

Site doesn't work for me either. Last update on the wayback machine was in August Sway-A-Way | Racing Technology – High-Performance Suspension

 

[MechBob]

This looks bad,like maybe they went under.

OK, called one of their vendors. They could not contact them. So, convinced them to try and order something, they could not, order would not go through.
So, called their number, went to answering service.Left message. We shall see.
1-818-700-9712 is their number.

 

[AstroWill]

Hopefully just a configuration error on their part. I'm sure they didn't fall off the face of the earth.

 

[LumaWJ]

I wanted to order another pair, for my friend and it was first impossible to check out and than the site disappierd...

 

[crashaaron]

Just got off the phone with Sway-Away. Website is down, “problem with vendor”. They are still there, but since website is down the phone is insane and their lives are a little crazy trying to keep up.

Good news from them is that the first batch of bars are done and getting packed!!! I should have mine by the end of next week… fingers crossed.

I’m starting to work on the lift this week, so perfect timing for me. New upgraded leafs going in today/tomorrow, and new upgraded torsion bars soon. Hopefully this will be a better set-up for the Tiger!


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[AstroWill]

Good news from them is that the first batch of bars are done and getting packed!!! I should have mine by the end of next week… fingers crossed.

Get your bars in yet?

 

[MechBob]

Get your bars in yet?

Ya, I been kinda waiting for someone to actually get them, and report on the visual quality. Meanwhile,I picked up a set of bars,links, cross member and all, for spares. Wrecker knows his stuff, knew how to get them out in a hurry, they are still stuck in the links and cross member. I asked for low mileage, he apolligised, as the van had 140k on it,LOL!

 

[crashaaron]

Swayaway torsion bars are in! Fit and finish is really fantastic, and they were pretty easy to set up. Setting ride height was super easy, with lots of adjustments available. I think they will work fantastic for my 1995 Tiger.
The only little snafu is they are designed to fit a 2” hole in the crossmember. My 1995 has smaller openings at the forward side of crossmember, but it was easy enough to make them 2”. Crossmember comes out easy enough with transmission supported in a jack, so I enlarged the holes on the workbench.

I’ve got a ton of other projects that are taking way longer to sort, so unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to actually drive it with the new torsion bars, my apologies for the delay I replying.

 

[LumaWJ]

Can you post some contact info for sway away email, phone, pls

 

[crashaaron]

Sorry about the delay! Still figuring out Tapatalk notifications.

I think Swayaway website is still down, so here is the contact info I have:

Sway-A-Way

9350 Cozycroft Ave
Chatsworth, CA 91311
(818) 700-9712

They seem like really good folks, and they make a ton of products for a lot of vehicles. All seem really well reviewed.


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[MechBob]

OK, there was a post earlier, about a broken torsion bar, but I cannot seem to find it, so, will add here. Getting tired of waiting for a "ride report", I called Sway A Way. Well, they had been informed the cross member had to be modded, but nobody sees it as an issue. They got feed back, all good. Remember,these are about 14% stiffer. Everyone that gave feedback liked this, improved handling and steering, but barely affected the ride.One purchaser, possibly a member here?, installed his, then left on a 1400 mile road trip, and is very happy with them.
Bad news, all 10 sets are gone.
Good news, they consider 10 sets of limited run sold in 3 months a good thing, and another batch is going to be made, about 8 weeks out.
Bad news, manufacturing took longer than estimated, and now steel has went up.they will be $795.

 

[Astrophysics2003]

OK, there was a post earlier, about a broken torsion bar, but I cannot seem to find it, so, will add here. Getting tired of waiting for a "ride report", I called Sway A Way. Well, they had been informed the cross member had to be modded, but nobody sees it as an issue. They got feed back, all good. Remember,these are about 14% stiffer. Everyone that gave feedback liked this, improved handling and steering, but barely affected the ride.One purchaser, possibly a member here?, installed his, then left on a 1400 mile road trip, and is very happy with them. Bad news, all 10 sets are gone. Good news, they consider 10 sets of limited run sold in 3 months a good thing, and another batch is going to be made, about 8 weeks out. Bad news, manufacturing took longer than estimated, and now steel has went up.they will be $795.

Hello, very good quality torsion bars. I installed them on my 2003 Astro 4x4. ‘Astrophysics.