Hellwig 7254 Rear Sway Bar

[Aztrx450r]

Thanks. PM sent

[Joshua Cavitt]

Aztrx450r I did not get PM from you last night.

[robertmayberry]

Hello,

I've been getting the "big bang" also. Stopped at my dealer and they said nothing was wrong. I contacted Hellwig and they said I need to grease the D bushings. Will let you know how this works. My bangs have been quite bad.

Bob
San Francisco
2011 Solera/2010 chassis

[bclemens]

Or flip the bar over? Seems like someone here determined there was a small raised area or nub that is hard to notice, but the bar may not be two sided.

[Mikegjax]

Originally Posted by robertmayberry

Hello,

I've been getting the "big bang" also. Stopped at my dealer and they said nothing was wrong. I contacted Hellwig and they said I need to grease the D bushings. Will let you know how this works. My bangs have been quite bad.

Bob
San Francisco
2011 Solera/2010 chassis

On initial installation I also got the clunk. I did a little aggressive cornering in left and right turns which seemed to allow the bar to center itself. After that no more clunk. That is also assuming the "D" brackets are proper greased and the slight dip in the bar is facing down toward the ground.

[CaptDan]

Just installed (2 ea) Bilstein 24-177702 4600 Series 46mm Monotube Rear Shock Absorbers. Took the 2013 Solera "S" for a spin around the block. The Helwig made the most difference in ride control. For those RV'ers that do not have/installed the Helwig sway bar is a "MUST BUY!" The Bilsteins greatly reduced the rocking motion and made a slight improvement in the ride. Anything to improve the ride I would buy, more later. GLTA

CaptDan
PS: Maybe Sumo's next when the price goes down!!

[DaveJordan]

Originally Posted by CaptDan

Just installed (2 ea) Bilstein 24-177702 4600 Series 46mm Monotube Rear Shock Absorbers

Hey Capt!

Did you do the installation yourself? If so, can you describe the process?

Thanks!

Dave

[Phinias]

Bilsteins,Hellwig, now you need Sumo Springs and the job is complets. I had all three installed at a total of one hundred and forty bucks

[Phinias]

that 140 was labor

[barnbnb]

Just do it. You will never regret spending the $200 for it when driving thru crosswinds or just around town.

[CharSolera]

Phinias (or someone else who didn't install these themselves), who installed them for you (if it wasn't a private party/friend). After a weekend in the woods and some pretty fierce rockin' when I traveled over the potholes in the dirt road, I am upgrading. But, this isn't the sort of job I can do. Who (company) installs these types of items (Helwig, Bilstein or Konis) on a motorhome?? Thank you!

[FIVE2MH]

CharSolera - Hellwig's website has a link which enables you to locate a dealer in your area that sells/installs the sway bar. It cost us almost $400, but we couldn't do the installation either. For us, it was money well spent...

[CharSolera]

Thank you, Five2mh. I'll start the search there.

[robertmayberry]

Wish I'd never done this. They used to make a big bang when you go over a dip. So I had the dealer reinstall them on with the dip down and grease the D bushings.

The big bang is gone. Now I have a snapping/popping sound on every corner, every little dip and every little rough patch in the road. Its really irritating!

Bob
San Francisco

[Phinias]

Hmmmmm.....mine is perfect

[devilsquid]

Originally Posted by robertmayberry

Wish I'd never done this. They used to make a big bang when you go over a dip. So I had the dealer reinstall them on with the dip down and grease the D bushings.

The big bang is gone. Now I have a snapping/popping sound on every corner, every little dip and every little rough patch in the road. Its really irritating!

Bob
San Francisco

Good morning All, I too have had this popping noise from the moment that I installed the Hellwig. It began with an occasional loud lunk/pop (by lunk I mean it sounded like a torqued rod letting loose or adjusting) and it has progressed to every time I drive into a driveway or any other thing that causes a sway just like Bob. I re-torqued the D clamps to 65ft/lbs had lubed those clamps on installation and the popping has only gotten worse. I did not check for the dip up or down on my initial installation and will when I take everything apart for a start over. I also used the washers to fill the gap in the shackle. I plan to use the assembly compound on the D-clamps, make sure the dip is down, torque the D-clamp bolts to 50 ft/lbs and the shackle bolts to 65ft/lbs (I think I read that the shackle bolts were to ones to torque to 65 and not the D-clamp bolts) my question is has anyone greased the shackle bolt as it passes through the bearing? It is very disconcerting to have everyone in a gas station turn around and look as I snap and pop my way to a pump. Not a good external marketing experience for a very fine motorhome. If anyone has any other possible solutions please let all of us who have this problem know what it is...I'm to a point of trying almost anything (putting the original back on is not an option, it's long gone). Thanks

[tommyb]

Has anyone contacted Hellwig about the noises?

I contacted them to ask whether the dip went up or down. They told me either way works, and makes no difference in the performance. I was satisfied with their tech support, and wonder if anyone bothered to ask them what might be causing the noises.

I have no noises whatsoever. I am very pleased with the sway bar, and how much it has improved handling.

Hope you get your issue solved. Those little things can be the most annoying...

[JLeising]

I was an "early adopter" I think - installed my Hellwig in July 2013. I had been quite satisfied - initially received bolts with incorrect thread, but Hellwig sent the correct bolts fairly quickly. I did not have a clunking issue - after reading about the issue here, I did notice an occasional noise, but was never sure it was sway bar related.
However - when I took my vehicle in last week for alignment, wheel balance and rotation the shop called me to tell me one of the sway bar brackets was broken and the sway bar was essentially hanging loose on one side - doing nothing. I know on our recent trip to Banff, Glacier NP and Rocky Mountain NP we encountered some VERY bad road construction bypasses in Montana - not sure if this is where the failure occurred. I had the service place re-install the original sway bar and brackets (I kept everything) and have a message in to Hellwig - awaiting their response.

[Mikegjax]

I torqued mine to 40 lbs. Just because I could not see the 35 lb mark. Over torquing will not get you anything other than weaking the fasteners and brackets IMO. I hand the clunk until I did some aggressive cornering in both directions after initial installation. Clunk stopped after bar centers itself.

[devilsquid]

Originally Posted by tommyb

Has anyone contacted Hellwig about the noises?

I contacted them to ask whether the dip went up or down. They told me either way works, and makes no difference in the performance. I was satisfied with their tech support, and wonder if anyone bothered to ask them what might be causing the noises.

I have no noises whatsoever. I am very pleased with the sway bar, and how much it has improved handling.

Hope you get your issue solved. Those little things can be the most annoying...

tommyb,Thank you for your input. I went out to check the orientation of my sway bar and it appears that my sway bar is installed with the bent section of the bar pointed up ( so opposite to what other posters are saying is correct). Way back in my early days I flew as enlisted crew on Marine helicopters and remember the Boeing Techreps telling us that we could not do the fix the that way...too bad we already knew it worked by performing that bit of "field" maintenance everyday only it was easier, faster and we never lost a bird because of it. It looks like there shouldn't be any difference in how the bar functions due to it's orientation but until proven otherwise down is right, up is wrong (at least it will eliminate one of the confounding factors). I wonder how many of us who have the popping noise had their sway bar mounted upside down?