Hellwig? Hell, yeah!

[Bpebler]

Have a question for those with a 22 Limited or Longhorn Limited regarding the Hellwig sway bar as I heard from @bigdodge early on this thread that there may have been some changes to those 2 trim levels rear sway bars. I can tell coming from my 21 Laramie to the 22 Limited that there indeed seems to be less body roll. Can anyone confirm if there were changes to the 22 models, at least the upper trims, compared to the previous years? I’ve tried searching on other sites for any info to no avail. I just don’t want to purchase one just to notice little to no difference if there indeed were any sway bar changes made by Ram just to turn around & sell it on the forum. Just too much of a hassle for me. Thanks in advance to anyone with any experience with this swap on the 22’s.

 

[Clv22p]

I have a bighorn, but there was a very noticeable difference with even with the middle hole.

 

[Dewey]

I have a bighorn, but there was a very noticeable difference with even with the middle hole.

Same here. Like a different truck.

 

[Bpebler]

I was going to copy & paste some screenshots but it’s more streamlined to say that page 16 is the debate I’m trying to get to the bottom of before deciding to order one. The stock sway bar may have had a change from 21 to 22 in trucks with the air suspension & they only thing that seems verifiable so far is the difference in weight. Some say no noticeable difference, others say substantial. So I’m trying to narrow down the variables I suppose to those going from 21 to 22 with air suspension & from stock to Hellwig, which is a bit of a long shot. I noticed that my 22 Limited WITH air suspension has less body roll than the 21 Laramie WITHOUT air suspension, both on stock sway bars. So

 

[HSKR R/T]

I would imagine the Hellwig will still give an improvement, even with the different sway bar the air suspension trucks have

 

[bigdodge]

I have taken curves 10 to 15 miles over the posted speed limit and my truck is like it is on rails.
I can not explain why, I only know what I am feeling and this truck corners great. I was all set to order the Helwig but even riding as a passenger I do not feel sway.

 

[HSKR R/T]

I have taken curves 10 to 15 miles over the posted speed limit and my truck is like it is on rails.
I can not explain why, I only know what I am feeling and this truck corners great. I was all set to order the Helwig but even riding as a passenger I do not feel sway.

I can take curves at almost twice the posted limit. Tires are the limiting factor.

 

[Trooper4]

trouble with having a truck that takes curves like a rat up a rafter is that when it breaks loose in said corner, there isn't a damn thing you can do about it except hang on and close your eyes.

 

[HSKR R/T]

trouble with having a truck that takes curves like a rat up a rafter is that when it breaks loose in said corner, there isn't a damn thing you can do about it except hang on and close your eyes.

Guess that depends on how good your driving skills are. If you don't know how to control a skid, then sure. I grew up in rural Nerbaska on gravel roads. You learn to control a skid real fast. Sure I could have just slowed down, but where is the fun in that

 

[Trooper4]

Guess that depends on how good your driving skills are. If you don't know how to control a skid, then sure. I grew up in rural Nerbaska on gravel roads. You learn to control a skid real fast. Sure I could have just slowed down, but where is the fun in that

Learned the same way If you ain't sideways, you ain't having fun.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Learned the same way If you ain't sideways, you ain't having fun.

I got into a 4-wheel drift on an onramp in my RAM pushing just a little too hard. This was before the Hellwig and in factory Wildpeaks. Was able to recover after a short, "oh ****" moment.

 

[nc_beagle]

I got into a 4-wheel drift on an onramp in my RAM pushing just a little too hard. This was before the Hellwig and in factory Wildpeaks. Was able to recover after a short, "oh ****" moment.

Hellwig wouldn't have prevented the drift would it? That's just the tires breaking traction isn't it? Seems like less body roll would put more strain on the tires since you aren't leaning as much and are more likely to exceed their limits?

Not a drifter so this is genuinely a question. I've worried about exceeding the sideways limits on my OEM Wildpeaks for this reason. The truck doesn't want to lean and tell me to back off.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Hellwig wouldn't have prevented the drift would it? That's just the tires breaking traction isn't it? Seems like less body roll would put more strain on the tires since you aren't leaning as much and are more likely to exceed their limits?

Not a drifter so this is genuinely a question. I've worried about exceeding the sideways limits on my OEM Wildpeaks for this reason. The truck doesn't want to lean and tell me to back off.

Yeah, the Wildpeaks don't make a lot of noise. Easier to get into a drift with body roll as you don't have even pressure on all four tires. Once the outside tires lose traction, the insides will just slide because there is no weight on them. I was fully expecting the rear end to break loose like most trucks will before it would go into a four wheel drift.

 

[Trooper4]

In a hard corner the lateral forces try to stretch the inside suspension and compress the outside suspension, to a greater or lesser degree depending on the height and speed of the vehicle. With a soft suspension, and soft sidewall tires, the outside of the vehicle moves lower, the inside moves upward, and the center of gravity is allowed to rise and move toward the outside of the vehicle, putting more load on the outside tire, and causing the suspension to compress more, and the sidewall to roll to the inside of the rim. The anti roll bar is designed to counter this by minimizing this load transfer and in effect stiffening the suspension in a corner. As the suspension compresses on the outside, the weight of the inside tire counters the weight transfer and the shift of center of gravity by acting as a lever to try and hold the outside up, which in effect counters the roll and keeps the vehicle in a more level stance. Coupled with low profile tires which minimize sidewall roll, it creates a combined effect of a more even tire/road contact and better traction and more stable ride. The problem with this "flat cornering" scenario is that when centrifugal/lateral force exceeds the traction ability of the tire because of road/tire/environmental conditions or speed, either the back end comes around, the front end won't turn, or you get a four wheel drift. Of course what this all means is that bad **** happens when either the drivers abilities and his/her common sense are exceeded at the same time as the traction ability of the tire.
All of this is why we see the extremely stiff ride and super wide tires on F-1 and Indy cars, and why they hit the wall so hard.

 

[Dewey]

We’re not driving these trucks at Sears Point or Watkins Glen for cripes sake. If your driving to the point of drifting on the street your obviously exceeding the limits a truck is designed to do. If I wanted that I sure the heck wouldn’t buy a truck and would have bought a sports car instead. A great majority of us bought Hellwig sway bars only to counter the excessive body roll these trucks have from the factory during everyday normal driving. In that regard the Hellwig is a home run.

 

[Bpebler]

It would just be really nice if Ram/Stellantis/FCA would have on their site explanations of the different sway bars with different level trims with and without air suspension to be able to help make it easier to decipher for us. Personally, I don’t drive my truck to the point of drifting or anything near that but I do have a heavy foot and get on it fairly often and live around a lot of windy back roads and my 22 limited with air has significantly less body roll than my 21 Laramie without air. So as excited as I am to get the hellwig mod, I really may not see much difference and may put that money towards other parts instead.

 

[HSKR R/T]

We’re not driving these trucks at Sears Point or Watkins Glen for cripes sake. If your driving to the point of drifting on the street your obviously exceeding the limits a truck is designed to do. If I wanted that I sure the heck wouldn’t buy a truck and would have bought a sports car instead. A great majority of us bought Hellwig sway bars only to counter the excessive body roll these trucks have from the factory during everyday normal driving. In that regard the Hellwig is a home run.

If you aren't driving your truck to the limits are you really enjoying it? I have a 2000 Dakota R/T with full Hotchkis TVS kit on it that will corner better than most factory sports cars. Just because you have a truck doesn't mean you shouldn't drive it hard.

 

[Dewey]

If you aren't driving your truck to the limits are you really enjoying it? I have a 2000 Dakota R/T with full Hotchkis TVS kit on it that will corner better than most factory sports cars. Just because you have a truck doesn't mean you shouldn't drive it hard.

That’s great if you looking for that type of performance but 99% of the daily truck drivers out there don’t need that. That’s why the Hellwig is such a great cheap upgrade for quickly improving handling for a large majority of them. That’s the only point I was trying to make.

 

[HSKR R/T]

That’s great if you looking for that type of performance but 99% of the daily truck drivers out there don’t need that. That’s why the Hellwig is such a great cheap upgrade for quickly improving handling for a large majority of them. That’s the only point I was trying to make.

And I was just saying there are people who buy trucks that do enjoy pushing the limits, and don't just use them as a basic utility vehicle. And the Hellwig is a good upgrade for those people as well. When you modify stock parts you are changing what the truck was designed to do. Everything from lift kits to off-road tires, air bags, sway bars..... They all change the limits of what you can do with the truck from what the factory specs allowed.

 

[MishMashRAM1500]

Anyone install the front sway bar on the 1500's ?

I did just last week. Had their rear already on my 2021 Bighorn. When I put the rear on, it definitely tightened up the rear but if I got into a sharp turn fast, the front felt too ....soft? Like I was over-steering it. Weird feeling. That is what provoked me to buy the (expensive as hell) front.

My week's worth of impression is I am glad I did. Truck feels solid all around and I pushed it in the same 4 turns where I notice it near by...and it feels much better...not as soft.
Keep in mind, I have 20" wheels now and 305 BFG All Terrain T/As. My BH came stock with 18"s