Hellwig problems

[MikeyHo808]

I installed my sway bar on Tuesday. It took about an hour and a half, but that’s because I had to take my step bit to it to open up the end link holes a bit more. When I first installed it, the nut on the end link would bottom out before there was any decent contact with the bushing. Instructions said to go until the bushing squeezes just slightly. Well, it didn’t even touch the bushing. According to another thread https://5thgenrams.com/community/threads/hellwig-hell-yeah.34328/unread
this seems to be an issue with some of them, confirmed by Hellwig. But your issue seems way different than any other issues found with some bars like mines. Go get it replaced!

 

[AmericanRebelution]

You guys are talking me out of installing one!

 

[MikeyHo808]

You guys are talking me out of installing one!

I would totally recommend one, just make sure your bar is true in design. They completely do it’s job, as my ride to work yesterday was a very different ride…no lane hopping where I normally experience it, no rear shudder over some areas where it would normally happen. That’s enough proof for me that it works.
A small group of those with issues, all fixable. This one seems a bit different. Hopefully he can get it figured out.

 

[Rmazzei]

sounds like you installed the sway bar upside down. I would put stock back and see if your issues go away. Once the issues are addressed then start the install again. unless they sent you the wrong part i cant see the HW bar being off. mine fit perfectly less than 30 min install 2021 limited

 

[Hemidakota]

Something is incredibly wrong then, and it doesn’t sound right that elongating a hole on a bracket will cause what you’re talking about. Sway bars have no part in the tracking of the vehicle down the road, they just control body roll. That being said, crazier things have happened so I agree with the poster above you said to remove it. I do have a troubleshooting step I use, but I can’t suggest that here.

I elongated the hole just to make it work but it's still binding. The bracket is not the same size as the other one and Hellwig confirmed today that it's not the right bracket. They are shipping a new one to me.

 

[djevox]

I elongated the hole just e make it work but it's still binding. The bracket is not the same size as the other one and Hellwig confirmed today that it's not the right bracket. They are shipping a new one to me.

Awesome! I’m genuinely curious about your issue and wish you were closer so I could see this happening in person. When you say “pull”, do you mean you let go of the steering wheel at any time any pulls towards another lane?

 

[Hemidakota]

This is the sway bar installed. The bracket on the right is the problem. I received no response from my email so I called them directly and was immediately put through to Kevin. He told me it was the wrong bracket and was probably pulled from the wrong bin. He asked for the date on the box which was 7-14-21. He did say my part would go out tomorrow because he has received a lot of calls today from customers and a lot of parts were going out. That doesn't necessarily mean they were all 7709 sway bars.

I am curious as well if this fixes the problem. If not then I will uninstall it go look at the holes in the sway bar.

 

[Hemidakota]

 

[Hemidakota]

Awesome! I’m genuinely curious about your issue and wish you were closer so I could see this happening in person. When you say “pull”, do you mean you let go of the steering wheel at any time any pulls towards another lane?

At about 45 mph it's not as noticeable, just takes a little farther down the road to do it maybe 100 feet. At 70 mph it's immediate when you let go of the steering wheel. It's just like what you would feel when your front end is out of alignment. When I let go of the steering wheel, I will be completely out of my lane and into the next within 7 seconds. It's a severe pull and it does it to the right and left. Before the install I could let go of the steering wheel and drive a half mile staying in my lane. It tracked so good because I have never had a vehicle like that before. Not even my previous Rams did that.

 

[Hemidakota]

You guys are talking me out of installing one!

If I had to do this all over again, I would still buy it. Handling is 10 times better than what it was. The problem is something simple and I will figure it out to help the next person.

 

[djevox]

At about 45 mph it's not as noticeable, just takes a little farther down the road to do it maybe 100 feet. At 70 mph it's immediate when you let go of the steering wheel. It's just like what you would feel when your front end is out of alignment. When I let go of the steering wheel, I will be completely out of my lane and into the next within 7 seconds. It's a severe pull and it does it to the right and left. Before the install I could let go of the steering wheel and drive a half mile staying in my lane. It tracked so good because I have never had a vehicle like that before. Not even my previous Rams did that.

That’s wild. That’s the kind of binding that would bend a sway bar end link. I wonder if the cab is noticeably leaning when this occurs.

 

[Hemidakota]

That’s wild. That’s the kind of binding that would bend a sway bar end link. I wonder if the cab is noticeably leaning when this occurs.

I'll video it on my way home tomorrow and see if I can post it. I had the bright idea to see about using one of the old brackets in the meantime but those aren't coming off and they are different style.

 

[MikeyHo808]

This is the sway bar installed. The bracket on the right is the problem. I received no response from my email so I called them directly and was immediately put through to Kevin. He told me it was the wrong bracket and was probably pulled from the wrong bin. He asked for the date on the box which was 7-14-21. He did say my part would go out tomorrow because he has received a lot of calls today from customers and a lot of parts were going out. That doesn't necessarily mean they were all 7709 sway bars.

I am curious as well if this fixes the problem. If not then I will uninstall it go look at the holes in the sway bar.

Yeah, I can see a slight bow in the sway bar. Glad Hellwig is on top of it.
Great attitude you got, and appreciate you sharing your ordeal for those who are on the fence with this upgrade. The positives outweigh the negatives, and manufacturer is there to support. Having done 100 miles + on this upgrade, it is worth it. Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[IvoryHemi]

smaller holes usually equals more fun

 

[Bt10]

The only way that could happen is if your rear differential were loose and shifting around. The rear differential always tracks straight no matter what the sway bar is doing.

I towed, nuf said.

 

[Hemidakota]

Who's ready for the twist to this story and possibly a different problem completely?

Yesterday my S&B CAI was delivered. I heard that you want to disconnect the negative from the battery to reset everything and let the truck learn any new mods. I do have a Borla Atak exhaust I put on a couple weeks ago and have been running 89 octane but only a few weeks. Well I got everything done and waited an hour before starting the truck because I read people were having problems with everything not uploading with Uconnect after disconnecting the battery. After an hour I started the truck up and listened to the deeper exhaust and gave it a couple taps on the throttle. It ran for maybe 5 minutes and I shut it down for the night.

This morning I had to go to work at 5 am. Now where I park my truck is a big cedar tree that I planted 30 years ago on my grandparents property beside the driveway. I inherited the property and have parked in the same spot for 14 years. What I do every morning for the last 14 years is pull up into the driveway and turn left beside the cedar. Well this morning when I turned left I had one of the limbs hit my windshield. It's like I turned too sharp or something. I backed up and was trying to figure out how I did that. Now mind you, I haven't ever hit a limb on that cedar in the last 14 years, this was definitely a first.

As I am driving to work this morning I realized that I wasn't fighting the steering wheel like I have been for the past couple of days. I let go of the steering wheel and it didn't pull. That really confused me because I swore that messed up bracket was the cause of all of this since it started pulling after I put on the sway bar

Well that got me thinking about the electric steering. Maybe it was pulling because the electric steering wasn't going back to a neutral position when straight? Because remember, it would pull to whichever way I last moved the steering wheel to. Can the electric steering also move more than what the steering wheel has moved? In order for me to have hit this cedar limb the wheels would have been fully positioned to the left when I started to make the turn.

I haven't touched the sway bar and I'm wondering if disconnecting the battery reset something with the electric steering? I don't know anything about the electric steering so I'm just throwing something out there to see if it's right or not. I don't have lane keep assist or any of that.

 

[Hemidakota]

 

[Hemidakota]

 

[GKIII]

Who's ready for the twist to this story and possibly a different problem completely?

Yesterday my S&B CAI was delivered. I heard that you want to disconnect the negative from the battery to reset everything and let the truck learn any new mods. I do have a Borla Atak exhaust I put on a couple weeks ago and have been running 89 octane but only a few weeks. Well I got everything done and waited an hour before starting the truck because I read people were having problems with everything not uploading with Uconnect after disconnecting the battery. After an hour I started the truck up and listened to the deeper exhaust and gave it a couple taps on the throttle. It ran for maybe 5 minutes and I shut it down for the night.

This morning I had to go to work at 5 am. Now where I park my truck is a big cedar tree that I planted 30 years ago on my grandparents property beside the driveway. I inherited the property and have parked in the same spot for 14 years. What I do every morning for the last 14 years is pull up into the driveway and turn left beside the cedar. Well this morning when I turned left I had one of the limbs hit my windshield. It's like I turned too sharp or something. I backed up and was trying to figure out how I did that. Now mind you, I haven't ever hit a limb on that cedar in the last 14 years, this was definitely a first.

As I am driving to work this morning I realized that I wasn't fighting the steering wheel like I have been for the past couple of days. I let go of the steering wheel and it didn't pull. That really confused me because I swore that messed up bracket was the cause of all of this since it started pulling after I put on the sway bar

Well that got me thinking about the electric steering. Maybe it was pulling because the electric steering wasn't going back to a neutral position when straight? Because remember, it would pull to whichever way I last moved the steering wheel to. Can the electric steering also move more than what the steering wheel has moved? In order for me to have hit this cedar limb the wheels would have been fully positioned to the left when I started to make the turn.

I haven't touched the sway bar and I'm wondering if disconnecting the battery reset something with the electric steering? I don't know anything about the electric steering so I'm just throwing something out there to see if it's right or not. I don't have lane keep assist or any of that.

It takes a few hours for the everything in the truck's center stack to reset after disconnecting the battery, this would not affect your electric power steering. Electric power steering just replaces the hydraulic pump with an electric motor for the steering assist, it will still return to neutral position when you let go of the wheel. This behavior is driven by geometry, which is why vehicles pull when your alignment is off.

Now, if you have the lane keep assist...that may cause similar issues if that system is faulty.

 

[djevox]

Since it seems like there are more gremlins then initially talked about at the beginning of this thread, I’ll mention my troubleshooting technique. If the truck starts pulling again, disconnect the swaybar end links and go drive it. I think you’ll find that it still pulls.

Edit: I don’t think you’ll have a problem with the swaybar shifting if the swaybar is truly bound, but you could remove the swaybar all together also. Also, do this with an empty bed and not towing anything.

Other option: put the stock sway bar back on and make an appointment with the dealer.