What year S-15 ?

my '85 S-10 had one

my '98 S-10 had one.

 

Granted, in hindsight a rear sway bar with no front is probably not the best idea. But that is the reason I came here to ask, because I wasn't sure. Its always nice to be ridiculed when you are asking questions though, thanks for that.

 

It was an '85. They didn't come on all trim levels and mine was pretty base. It had A/C. That was it. Manual everything, no cruise, no cassette/CD just an AM/FM stereo and 2 speakers. Rubber floor, vinyl bench. The holes were there on the frame and the lower control arms but it never had a bar on it.

 

My '78 4 door Bonneville had one and it gave it's life for me. I had a blowout on the Long Island Exp at 70+ mph, but was able to control the vehicle in a very nasty situation. There was so much force involved the front (had a rear also) sway bar SHEARED into two pieces. I believe if it wasn't for that sway bar I would be dead right now.

 

Interesting, since my '85 S-10 was radio delete & no A/C, rubber flooring, base as it gets & it still had a front stabilizer bar.

Surprised you say your base '85 Jimmy did not come with one

 

I bought it used, so maybe the previous owner removed it. True, I thought it was odd, but it was never really noticeable. It was a long bed, 4-cyl so I never really went canyon carving with it. I really liked that truck, too.

 

This would be extreme, but crossing some RR tracks while in a curve could fold the wheel. Seen it done(after wheel folded car tumbled 3-4 times rested up in the trees, guy walked away). extreme but possible. A nice sized curb could do the same thing.

 

If a shock was making a noise then the "fix" would be to remove it? Sorry, it just doesn't work that way. The front sway bar is an integral part of the car's suspension, just like the shock absorbers, hubs, struts etc. etc.. And together they are tuned to give a vehicle certain handling characteristics. Altering, removing or changing those components can result in adverse handing conditions.

Under "normal" conditions, the adverse handing characteristics may never be felt, as the suspension is not really being stressed. However by taking the vehicle to the handling limit (and I don't mean a cruise up an on ramp), will stress the suspension and that is when the adverse handling condition will be found. And it can have dire concequences.

Adding a rear sway bar to a vehicle has to be done carefully, else you can upset the suspension dynamics and end up with a vehicle that handles poorly/dangerously when pushed to the limit. Yes, a lot of people have added them to their car without problems - and hopefully the added sway bar has been designed to take the vehicle suspension dynamics into consideration.

 

Personally I think you should hook the damn links back up, with Moog links, put the sway bar bushings in , not only for you and your families sake, but anyone else on the road.
I would'nt call you stupid, but it does come to mind. Any time you have to do a emergency lane change or any other hard movements, you will eat the big one. So bottom line...hook it back up, fix the problem, before you kill yourself or someone else, Hoss. "Moon"

 

They've been off the entire time and running smooth. I drive over railroad tracks in a curve at 40 everyday. Been through 2 snow storms one with 8 inches of snow, I have swerved and swooped. I don't know what kind of cars you have been driving, but the sway bars don't make that big of a difference on the HHR. I have logged probably 10,000 miles without them through a variety of conditions, so don't think I am the stupid one here. Making claims about something you haven't tried and have no real knowledge of is pretty stupid in my book.