It's no secret that sway bars are extremely beneficial to the handling capabilities of old trucks. It's also no secret that most of the '63-72 GM products did not come with them as standard equipment. Simply put, there is no easier or more cost effective way to improve upon the handling of your classic truck.
Also referred to as a stabilizer bar or anti-roll bar, a sway bar connects the left and right sides of a suspension together. During cornering, the body tends to lean or fall over. This is what is commonly referred to as body roll. Connected to each control arm, the pressure applied from cornering twists the sway bar against the lean, causing a reaction that produces a lifting force on the outside of the body and a downward force on the inside of the body. This evens out the pressure generated by a corner across both tires, which greatly improves handling by making more traction available to the driver.
The Classic Performance Products' sway bar is stout to say the least. Thicker than any of the stock units produced for these trucks, it has an overall diameter of 1.25 inches, is constructed from high-carbon steel, and comes gold/irridite plated. Using the stock holes in the control arm, end links with urethane bushings are installed to position the sway bar. Frame mounting brackets are also provided in the kit, and if they're there, use the factory holes in the frame. From start to finish, it took us about an hour to install the CPP sway bar kit. The install is a bit more involved on Old School due to the airbagged suspension than it would be on a standard coil-sprung truck. The reason is that you have to make sure that the sway bar does not interfere with any of the suspension components throughout the entire suspension cycle--which on this truck is over 8 inches. So follow along and contact CPP about their front and rear sway bars for almost any classic truck out there.