Magnusian

I ordered a set of their tbars way back in January to go along with a (what seems like the last, they had to to custom make the UCAs and it took months) Fabtech 3.5" 2wd lift kit. I'm sure at least a few of you have seen my numerous complaints in the OT forum about waiting a million years for this stuff to come in. Well, National 4wd finally got the Fabtech kit in last week but, they are still waiting on the torsion bars and after getting several different ETAs that didn't come through (not their fault, they only passed on what they were told) from them I decided to give Sway-A-Way a call to find out what's taking so long. I would also like to note that despite the long times involved that I have been treated very decently by customer service at National 4wd, Fabtech, and Sway-A-Way.

The call was informative and now I do believe that at least at some point in time I will eventually see my new torsion bars, but the tentative ETA from Sway-A-Way is "at least two months." I told them I needed the tbars by August at the latest and so long as they came to me by then I was okay with continuing to wait and the guy on the phone seemed confident they'd be ready by then.

The reason for the extreme delay is because they make the tbars out of forgings to keep costs (to us) down and the company that made the forgings stopped making them. Apparently making them from raw material is not an option as it would make them "too expensive" to produce and sell. They have been trying to get a new supplier for the forgings and it sounds like they've had some problems with finding a supplier of quality material since they have to test tbars made with them. They are doing this right now (as in testing tbars, they might have found a new supplier if the bars pass the test) but until they are confident the tbars will hold up to abuse they aren't going to be actually making any for sale, and it they can't do it, then that's that.

I don't know if this is true only for the #1636 bars or if it is the same for the #1646 (4wd and T100 application) bars as well but it sounds like it since the only physically apparent difference is length. If you're looking to get Sway-A-Way torsions, be prepared to wait unless you can find them used or still in stock somewhere. I don't know if the lack of supply affects anyone outside the 86-95 year range but that's what the 4wd tbars cover (84-95 for 2wd).

This might have an affect on anyone buying any sort of IFS kit that requires a tbar upgrade. I haven't really looked into to whether or not anyone else makes tbars so perhaps some folks could suggest alternatives if they exist.

BigSky04

I have been looking for some myself, wondering why no one seems to have them, and prices have gone up drastically. Thanks for the insight, I think I am going to go with the OME's from ARB anyway, they are slightly smaller.

MaK92-4RnR

The 4WD ones are still being made and shipped.

Magnusian

^^^^ I wonder why they can't have the same company that supplies the forgings for the 4wd ones make shorter ones for the 2wds, or why they can't just cut them down then. From what I was told on the phone the company that made their forgings went out of business, maybe they had a bunch of the 4wd ones stockpiled.

At least you 4wds have more options than stock or a single aftermarket company. I can't seem to find anyone else who makes tbars for the 2wd trucks. It looks like if I can't get them from Sway-A-Way then I'm gonna have to convert to coil-overs to use my lift kit or see if I can move the frame mounts for the tbars back along the frame and use the 4wd ones. Maybe I'll give chaos-fab a call and see what they have to say since they make 2wd ifs LT kits and those call for a tbar upgrade.

hilslamer

I've recently been shopping for a set of 1646's(for a 4wd from 86-95 era) and the soonest i was promised was 6 weeks out.

Just FWIW, i guess.

Red Wagon

Is the above still true on the delays?

PedroMartinez

Are the 1636s still being made ? or does anyone have used ones for sale or know were i can get some ?