Announcing the Blaine Fabrication reinforced sway bar bracket:



- MIG welded .083" steel plate triangulates two of the four mounting points, with flared hole for increased rigidity.

- donor brackets are brand new, genuine GM stock

- Clears ABS/CC/etc: useable on a completely stock car, LT1 or LS1

- available 'as welded' with no finishing for $65/pr + shipping + sales tax in CA

- available with gloss black powder coat for $85/pr + shipping + sales tax in CA

I generally have both powder coated and as-welded brackets in stock

To order, call or PM or email me ZIP code for shipping, I will return with total cost. I accept PayPal, if you don't have a PayPal account let me know, I can email you an invoice that makes it easy to pay with a credit card without having to set up an account.

Shop phone is 831 427-3296 email: ablaine (at) cruzio (dot) com

Thanks and regards,
Alan Blaine
Blaine Fabrication
831 427-3296

Email sent.

The first batch of six pairs are all sold - the powder coated versions ship today. Thank you to all who ordered. I've got another 5 pairs of brackets on order from GM, should have them ready for welding by the end of next week.

Thanks again,
Alan Blaine
Blaine Fabrication
831 427-3296

2nd batch is sold, I just ordered another 10 brackets from GM. Looks like about half the orders are powder coated, and half as-welded.

Put my new brackets on Sunday.

Fits like a glove.

Thanks Alan

Received mine, and the quality is great !
~ but I expected such

I suppose that I should buy a pair as I have broken the right mount twice.

Let me know when you have a set available, Alan.

Powdercoated is pretty, but if you think as welded with a good coat of Rustoleum paint is just as good although not as pretty I will take the plain version.

Perry

What is the purpose of these mounts? Is there a problem of Autox cars breaking sway bar mounts?
What about daily drivers with lots of miles?

With the stiff springs, big swaybars and firm shock damping combined with tossing these heavy cars around, the brackets have been known to break.

I think maybe the right side mounts also get weakened some by battery acid leaking down on it.

Should the stock Brackets be checked at a certain mileage?
I have stock springs and Koni SA's, but I am looking to buy some Strano Bars here shortly. Would these be a wise upgrade while installing the bars?

Sometimes they just break. It's not a dangerous situation though. The car will just feel sloppy in the front. Some folks can't even tell when it breaks. It doesn't hurt to look them over real good for cracks especially on a higher mileage car.

The mounts are new OEM pieces that have been reinforced with a steel plate (the part with the flared hole) welded on. The stock part tends to break on a car that has an aftermarket solid or large dia sway bar installed, and then cornered vigorously, like in autox.

Normally, just high mileage on an otherwize stock, undamaged car will not cause them to break, but:
Other things that can break the stock mounts: impact with a curb or road debris, or a tow truck operator using the sway bar to pull on the car. The mounts tend to collect a puddle of water so in some climates rust could weaken them over time.

Symptoms of a broken swaybar mount would be a different feel to the steering in right turns vs left turns, or audible clunking/rattling. Other things can cause these symptoms, too. The mounts can mostly be inspected visually, tho there is a plate on the drv side that covers up part of it. Run a fingernail along all the edges of the mount to feel for a crack.

And as a tow truck operator ON racetracks, an unprepared, or stripped car, can many times lead to _no other alternative_ than to pull you by the sway bar.

And nothing will ever ever break doing that if you follow our directions (keep the rope tight, always).

So..ya..for track use, you need these.

(And a CCR approved lift point as well, not just pull, LIFT)

I've got 3pr as-welded in stock remaining of the 3rd batch. I'll probaby commit 2pr of them to powder coating next week for stock.

Alan, we'll take a set. I'll PM or email you later tonight or tomorrow (Soprano's is almost on!). I've got an air dam and nerf bar question as well.

Jason

Just sent you a PM, guess I'm the newest member of the broken passenger side bracket club. Glad I finally found it, I'd been noticing some clunking/poping from the passenger side for about a month, but hadn't been able to find anything (was looking at the brakes, shock, etc). Both angle arms broke, and then the bolts mounting the bracket to the body backed out completely so the bracket was just hanging loose.

I just sent you a shipped cost - I have them in stock for immediate shipment.

Thanks!

You've been busy making those boogers, haven't you! Glad I got mine when I did!

Ya, you betcha! I just had a batch of 300 of the reinforcement plates laser cut - they turned out perfect, no grinding needed before welding them in place. Next I'll do the same for the brake duct plenums so their build time drops from WTFtoolong to something more reasonable.

Blainefab,
Just wanted to post, I installed this item finally and it's a really nice piece for the money. Thanks !

You still have these in stock? Bolt in? Broke my passenger side, and want to replace both.

Right now I have 1 pair of as-welded in stock, can ship tomorrow. PM me with ZIP code for shipping cost.

I am out of powder coated now, but I have a fresh shipment of new brackets due in this week from GM, and they will be back from the powder coater by the end of next week.

Yes, they bolt in using the OEM bolts.

What has been the feedback for the reinforced front sway bar mounts from the users? It looks like these have been out for a while, so I am curious to hear feedback.
Thank you.

Mine were made by SLP, but the design is similar (also a modified production bracket). They are holding up fine.

No one has yet reported bending or breaking one. There were a few early parts that had some coating residue in the threads, so now I'm running a tap thru all the threaded holes after powder coating and before putting them in the stockroom.

I've sold approx 40sets so far, have stock on hand both powder coated, and as-welded.

I bought a set of Alan's brackets last April and couldn't be happier with them. They are a quality piece and expect them to last a long time.

We got the car back from Alan last week, and he mentioned that the swaybar brackets were askew. I had a set of his reinforced brackets already, and put them on over the weekend. I grabbed some pics of the old brackets.




Definitely less than optimal.

Jason

Holy crap! I'm gonna have to get under mine when it warms up and see how my stockers are holding up.

Thanks for posting the pic, Jason. It's not visible in the pic, but one of the legs has a crack started.

I think you'd be surprised how many cars are running around with cracked brackets - my SOP is to run my fingernail along the edges of the four corner supports - a crack usually starts on one of these edges.

Remember the slit in the D bushing faces forward.

These have been a pretty steady seller, a couple sets a month go out the door. I'm keeping them in stock in the black powdercoat.

I recently had a request for red powdercoat, so built a couple sets in red, and they all sold, so I'm considering building a batch in red for stock. Black will remain the standard.

I've sold very few as-welded, so do not stock them, orders for as-welded will wait till I make a buy of brackets from GM.

I have added the reinforcement to customers used, good condition brackets for $50/pair, and I have sold just the reinforcement plates, with flared hole, to DIY welders for $25/pair

Bump for a reminder for the new folks on Frrax - the OEM 4th gen swaybar brackets are prone to cracking when driven vigorously - if the car all of a sudden feels different going one way vs the other, check your brackets for cracks.

I'm putting a batch into stock this week.

I will keep in my mind..What about Panhard bracket and LRB?

I have the swaybar brackets in stock in black powdercoat, and I have one set as-welded.

For LCA relocation I've been using the UMI 2010 brackets, Summit stocks them.

For Panhard lowering, Jason@UnbalancedEngineering.com makes the best.

PM sent for "AS welded" swap bar

PM replied

Dusty - Let me know if you need these right away, sales have been good on the brackets, I'm starting another batch. If you don't want them right away I'll have more in a couple weeks.

Bump on checking the sway bar brackets. I heard a clicking a couple of days ago, but didn't really notice a change. My passenger side bracket come off in four pieces. Not wanting to park the car, I was going to spend a couple of hours welding, but I wasn't confident that I could keep the holes in alignment. Lucky for me the local Pick n Pull had a 98-02 I could pull the bracket from.

I should have ordered a set a few months ago when I first read this post.

My current batch is going fast, they must fit in a stocking. The last as-welded sold today, I've got 3 pairs of powder coated in stock. I'll start another batch next week but they probably won't be ready for Christmas.

My marketing dept reminded me that I haven't posted any pics of the brackets installed on a car, so I dug these up:

I got a set a year or two ago. I highly recommend! I did need to deburr and plane an edge down slightly to make it fit flush, but no biggie.

I have another batch of brackets in process. I'll have the as-welded version available for a while.

$65/pair as-welded

$85/pair gloss black powder coated

I'd like a pair of the as-welded ... Available for order now ?

I got 'em today ! THANK YOU 👍

I sent an email through your website but I would like a pair of the as-welded brackets as well.

I've got a couple sets each Powder coated and as-welded in stock for those winter builds.

They fit a size 13 stocking.

I just put another batch into stock, both as-welded and powder coated brackets are ready to ship.

$65/pair for the as-welded or $85/pair for the powder coated, plus shipping, and CA sales tax for orders shipped to a CA address.