SEMA Young Executive Silent Auction

The SEMA Young Executive Silent Auction serves as a function to raise money for the SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund. Hellwig donated our new 4th and 1st Gen Camaro Rear Sway Bars. In total the donations from Hellwig and other generous SEMA members helped raise $85,000 for the Scholarship Fund. Click to find out more about the The SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund and SEMA Young Executive Silent Auction.

January's Notes from the President

SEMA Show 1967

SEMA Show 2008

Hellwig Products and SEMA

Our relationship with SEMA started in 1967, its first year. Hellwig Products has been attending the SEMA trade show in Las Vegas for 24 years. Many valued relationships have been born out of our participation in SEMA and some of our oldest business relationships started at a SEMA event. In 2006 at the SEMA show in Las Vegas Hellwig Products was recognized along with 18 other exhibitors as the only companies still exhibiting at SEMA as charter members of the organization.

This year’s SEMA show has been one of our big successes of 2008. This automotive trade show is our premier “industry” trade event each year. All facets of our industry are represented from racers to truck enthusiasts to electronics specialists and street performance people. Traditionally at this show our products have been displayed in the Truck and SUV hall. However, this year I made the decision to display our products in the Performance and Racing hall. We were met with overwhelming excitement, the new kid on the block, so to speak, even though we have been attending this show for 24 years. It was with great surprise that interest in our products turned out to be so high. The products we offered this year did help to attract a new group of buyers, giving us the opportunity to explain our capabilities as a company.

SEMA continues to be our main venue for exhibiting new products, cultivating new relationships and maintaining the existing relationships. Check them out at SEMA website if you want to learn more.

H1 Hummer Sway Bars

Along similar lines of need as armored vehicles the military is finding the need to upgrade its fleet of H1 Hummer suspension. With the seriousness and frequency of road side bomb attacks on soldiers in Hummers the military has embarked on a program of up-fitting many of its Hummer fleet with protective armor. This adds to the weight of the vehicle and in most cases creates handling problems in emergency situations. Working with the military and other companies Hellwig Products has been approved to retrofit a large number of U.S. military Hummers with sway bars made from heat treated 4140 alloy steel. Extensive testing was done on four vehicles in Texas at the military proving grounds. Hellwig’s sway bars met and exceeded all program criteria set forth in the tests and was approved as a vital component of the overall suspension upgrades.

Armored Vehicles

Among the many installations and applications for Hellwig sway control products is their use on up-fitted high security armored vehicles. Hellwig Products has developed a full line of heavy duty sway bars for medium and large sport utility vehicles which are converted for this use. Because armored vehicles are highly modified to protect their occupants these vehicles become much heavier. The center of gravity is also increased. As a result of these changes the original suspension provided is underrated. Handling characteristics become sluggish with increased body roll which could lead to unsafe driving in an emergency. Hellwig sway bars virtually eliminate the poor handling derived from the added weight of body and window armor.

United States Border Patrol

Our U.S. Border patrol uses its vehicles in some of the harshest environments on earth, the deserts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The Border Patrol's vehicles can not fail them in pursuit of protecting the border. To insure vital suspension components are up to the task, Hellwig Products has worked with the Border Patrol to engineer heavy duty sway bars to withstand the rigors, punishment and torture of patrolling our United States borders. Installations include front and rear sway bars on most of the pick-ups, sport utility vehicles and vans that the agency uses off-road up and down our border with Mexico. The use of special heavy duty end-links, heat treated 4140 chrome-moly steel and highly durable poly-urethane isolator bushings insure many years of service as well as to help other vital suspension components to last longer.

US Diplomatic Motorcade

High security armored vehicles is among the many installations and applications for Hellwig sway control products. Hellwig Products has developed a full line of heavy duty sway bars for medium and large sport utility vehicles which are converted for this use. Because armored vehicles are highly modified to protect their occupants these vehicle become much heavier. The center of gravity is also increased. As a result of these changes the original suspension provided is underrated. Handling characteristics become sluggish with increased body roll which could lead to unsafe driving in an emergency. The United States Diplomatic Motorcade uses armored Sport Utility Vehicles to transport some diplomats in various situations around the world. They have chosen Hellwig Sway Bars to remedy the poor handling characteristics on some of their motorcade vehicles. Hellwig sway bars have seen use on armored SUV’s in Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Listen to SEMA 08 Radio Interviews

Hellwig hosted Daytona Dayton, radio personality for Daytona and Friends radio show. We had a blast sharing our booth space with her and all her enthusiast friends. You can listen to the interviews from the folks at Hellwig: Mark Hellwig, Melanie White, Nancy Souza, and Dave Wheeler; plus famous industry folks like Gale Banks, Vic Edelbrock, Linda Vauhn....and many more! Click here to find an interview. Also check out Daytona's Website to see photos of Daytona and her friends during SEMA.

Daytona Dayton & Melanie Hellwig White

SEMA 2008 Vehicles

Hellwig Products appeared an array of different vehicles this year at SEMA. Check out all the vehicles...



Owner: Mustangs Plus

Hellwig Products: Front and Rear Sway Bars

SEMA O8 Location: ARMO Booth



Owner: Turtle Expedition

Hellwig Products: Air System, Front & Rear Sway Bars

SEMA Location: ***Ask Dad?



Owner: A.R.E

Hellwig Products: Load Pro 15

SEMA Location: LTAA Booth



Owner: Bushwacker

Hellwig Products: Front, Rear Sway Bars; Hellwig Air System

SEMA Location: Outside



Owner: Motorz TV

Hellwig Products: Front & Rear Sway Bars

SEMA Location: Outside



Hellwig Products: Rear Sway Bar

SEMA Location: Outside North Hall




Hellwig Products: Rear Sway Bar

SEMA Location: Outside Central Hall