Markuscurillious
Well-Known Member
Anyone know of some cost effective sway bars?
A body sway bars
- Thread starter Markuscurillious
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Find some stock ones someone has laying around that they aren't using.
Or PST is what I used and I like them. They give a discount to forum members and for all I know about "the best stuff" they work great.
Also their customer service is better than any company I've ever dealt with before.
Hellwig. Bought front and rear online from SD Truck springs. Best price I could find. I subscribed to their mailing and got them on sale. Drastic improvement in the corners.
The Addco rear bar is both less expensive and larger in diameter.
Totally agree on all accounts.
I love the Hellwig bars on my Duster. They’re well made, the hardware and brackets are good, and they work great.
Addco bars are cheaper, but their hardware is absolute crap and the design doesn’t maximize clearance. They’re cheap but they’re cheap for a reason. Hotchkis bars are beautiful and amazing but they’re really expensive.
The stock bars are decent if you can get them for a decent price. But after shipping, which is super expensive because of the size, you usually get a pretty small bar for not that much less money than a nice brand new Hellwig bar.
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Markuscurillious
Well-Known Member
Any one have experience on just Installing the rear?
I know if the bar is too big it won’t have any sway and we’ll ya know if you have just a back one wouldn’t it have a little sway just don’t want to buy like three sway bars to find the perfect balance.
just want to find people’s different preference in suspension
I know if the bar is too big it won’t have any sway and we’ll ya know if you have just a back one wouldn’t it have a little sway just don’t want to buy like three sway bars to find the perfect balance.
just want to find people’s different preference in suspension
Markuscurillious
Well-Known Member
Found this in the big book
I definitely wouldn’t install a rear bar without a front bar. I don’t know what your suspension set up looks like, but in general these cars are softer up front than out back. So a front bar without a rear bar usually works ok, even well depending on the set up. A rear without a front is a set up for serious oversteer unless you’ve done something weird with your suspension set up.
autoxcuda
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I believe the original poster has a 73-76 A-body.
I helped fit the Hellwig prototype 73-76 front sway bars. They are offered in 1 1/8” . They also offer a 1 1/4” tubular (lighter, but more $$) not listed in that catalog
Like was said, the difference is in the hardware. For 73-76 A-body the K-frame bracket bars need to be special to accept poly bushing and u-straps. Also the 73-76 sway bar carefully threads though the K-member. When it’s thicker, it’s very important to get it fitted correctly.
I also have an old addco 1 1/8” and you have to make 1/2” spacer bars. And they won’t be as wide as they should be. Also you’ll have to shim/washer a lot to avoid rubbing.
Hellwig also offers an adjustable rear sway bar. Not listed in that catalog.
I also have a 73-76 Hotchkiss front and adj. rear setup. They are on my Barracuda now. Very nice, very detailed. But more $$
I helped fit the Hellwig prototype 73-76 front sway bars. They are offered in 1 1/8” . They also offer a 1 1/4” tubular (lighter, but more $$) not listed in that catalog
Like was said, the difference is in the hardware. For 73-76 A-body the K-frame bracket bars need to be special to accept poly bushing and u-straps. Also the 73-76 sway bar carefully threads though the K-member. When it’s thicker, it’s very important to get it fitted correctly.
I also have an old addco 1 1/8” and you have to make 1/2” spacer bars. And they won’t be as wide as they should be. Also you’ll have to shim/washer a lot to avoid rubbing.
Hellwig also offers an adjustable rear sway bar. Not listed in that catalog.
I also have a 73-76 Hotchkiss front and adj. rear setup. They are on my Barracuda now. Very nice, very detailed. But more $$
The rear bar was a game changer on my car and it's just some old bar (pst bar maybe) that was in my trunk when I bought my car.
The rear is so much more stiff now.
Op- I think you'll be happy with what ever bar you get. Better bars = more money.
Markuscurillious
Well-Known Member
i just don"t wanna be torn from my steering wheel when i decide i wanna take the "sub road" to my house but still ride it ouT DONT WANT IT TO BE STIFF...i used to own a comero.. cammmero....idk but it handled well my dad is a chevy guy i guess id be his siny son i i had a chevy II
autoxcuda
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The rear bar was a game changer on my car and it's just some old bar (pst bar maybe) that was in my trunk when I bought my car.
The rear is so much more stiff now.
Op- I think you'll be happy with what ever bar you get. Better bars = more money.
Did you already have a stock or aftermarket front bar.
I think it was a pst bar as well. I was an idiot and bought new front bar before checking if I had a front bar lol. I took pictures of them side by side and they were damn near the same bar.
What suspension parts are you running right now? Stock torsion bars and springs? Stock control arms and rubber bushings? What shocks?
All of that stuff makes a difference. Just adding sway bars shouldn't stiffen the ride quality a ton in a straight line, but they should reduce body roll and add to the overall spring rate when cornering.
The other thing is that a lot of cars sit lower than they did from the factory, and with the stock torsion bars up front that means the suspension is usually bottoming out. Guys mistake that for a stiff ride and don't want to use larger torsion bars. But upgrading to stiffer bars can actually improve the ride in many cases because it will eliminate the suspension bottoming out. These cars were massively undersprung in the front from the factory, especially if you're running radials because the original design was for bias ply's, which have a lot less grip. Aftermarket sway bars should help a bunch, but if you're still running all stock parts otherwise you may need to take it a step further.
I have a stock front on my 66. I wish it had a rear to balance it out. It always feels strange when the front corners flat and then the body twists as the rear comes up. Subframe ties would help that car a lot as well. Things loosen up a lot on 50 year old cars. Especially hardtops. Sedans are more rigid and converts have a lot more reinforcement.
I agree that my ride quality actually improved after installing the sway bars. My car is low and I have a bigger tire too. I was having some tire rub around town when turning into driveways. I have 1.03 bars and Hotchkis springs. With the bars, my body roll subsided and my tire rub is almost nonexistent. For what it’s worth, I have the 1 1/8 up front and the adjustable in the rear (set in the middle).
Totally agree.
The need for a rear bar totally depends on the suspension and tire set up. In 100% stock form with the undersprung front the rear bar can make the car oversteer. But if you start changing things then it depends on your set up. Larger front torsion bars can make the rear bar useful. So can something as simple as a tire stagger front to rear, which is pretty common for people to do. If the rear tires are wider than the fronts you might benefit a lot from a rear bar. All kinds of stuff goes into it, even a raked stance can change the needs of the car.
Dusterdenovo
Contentedly Old School
Totally happy with my Hotchkiss front bar. Fit perfectly and also came with nice tabs to weld to the LCAs.
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