Bending a sway bar

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fshd4it

fshd4it

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I've got a factory E body 3/4" rear swaybar, along with all the mounting hardware, that i want to put in my '65 Belvedere. Spring perches are 2" narrower (44" vs 46"), so I've got to squeeze it a touch. Are they hardened/spring/etc? Or can I just throw it in the press and go for it?
 
Good deal, thanks. One thing that will be a bit funky is the ends will be bent in from 90°, but I'm hoping that won't matter.
1WildRT said:
I've bent a few with a press, not a problem..
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All in good time. I only bought the new bushings for it 8 years ago...
 
I’ve used a Oxy act torch with great results.
Just remember to let it naturally cool on its own. No water. I also only took it to dark orange (the point when it will bend with a little arm strength) not bright orange. They start to stretch and loose their strength at that point.

Syleng1
 
Syleng1 said:
I’ve used a Oxy act torch with great results.
Just remember to let it naturally cool on its own. No water. I also only took it to dark orange (the point when it will bend with a little arm strength) not bright orange. They start to stretch and loose their strength at that point.

Syleng1
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I might give that a try. My only real concern is keeping the ends level/at the same plane when I bend them in.
 
Rubber is flexible. It doesn't know degrees. Mounts were welded on with a tolerance. I'm sure the small amount you might be off won't be an issue.
 
fshd4it said:
I might give that a try. My only real concern is keeping the ends level/at the same plane when I bend them in.
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I kinda like the heating idea. You can more localize the bends.
 
Yeah! Don’t figure out how to do it right, just tell the man what he wants to hear! Redneck the **** out of it! Gitturdone! :rolleyes:

Sway bars are heat treated after being bent into the proper shape. Bending the bar to the point of deformation is going to change the strength of the bar. Heating the bar orange can also potentially change the heat treating, which could dramatically change the strength and torsional resistance of the bar.

This is a decent article, has some information from a Hellwig tech. By no means everything you need to know, but a decent preview on how much of a difference the heat treat can make and the specific process that has to be followed to achieve it.

Sway Bar Tech: Heat Treating and Why It's Important
 
Sway bar acts like a torsion bar. Can you safely bend those ?
A sway bay functions as a torsion spring. It is twisted not compressed like a coil spring.
Are torsion bar and sway bar the same thing?
"At its core, a sway bar is really just a torsion spring—a piece of metal that reacts to a twisting movement. When your vehicle turns, the sway bar works to level everything out and fights that tilting feeling you may have experienced when taking a corner too fast "
 
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MoparLeo said:
Sway bar acts like a torsion bar. Can you safely bend those ?
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That's why I brought it up. I've read of it being done, but wanted some good input on the idea. Yeah, it's only 1" per side, but I will be changing it's original design.
 
junkyardhero said:
you can bend 'em a bit. i wouldn't put any heat in it though.
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I think realistically a small amount of bending isn’t going to make a dramatic, noticeable change or make the bar unsafe or anything like that. That would be more true for a solid factory bar too, rather than say a large diameter, hollow, aftermarket sway bar like the Hellwig. Bending a smaller diameter, solid factory bar would have smaller changes and repercussions

Heating on the other hand could make a BIG difference. And if you heat it enough to make it easy to bend you will have changed the heat treatment, and it’s a pretty narrow window to create that dramatic increase in strength without also changing how brittle the material is. Doesn't matter if it's the right shape if it cracks. It's certainly not impossible to re-heat treat the bar or maintain it's heat treatment, but that's not something most of us are going to be able to do accurately or reliably at home with basic equipment.

fshd4it said:
That's why I brought it up. I've read of it being done, but wanted some good input on the idea. Yeah, it's only 1" per side, but I will be changing it's original design.
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I would wager that 1" would be enough that you would be changing the effective rate of the bar. Again, a factory bar is going to be more forgiving and I think 1" per side is probably in a range where you're not going to cause outright damage to the bar. But there will be some changes in its effectiveness. Obviously you have the E-body bar, but why not sell that and source the correct one?

RustyRatRod said:
Here we go.
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Yeah, why let the facts get in the way of a good story? Heaven forbid someone actually provides good, relevant information based on facts and science instead of just making crap up or saying "well back in the day I remember that..." like every other old timer at the gas station telling me about the 387 small block hemi in their '69 Dodge Duster that's just like mine.

gdrill said:
Sway bar is not a torsion bar. Sway bars are optional equipment. Torsion bars are not.
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Their being optional equipment certainly doesn't change the physics of how they work or how a heat treatment effects their strength. You're still talking about torsional loads on a round bar.
 
Not disagreeing, but a sway bar assists the suspension. It is not the suspension. Could it assist more or less? Sure.
 
gdrill said:
Not disagreeing, but a sway bar assists the suspension. It is not the suspension. Could it assist more or less? Sure.
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They're both part of the suspension system. The fact that the torsion bar is more critical doesn't mean the sway bar isn't also an important component.

And again, that has absolutely no bearing on bending or heating a metal bar that has been previously heat treated that will be loaded in torsion. The FMJ cars use "bent" torsion bars, but that doesn't mean you should bend one at home in your garage either.
 
72bluNblu said:
Obviously you have the E-body bar, but why not sell that and source the correct one?
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It's a leftover from putting Hotchkis bars on my Challenger. I've already put the front bar in the '65, just figured I'd use this one as well, as it's just sitting here. And selling stuff can be more headache than it's worth.
 
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Depends if it is a heat treated bar or just a mild steel bar. If you can bend it then it is probably just a mild steel bar. Not all bars are heat treated.
 
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