Direct bolt in sway bar aftermarket upgrade 67-72 a body?

[LovetheA's]

Is there an aftermarket sway bar setup that is a direct swap for a dart that came with a factory front sway bar setup? Looking into upgrading my front sway bar to maximize performance. Maybe something that can be made to work without welding or having to upgrade to 73 and later LCA’s with the different end link tabs. I was looking at the Hellwig front sway bar setup kit. It looks like it may be a bolt in setup that uses their own mounting brackets(hopefully that don’t require welding or drilling) and comes with 2 L shaped pieces of steel possibly to bolt to existing LCA to make the end links work?

 

[clementine]

I put one on my 72 duster without factory sway bar tabs. The only problem I had was they forgot to include the spacer for the end link. I just used some pipe.

 

[LovetheA's]

Thanks clementine. Did you have to just bolt on the two L shaped brackets included in the kit for the end links to work with the factory LCA’s? Do the two sway bar mounting brackets included in the kit also bolt up to the factory k frame bolt holes?
Carl

 

[abodyjoe]

i just put that hellwig bar on our 70 dart. i had factory 70 style lower control arms with factory tabs on it.. bilt in deal. no need to use those "L" brackets if you have the proper sway bar tabs on the control arms. bolt in deam no cutting or welding.

here are some pics comparing a stock one and the larger hellwig one..

 

[kursplat]

@72bluNblu

 

[72bluNblu]

@72bluNblu

There are two Hellwig sway bars, #5906 is a direct replacement for the stock 67-72 front sway bars.

They also make a “pro-touring” sway bar for the 67-72 cars, #55917. It can’t be used with the factory 67-72 tabbed LCA’s. It can be used with the 73+ factory tabbed LCA’s, although technically it was designed for a custom location with aftermarket tabs. Those locations are so close together though that the 73+ tab locations work fine.

So if you have a factory sway bar equipped 67-72 car and want to use the factory mounts and tabs, the #5906 is what you want.

 

[clementine]

Thanks clementine. Did you have to just bolt on the two L shaped brackets included in the kit for the end links to work with the factory LCA’s? Do the two sway bar mounting brackets included in the kit also bolt up to the factory k frame bolt holes?
Carl

I used the L brackets as my LCA did not have factory tabs. So I must have ordered the #55917.

 

[72bluNblu]

I used the L brackets as my LCA did not have factory tabs. So I must have ordered the #55917.

Not necessarily, both the 5906 and the 55917 come with the bolt on L brackets.

 

[LovetheA's]

The 5906 kit also comes with the two L brackets but I’m putting it in my factory 67 gts so it should be direct bolt on. I can’t wait to install it.

 

[LovetheA's]

72bluNblu you beat me to it.

 

[intergalactica]

Is there an advantage of using the Hellwig 5906 sway bar rather than the factory sway bar? By the way... my LCAs have sway bar tabs.

 

[72bluNblu]

Is there an advantage of using the Hellwig 5906 sway bar rather than the factory sway bar? By the way... my LCAs have sway bar tabs.

The Hellwig 5906 is a 1-1/8" diameter bar, I think the stock one is 7/8"? So the Hellwig bar will be significantly stiffer. Whether that's good or not depends on the rest of your cars set up, but even just with fairly normal sized radial tires most would benefit from a larger front bar.

 

[Nat]

i'm using the hotckis hollow front sway bar easy install on a 1970 dart with factory sway bar

 

[72bluNblu]

i'm using the hotckis hollow front sway bar easy install on a 1970 dart with factory sway bar

Relocating the sway bar tabs isn’t something that everyone would consider “easy”. The hotchkis bar requires welding. I personally don’t think the installation is “hard”, but it’s not just a bolt-on deal. Not everyone has easy access to a welder.

 

[K.O. SWINGER]

i just put that hellwig bar on our 70 dart. i had factory 70 style lower control arms with factory tabs on it.. bilt in deal. no need to use those "L" brackets if you have the proper sway bar tabs on the control arms. bolt in deam no cutting or welding.

here are some pics comparing a stock one and the larger hellwig one..

View attachment 1715527358

View attachment 1715527359

View attachment 1715527360

how were your overall results after using the larger sway bar

 

[str12-340]

subscribed!

 

[abodyjoe]

how were your overall results after using the larger sway bar

i went from no sway bar to the hellwig. when i did the front end years ago i put lower arms on that had the tabs but never got around to installing the sway bar.. i didn't want to be bothered sourcing the k-frame brackets and fight with stock style bushings so i just bougt the hellwig bar that came with everything. bolted in quick and easy. car has 1" torsion bars and eaton 130lb rear springs.. i really like it.. next on the list is good shocks.