Help with Sway Bar on Early A

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djwhog

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OK the more I read the more confused I am. I purchased my front bar from Just Suspension Parts Only. As I recall when I got the front end parts from PST they did not have early A body sway bars for the front, only the rear. So I think it is an adco. I attached some picks I found on the web and here are some instructions too.

1st question They say to mount the end tabs to the shock studs as i nthe 1st picture. I only have bolts that go through the lower shocks. Can I just mount to the bolt since mine is not a bolt with a stud or do I need a stud type lower bolt?

If I do this I will need to drill out the hole that goes to the shock bolt. It is 3/8 in th eL bracket and my bolts are 7/16. So I guess some cars have a 7/16 bolt that has a 3/8 stud on it right?


2nd question. How exactly do the L brackets go on the K frame? even though my car is a 64 it appears to have all the holes for the mounting of the bar?


3rd Is there a top and or bottom to the bar? It looks center and not really spring sprung offset?

I added a picture from mopar muscle of an adco that say connects to the shock bolt and they mention an A and B as very similar at this point. I also added a pick from a late 60s Dart I found. I notice that their brackets are turned 90 degrees from mine and then they drill another hole in the frame etc to mount the L bracket from underneath, but the K frame is wider on the later cars.

Notice on the 2nd picture that the bracket is flush on the bottom of the K Frame. I guess I can mount it at the bottom and turn the bracket at an angle to reach. Mine would be at an angle a little bit more. So it appears you use the lower of the 2 holes already drilled i nthe front of the K frame. One is the hole my Torque strap mounts the lower plate to.

You can see in the picture from my car I now relize my braket is in the wrong place, it is only finger tight for mock up.

Please help.. Any pics of early cars with this bar installed?

thanks!

sway bar mount.jpg


bar2k.jpg


IMG_0659 (Small).jpg
 
You said you think you have an ADDCO bar. If so, the ADDCO number is 751

I think you are fine with the attachment of the bracket at the bottom of the shock. I'm a little confused as to why you would need to drill out the hole in the bracket. It looks like the bolt's already in place. Maybe you just used a smaller bolt for mock-up?

It looks like the bottom of your last photo was cut off. Is the gold piece showing at the bottom of the picture the bracket? If so, it looks like it is attached incorrectly. It should be bolted to the bottom of the K frame with the flat vertical section sticking out a bit in front of the K frame & pointing down. Yours looks to be bolted to the front. I don't think the brackets are made to fit on the bottom like in your 2nd picture. My ADDCO instructions say you might have to drill a hole in the bottom of the K frame to bolt the bracket on early K frames that don't have a lower lip in front. If you do have to drill holes in the bottom of the K fram to mount the brackets, make sure they are far enough forward that the bolts in the upper part of the bracket that hold the bar don't rub the K frame & make noise. I just looked at my K frame ('64) and at a book I have that shows all of the other K frame styles. It looks like all of them but the early A body style have a lip in front. I think the instructions are a bit generic. I have to say that they could have been written a bit more clearly. I read mine & crawled around the car a bit before I really understood them. I haven't mounted mine yet, so I can't show any pics of how it should fit. I have seen other members here on the forum say that they didn't like the way the front bars mount to the frame. It looks to me like the way they mount it there could be some movement where the brackets attach to the K frame. Once I have the engine in the car & the bar mounted, I plan to see if I can add a reinforcement between the top bolts on the frame brackets & to the frame if necessary.

As to whether there is a top & bottom to the bar, I'm not sure. I think I looked at the bar and saw that the flats where the end links attach might be angled a bit. If they are, I would put the bar in place in a manner that would put the flats in the best alignment with the end links, to put the end links in the least amount of a bind.

I think the best way to install the bar will be to mount the brackets to the bar, fasten the end links to the bar & to the shock brackets, & then swing the bar up into place to determine the best place to drill your holes in the K frame. Also would be best to do it with the car's weight on the suspension & the car at the ride height you want it.
 
Ok I was able to get a hold of John at Adco who makes the bars and spoke with him too and got a PDF for directions. I will drill the end brackets to fit over the shock bolts.

In the pic on the drivers side I just had it sitting in that hole. I know the braket goes on the bottom, but it needs to be drilled right where I have the torque strap, so I was thinking of drilled 2 holes new on each side and move the brackets in about 2". Will this be OK?

I hate to have to drill the frame and through the torque strap too.

thanks!
 
Yep I have had the bar for years and back then there was no other front part from Firm feel at the time, so maybe I sell it and get one. I will call them for specs and mounting help to see how it attaches.
thank you for the link!
 
jahsh - do you have any pictures of your firm feel bar install? I would like to see how the k-frame mounts look installed. I did look at firm feel site showing the the brakets, but not installed on the k-frame.

thanks!
 
jahsh said:
I would suggest returning the one you have for a much better unit from Firmfeel. The bar you have is notorious for not being a very good unit and I have never liked the way it is attaced. Read this one thread on Moparts about the Firmfeel piece.

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=Test&Number=3797189
Click to expand...

jahsh, im curious, did you use the lca reinforcment plates that are welded on the bottom? do you think they are nessesary? i also would like to see some pics of your sway bar
sb
 
I'll see if I can get some pictures. As for the LCA re-enforcements - no I didn't do this, although if I was doing it again, I would most likely add them.
 
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