Sway Bar Question?

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roosduster

Colorado Mopar
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I am planning on buying Front and Rear sway bars for my 73 Duster. It is mainly a street car that sees some time at the drag strip. I was just wondering if anyone had any recommendations for good sway bars. Also I have heard that the bigger the bar is the better it is, but is there ever a time a sway bar can be to big? Also if the car is not going to be raced on a road course does a bigger bar make that much of a difference on the street? I have been thinking of going with the biggest bars that they have for a Duster, but I wanted some opinions first. Thanks

Seth
 
I bought a front and rear Hellwing from JC Whitney. They are basically the same price as PST, just suspension, etc. but they have free shipping. THe hellwig is a decent bar and if you wait until JC Whitney has a 10% or other discount sale the drop below the suspension shop prices. It's somewhat tricky to find both the front and rear unless they updated their database. I had to use two different cars to find both of them. '70 dart for the rear and 72' dart for the front or other such nonsense. They cary both a front and rear so you will find them eventually.
 
Be careful! The 73-76 A-body uses a different bar than the 67-72, the 73 up bar goes through the K-member verse being mounted in front of it.

Bigger is necessarily better. Everything has to be in balance. Just for something to think about. More roll stifness in the front (i.e., bigger bar) will reduce under steer (plowing of the front end) at the expense of increasing oversteer (the rear end comming around). A stiffer bar in the back does the opposite.
 
dgc333 said:
Be careful! The 73-76 A-body uses a different bar than the 67-72, the 73 up bar goes through the K-member verse being mounted in front of it.

Bigger is necessarily better. Everything has to be in balance. Just for something to think about. More roll stifness in the front (i.e., bigger bar) will reduce under steer (plowing of the front end) at the expense of increasing oversteer (the rear end comming around). A stiffer bar in the back does the opposite.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that information. So it would be best to get the smallest bars possible or the biggest bars possible in pairs so everything would be balanced? Also how hard is it to install bars on a 73-76 A Body?
 
Anything you can purchase from Addco, Hellwig, Quickor is going to be fine for a a street driven vehicle. I would just recomend that you purchase the front and rear from the same company, that way you are sure to get the best balance.

There were no rear factory bars so all the kits come with brackets and hardware to attach it. Drilling will be required. Since the fronts did come with bars there are control arms out there that have welded on tabs for the end links to mount. Most of the kits also provide a less then ideal way of attachig the bar when you don't have the factory brackets. A welder is in order to make the attachement more secure but you can use the kits method if you don't have access to a welder.
 
Try firm feel (www.firmfeel.com) and they can set you up wuth a matched set. I am running 1.25" front and a 3/4" rear and it handles very well on the street but does take a little getting use to. There are other options out there, my bars are from Quickor but they took forever getting them done. On a 73 and up a 1.125" front and a 5/8" rear should be quite nice. Remember to disconnect the front bar when at the strip to allow for more lift.
 
dgc333 said:
Be careful! The 73-76 A-body uses a different bar than the 67-72, the 73 up bar goes through the K-member verse being mounted in front of it.
Click to expand...

Good call, I forgot about that and I am installing a '73 K. Oh well, I have a welder, a grinder and a fire wrench, The K frame will take the bar I have.
 
I just put my 1 1/8" sway bar, from a 71 dart that i had purchased it for originally, on the front of my 73 dart and granted it hangs down a bit, I was able to make it work. Any of you got pics of a sway bar set up on a 73 so I might have sumtin to make adjustments from?
 
The bar on 73 up goes through the K-frame so it should not hang down at all.
 
Just a heads up, there were 76 factory valiant cop cars with rear bars under them. I have one in my 69 with 340 suspension and the front bar, works great, car is flat now and tends to over steer if pushed hard.
You might as well say no a bodies ever got a rear bar as rare as they are now and of course no early ones came with it.
The frame mounts seem wider then the b body ones but other then that are similar, and the shock plates are the same I think.
 
I just put a 1-1/8" Addco bar on my '74 Duster with great results. It handles like a totally different car - noticeable oversteer with no body roll whatsoever. I had to get the front end WAY up in the air in order to get it threaded through the K-member. At one point I thought it was not going to fit. But after I got it high enough (wheels hanging down about two feet off the ground) it finally had enough clearance to go in.
 
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