.Rocket.Man.

I'm at the end of my front end rebuild and am not sure which way to go here. I've replaced the end links and bushings, but should I replace the sway bar as well or just clean it up and put it back on? I know there are upgrades out there and variations to replace the original but is it something that would make a noticeable difference? Any input would be appreciated, Happy independence day!

Allan R

Unless you're building a drag or street racer, the OEM should work just fine. Clean, paint and reinstall. They worked fine for the hundreds of thousands that were built back in the day. Save your money for something the car really needs.

MDchanic

It depends on how you want the car to handle.

A sway bar brings the opposite side down lower when one side is pulled down, as in a hard turn, so makes your car corner flatter, and reduced "roll" around turns.
They also increase stability on the highway and allow for faster direction changes and adjustments.

Because it ties the wheels of that axle together, it also decreases their independence of movement, which reduced their ability to absorb shocks, which for a more harsh, bumpy ride.

Thin or no sway bars will make for a very smooth ride, but lead to rolling like a ship on the high seas.
Thick sway bars will lead to a rougher ride and a more "connected" feeling at that axle.

I would recommend driving the car around for a day with no front sway bar at all, then installing it and driving around. This will give you an idea of what it does. If you want it to do even more of what you noticed, then you can get a heavier one.

Personally, I put a heavier sway bar, plus add a rear sway bar, to AMerican cars whenever I can. It make the car handle much more confidently (and I would say, safely) on the highway. My 19-foot, 4,500 pound Delta has the biggest sway bars GM made for those models, front and back, and people who drive it say they're amazed that it drives almost like a modern car.

- Eric

Allan R

I would NOT take the sway bar off my Cutlass just to see how it handles. It's a no brainer that they're needed especially if you don't want the wheel tearing your outer fender to shreds on medium to aggressive cornering.

RetroRanger

X2 on Eric's comments, I replaced my orig fr bar w a 1.25" unit and added a 1" rear those mods along w a fast ratio steering gear really added a modern feel to the car and picked up the handling substantially.

MDchanic

How would that happen?

- Eric

MDchanic

BUT, you traded away some of that glass-like smoothness to get it.

(Just making sure to illustrate both sides clearly).

- Eric

70cutty

I did the same thing as retroranger and it feels like a different car. It doesn't away from side to side to side like it used to.

jensenracing77

Front and rear bars are a balancing act. If you don't have a rear and add one I would go bigger on the front. You can also play with them to get less or more push and more or less tail whip.

.Rocket.Man.

I'm not going to go without a front sway bar. I think I'll just clean it up and put the old one back on. I had thought of adding one to the rear when I get to that part of the car, however one of my favorite things about driving an Olds is the ride so I may decide against one there. I guess I was just wondering how sustantial an improvement a newer bigger bar would make?

brddg

The problem with big sway bars on a basically stock car is that they move that energy into punishing the components with the worst leverage. My '70 has new everything and compared to my '69 el camino that has more serious suspension upgrades it's just embarassing to even think that my 442 has the "handling package" from the factory. I did the big bars first on the ec along with Hotchkis rear arms. That was a good upgrade and eliminated my wheel hop issues but I didn't feel like it cornered well. Next I did 17" wheels and the difference there was great! Although I decided that too short of a sidewall in the rear or perhaps a too hard tire was a bad thing (the car was more level while taking corners hard but it didn't matter when the back was sliding around the corner). Next came the progressive rate spring and 2" taller G body spindles with hotchkis tubular upper arms, night and day difference! And it's true that sometimes on a bad road it feels like your riding in a covered wagon but most of the time when I'm just going around a corner or if I'm on the freeway and may have to avoid a baby carriage or somebodys missing muffler it's nice to go around it confidently and quickly rather than on the white letters of the tire while I'm pressed against the door panel or leaning on the console to stay upright.

brddg

Ok so stock bars on a mostly stock car is what I was getting at.

mmurphy77

I read an article a long time ago about the Olds engineer's choice of a 1" front sway bar on the FE2 suspension instead of the 1.125" bar the Chevrolet A-body used ('70-'72). They felt the 1.125 did not allow for enough 'tip in' when cornering resulting in earlier understeer at the 'limit' so they went with the 1" (some say 0.99") bar on the front. They cited several handling comparisons showing the 442 to be among the best handling of the GM A-bodys. I wish I could find the article.

dc2x4drvr

I've ran the 1" & 1.25 bar, and the fatter bar is a nice improvement.

jag1886

This is what I did also with all new stock bushings, new stock springs and KYB silver shocks, converting to a 12.7 gear box is amazing, I have a little larger tires but are a long ways from filling the fenders. My 65 handles very well now, I live in the mountians and I do drive the car hard on those roads. It handles so much better than with the stock stuff, it is a totally different car. If you like to push your car a little it's worth the extra money.

Seff

I started driving my car with the stock FE2 suspension. Moved on to the 1 1/4" front bar that came with my spare parts car - major improvement. Having gone to tubular front control arms and taller ball joints now has me at the point where I don't experience understeer nearly as much as oversteer.