As few of you have seen I am rebuilding the 71's suspension and discovered I have stock sway bars. So I am planning on upgrading them to bigger sways. My question is who do you guys recommend for a set of bars? What about the rear sway that bolts to the rearaxle instead of the LCA's? Looking for your thoughts and opinions.

 

I got mine from the the parts place, 1 1/4" in front and 1" int he rear big improvement over the 7/8?" stock fr bar

 

The front sway bar from a 70's TransAm or Camaro will fit your 71. I installed one on my 70 Cutlass conv from a TransAm. I think it is 1 1/4. Be sure to get the mounts that go with the bar.

Don W

 

Did someone recommend larger dia in the front than in the rear ?

 

if an A body came w a rear bar it was smaller than the fr bar,

Joe P a bit of an olds guru once reccomended a 1.25" bar in front and a 1" in the rear, i took him up on that reccommendation and I am happy i did !!!

 

This is normally the case, but actually, I recommended a larger rear than front. The rationale is that the A-body cars naturally understeer. As a rough rule of thumb, the stiffer end of the car breaks away first, so a rear bar that's the same as or larger than the front bar will make the car more neutral (less understeering).

Unfortunately, it really isn't that simple, however, since the deflection of the suspension also changes the geometry and handling. Simply upgrading the sway bars while keeping the same front/back stiffness ratio will also improve handling because the suspension deflects less in a turn, so there is less off-nominal suspension geometry.

As noted above, the 1.25" Trans Am bar is an easy front swap. I usually grab these for $25-$30 at swap meets. Use the T/A end links, not the Cutlass end links, to avoid rubbing problems. The largest rear bar that's readily available for the 64-72 cars is the factory 7/8" bar. The 73-77 cars had an optional 1" rear bar that is also readily available, but mounting is different so it won't fit the earlier cars easily. Aftermarket front and rear bars can be had in sizes up to 1.5" dia.

 

Sorry joe looks like I misquoted you Or maybe I misremembered it

Anyway as you noted above the handling is improved w the increase in sway bar size

 

No, you got it right. The 1.25"/1" combo is easy and relatively inexpensive to install, and it's a nice upgrade from stock, as you've found out. My point is that while most people keep the back bar smaller than the front, the reality is that on an A-body, there are even greater gains to be had by further increasing the size of the rear bar. Herb Adams sold an A-body sway bar set that was 1.375" front and 1.5" back. Your A-body won't be Porsche 911 tail-happy with these, but it will be much more neutral that way.

Of course, with a 455, you can always steer with the throttle.

 

Thanks guys I appreciate the feedback .

 

There is a local junkyard so going to see if I can find a TA front bar. The standard upgrade seems to be the 1 1/4" and 1". Any benefits to running a tubular instead of solid besides weight savings? Addco seems to have the best deal going for an individual or package deal. What brands do you guys recommend?

 

I would go with the T/A bars because of cost. I put a set of Hotchkis on my Cutlass and really like the performance improvement. It is actually flat in the corners now. I forgot how expensive they were though. Here's the link.
http://www.hotchkis.net/6472_gm_abod..._sway_bar.html

 

Is Herb Adams still in business? I have tried several times to find him on the internet.

Don W

 

Yeah the Hotchkis is expensive so not in the budget for the suspension overhaul. I didnt upgrade to tubular control arms because of cost and having to buy new springs up front to offset the lowering.

 

I put a junkyard rear sway bar from a Monte Carlo on my 1986 Cutlass Supreme Brougham and that alone greatly improved the handling. I got the bar, four bolts with nuts, and the two spacers. It bolted through existing holes in the lower arms. I made new spacers because the factory ones didn't look too substantial.

 

Yeah, I forgot. I lowered the car an 1", 1 1/2". That helps a lot too. You can see the front bar under the bumper. It's thick!

 

I really like Hotchkis sway bars made big improvement. But my cars is also lowered, tubular control arms, Hotchiks steering kit. Car handles really good.

 

Thanks!!! I'm going to try this combo out and see how the car rides.