SWAY BARS
#1
SWAY BARS
- I am looking to put sway bars(front/rear) on my 69'4dr cut.Any paticular brand or personal experience on this matter?I am slowly starting to work on this thing so I'm glad I found this site.Gonna have a lot of questions!
#2
For the rear, the stock rear bar tops out at 7/8". Since these cars understeer badly, a larger rear bar must come from the aftermarket. Search for Chevelle parts, they are the same. Be aware that you will need boxed rear lower control arms, or at least you will need to weld the aftermarket boxing plates to the bottoms of your existing arms.
Combine this mod with decent tires and shocks and you'll be surprised at the improvement.
#5
Keep in mind that this is a gross oversimplification and things like tire size, spring stiffness, suspension geometry and roll center, etc all enter into the equation. As an example, the front suspension geometry of the 64-72 A-body cars is so bad that increasing the size of the front bar actuall helps handling since the car rolls less and thus the front suspension stays away from the weird tire angles at the limits of travel.
As I said at the beginning, as a rule of thumb, and for a given car with no other changes, increasing the size of the rear bar will decrease understeer.
#6
I would like to add a rear sway bar to my '71 Cutlass SX, any advice? Does it just bolt on between the frame? OPGI advertises original 7/8" GM rear sway bars for the A bodies for $154. (thanks)
Last edited by oldsonharmont; February 4th, 2009 at 01:43 AM.
#7
Joe
If you don't mind taking the time. I would like to hear (read) more on this topic when you get around to it, if you were to start a tutorial on mods, and upgrades that are available,as well as their pros and cons, within your experience, that would be great. I would be blowing smoke were I to do so. Thanks, for the info.
If you don't mind taking the time. I would like to hear (read) more on this topic when you get around to it, if you were to start a tutorial on mods, and upgrades that are available,as well as their pros and cons, within your experience, that would be great. I would be blowing smoke were I to do so. Thanks, for the info.
#11
The factory rear bar is still available #394926 from GMPD, such as www.gmpartsdirect.com (Flow Chevy) for about $90 discounted from list of $154. I have found that 15/16 front with 7/8 still gave oversteer in some cars, so I would consider going bigger in the front as Joe P. suggested and stay with the 7/8 rear. It is harder to get used to oversteer as the back end coming around on you is "disconcerting." A small change in diameter makes a big change in stiffness.
Last edited by Run to Rund; February 4th, 2009 at 08:06 AM.
#13
That combo will definitely make the car understeer less. Depending on how you drive, it may make the car more likely to spin out. Try it, as these cars are understeering pigs normally. If the car is too tail-happy, consider a 1.25" front bar.
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