I'm in the process of upgrading my 69 Cutlass Convertible's sway bars with 1.25" front and a 1" rear bars. The rear is getting boxed arms and new Moog K5161 bushings.

My question is what bushings should I get for the front? I'm looking at Moog K7326.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mog-k7326

I have all Moog steering components and springs, so I'm trying to keep it in the family, 😆.

Will I need new sway bar links or can I reuse the stock sized ones (also Moog)?

The sway bars are OPGI Restoparts factory style bars, just larger sizes.

Appreciate any input!

 

You will need the bushings and brackets from a second gen WS6 Trans Am. The stock front sway bar brackets may not accommodate the bushings for the 1.25" bar. Is this an aftermarket bar or an F-body bar? If the latter, I've found that using the end links for the F-body will be necessary as well.

 

Nothing wrong with urethane bushings and links, but I think those massive oversize bars are overkill . I have them on my 442. Just sayin.

 

I'm going to disagree with that, as proven by Herb Adams and others. The A-body cars have a multitude of suspension issues. The first is the crappy camber curve, which only gets fixed with tall spindles/ball joints or relocating the upper control arm pivot points. The second is the fact that they are understeering pigs by design. A "massive oversize" BACK sway bar does wonders. I have a couple of the Herb Adams 1.5" rear bars. He used those with 1.375" front bars to get much more neutral handling. Of course, the other option is having enough torque to allow you to steer with the throttle.

 

Joe, do you have an extra 1.5" bar that you'd consider selling? It would be for my '71 Vista. Thanks!

 

Thanks for the info. I'll hold off on the bushings and links until I have the bar in hand, back ordered of course.
OPGI is stating factory contours, but links and bushing kits are still fairly easy to get everywhere. I'm hoping the Moog kit i referenced in my initial post will work. It seems like the overall shape conforms to the original brackets, but I don't want to get stuck with a useless set of bushings since it's so easy to avoid.

Now, I'm bummed that Rock Auto is basically out of stock on those rear bushings, man they were priced right. An awful lot of places are more than double the rock auto regular price.

 

Sorry, I have plans for them.

In reality, the rear weight bias of the Vista should let you get away with a smaller rear bar. In my experience, the Vista is more neutral handling than the coupes.

 

Thanks Joe. Not to highjack this thread, but I was going to mention that, and the Car & Driver '68 Vista Boss Wagon was outfitted with a 442 rear bar and they said it would oversteer.

 

Yup, and that matched my personal experience with my 68 Vista back in the day. Note that Vistas came with a larger front bar than did the 442 (1" vs 31/32"). I added the back bar and the car was very neutral.

 

As a follow up if anyone orders the 1.25" A-Body front sway bar. Here is my Q&A with OPGI on the subject.

Q: Does the 1.25" sway bar use the factory stabilizer links for 1969 Cutlass? Also, assuming larger sized bushings are needed, is the factory bracket location used?
A: End links would be the same, larger bushings for the frame mounts would be required. Thanks for the question.
By OPGI