I was doing a little reading on what i could gain by installing a rear sway bar, and i think i'd like to do it! I know there are kits for sale through AutoKrafters, but they're a little over $100, and i think if there was a stock sway bar out there on anything that was the right width and thickness, i could probably do the whole thing for under $50. Has anyone done this, what sway bar did you use...and what else do i need to know? I can fabricate a lot of the stuff i'm going to need also. Also...are there any downsides to installing a rear sway-bar?
A stock mav front sway bar can be mounted back, the width is perfect with the frame rails. Just have to fab mounts for the end links and weld mounting perches for the sway bar to the rear-end. The kits come with clamps for that, but I have heard of one person that had them cut through the axle housing. I have not done this with mine yet but at least one person on here has done it. I plan to do it real soon. From what I am told, you want a thicker bar in front than back, or your car will corner poorly, so buy a new front bar and re-use the stock bar in back.
Remember that the rear sway bar (anti-roll bar) should be the same ration in strength as the front to rear weight is. (60% front / 40% rear) then the sway bar in the front should have 60% of the total of the two and the rear should have 40% of the total. In this example if the front bar generates 120 pounds of torque then the rear would have to be calibrated at 80 pounds. If you don't match the weight bias of the car in your sway bars then you will lose traction when turning instead of improving it. PaulS
Okay, so i think i got this. What i need to do is go get my car weighed and find out my weight distribution. I'm thinking a good combination for sway bars would be a six-cylinder sway bar out back and a "grabber" (3/4") up front--but i need to get it weighed first I was also thinking that i might get some spring perches and weld them on to the rear-end as a sway bar mount. Anyone have any pictures of how they attached it to the frame? Thanks!
All you need is a 7/8" front and a 3/4" rear bar. No need to get your car weighed just to install sway-bars. While reducing body-roll, a bigger front bar increases understeer while a bigger rear bar increases oversteer. Stiff rear springs and a light rearend also increase oversteer...
Probably in your case, but a 7/8" front bar was optional on '75-'77 models. That's what I got mine from. Only 10 bucks! Had to buy new bushings, of course...
I have a stock front bar mounted on the rear. Frame mounts have to be made. Large muffler clamps will mount the axle hardware.
