Rear sway bar question

[Zymurgy]

I am installing a PST rear sway bar. It attaches with a U-bolt around the leaf spring in the front and then you line it up to the rear frame drill a couple holes and attach with a U- bolt through the frame.

Here is the problem, where I need to attach it there is part of a sub bracket that goes up and supports the top of the shocks. Can I hammer flat or cut it flat to the frame without any ill effects?

Couple of picture for reference.

 

[67Monaco]

Can't put the hoop to the front of the axle rather than behind?

 

[Mr C]

I found an article about rear sway bars on a 69 Chrysler...Here's where they drilled the holes on it.

 

[Zymurgy]

Can't put the hoop to the front of the axle rather than behind?

I would think you would want it to the back for the most effectiveness, but there is definitely more room to the front. I am dealing with the tank, exhaust, axle, and shocks, which leaves me with pretty much one location to the rear.

 

[Zymurgy]

I found an article about rear sway bars on a 69 Chrysler...Here's where they drilled the holes on it.

Thanks.

Interesting he has it just below the bracket. My instructions mentioned the bar should be mounted perpendicular to the front bolt, which clearly his installation is not. I think I may be calling PST on Monday.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

With the car on the ground you want the bar flat with the ground.
The car in the pictures may be jacked off the ground with the differential hanging.


Alan

 

[polara71]

Thanks.

Interesting he has it just below the bracket. My instructions mentioned the bar should be mounted perpendicular to the front bolt, which clearly his installation is not. I think I may be calling PST on Monday.

Please, Please tell us how the car handles afterwards............ I thought of doing this on number 2 but I dont know if I can in good conscious drill a hole in the frame.

 

[Zymurgy]

Please, Please tell us how the car handles afterwards............ I thought of doing this on number 2 but I dont know if I can in good conscious drill a hole in the frame.

I will give a full report. I purposely didn't do it last year when the whole front end was rebuilt. I wanted to know just the difference the rear sway bar added.

 

[detmatt]

Good thread Mike, I'll be interested to know how much improvement you see and I'd also be interested to know how much better than the factory Imperial track bar set up.

 

[1978 NYB]

I put a rear sway bar on a 72 Caprice....made a hell of a difference.

 

[tallhair]

I will give a full report. I purposely didn't do it last year when the whole front end was rebuilt. I wanted to know just the difference the rear sway bar added.

I appreciate you sharing Zy. I may do this one in future so looking forward to hear all about it

 

[1978 NYB]

Along with sway bars..........shocks makes a huge improvement in handling also.

 

[tallhair]

Here's some pics of an original 72 Road Runner set up. There was a bracket sandwiched between the spring pack and the axle tube. Not installed on bottom and to the front

I'm sure you've already done plenty of looking but here's some good discussion and includes a guy with a 67 C body

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Number=5693878

 

[tallhair]

"Not" = "Note" btw ;)

 

[Zymurgy]

Thanks Tallhair for the link. I have decided to abandon the PST sway bar. It just isn't going to work. I can't find the room to fit no matter how I move it around it is going to rub on something. It looks like it would work fine on a later model c-body.

I was going to buy the Feel Firm originally, but it was more than twice the other. I was not comparing apples to apples. They have a sway bar for 65-69. The more I looked at it there is a reason it is more expensive. It has grease jerks, a custom made piece to attach to the leaf spring, instead of a U-bolt. The bar itself hugs the axle and curves around the pumpkin.

I will be ordering the sway bar from the Feel firm. They are out of Washington so I doubt if I will have it by next weekend, but at least I will have it installed by my official Ohio driving season, which is April 1.

 

[tallhair]

I think that is a good decision Zy ;)

I'd recommend not going too big on the rear bar and I'd call them to discuss your setup and what you have for leaf springs, T bars, shocks, tire size, and front sway bar. I'm not an expert but you don't want more "stabelizin" happening in the rear than the front. They should work together.

 

[saforwardlook]

When I worked at Chrysler Engineering starting back in 1969, I did investigate putting a beefier sway bar on my newly acquired 70 300 coupe. I talked with the suspension engineering guys about this installation, and they said that use of a beefier sway bar on a C body coupe especially was not necessarily a good thing, since it made the car plow in turns more than the standard front sway bar. Rear sway bars were used on the 4 door sedans as an option to improve this plowing tendency if special ordered, such as the police units, as I understood them at the time, but even there, they were not overall that much more helpful they said. It was partly a weight distribution thing too as I recall. As it was, they were struggling with rear wheel hop with the leaf springs on the coupes under panic braking conditions in part for the same reason.
Steve

 

[Aidan1976]

Thanks Steve for sharing this with us. Didn't realise that you worked at Chrysler. A genuine inside man.

Cheers, Aidan

QUOTE=saforwardlook;241644]When I worked at Chrysler Engineering starting back in 1969, I did investigate putting a sway bar on my newly acquired 70 300 coupe. I talked with the suspension engineering guys about this installation, and they said that use of a sway bar on a C body coupe especially was not necessarily a good thing, since it made the car plow in turns more significantly than not having the sway bar (and those cars had the front sway bar standard). They were used on the 4 door sedans as an option if special ordered, such as the police units, as I understood them at the time, but even there, they were not overall that much more useful they said. It was a weight distribution thing as I recall. As it was, they were struggling with rear wheel hop with the leaf springs on the coupes under panic braking conditions for the same reason.
Steve[/QUOTE]

 

[detmatt]

Thanks Tallhair for the link. I have decided to abandon the PST sway bar. It just isn't going to work. I can't find the room to fit no matter how I move it around it is going to rub on something. It looks like it would work fine on a later model c-body.

I was going to buy the Feel Firm originally, but it was more than twice the other. I was not comparing apples to apples. They have a sway bar for 65-69. The more I looked at it there is a reason it is more expensive. It has grease jerks, a custom made piece to attach to the leaf spring, instead of a U-bolt. The bar itself hugs the axle and curves around the pumpkin.

I will be ordering the sway bar from the Feel firm. They are out of Washington so I doubt if I will have it by next weekend, but at least I will have it installed by my official Ohio driving season, which is April 1.

I wonder if your car would benefit from the same track bar set up that's on my Imp, you could see if Murray has one.

 

[Big_John]

When I worked at Chrysler Engineering starting back in 1969, I did investigate putting a sway bar on my newly acquired 70 300 coupe. I talked with the suspension engineering guys about this installation, and they said that use of a sway bar on a C body coupe especially was not necessarily a good thing, since it made the car plow in turns more significantly than not having the sway bar (and those cars had the front sway bar standard). They were used on the 4 door sedans as an option if special ordered, such as the police units, as I understood them at the time, but even there, they were not overall that much more useful they said. It was a weight distribution thing as I recall. As it was, they were struggling with rear wheel hop with the leaf springs on the coupes under panic braking conditions for the same reason.
Steve

A rear sway bar can create more oversteer. A front sway bar can create more understeer (or plow). The trick is to balance the two. Never just use a rear bar.

http://iracing.wikidot.com/components:anti-roll-bar-sway-bar