Addco front sway bar problems

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Dennis Hilliard

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Location
Durango co
I know this has been a problem here before, I should have done a search here before I bought it. After spending hours trying to get it to work I am done. After a long hard battle getting it to bolt up it now hits the dust plates for the rotors under full lock and I mean hard, I even tried using the bracket that bolts to the shock brackets also. This car had a factory sway bar at some point since the LCA had the brackets.The end link bolt that I got with it was 5 1/2" long and I just could not get the end link's bolted together so I bought a bolt that was 6" long and a spacer1/2" longer and it worked but not by much. Even if the 5 1/2" bolt would work it would still hit the dust plate's,the bar seems to be just to wide for this car. I called Addco to check on how wide it should be and the one I have seems to be right from the info I got. So what are most guys using here for front sway bar's?
 
Did you convert to disk brakes with large bolt pattern?

Are your calipers mounted towards the front or rear?

Needs some pics of the interference.

This might be solved with a shorter sway bar link setup.
 
Thanks for the reply, It has been converted to Disc with the big bolt pattern. They are on the rear side, I can't get a shorter bolt to bolt the end link together. I had to go with a 6" bolt to get it all bolted up, the one that comes with the kit is 5 1/2" long.Yes I agree that if I could get a shorter bolt to work it might clear. I will try and get a picture up soon.
 
I have run that setup in two of my 68 A bodies that are original sway bar cars with original sway bar tabbed lower control arms. Still on my 68 Dart.

Need pics.

I’ll see if I can find pics of mine

68 Dart with 10.75 and then upgraded to 11.75 disk. Both with rear mount calipers

dartltsuspgen-jpg.jpg


I Changed to a shorter bolt on this:

lwrbjbolt-jpg.jpg
 
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What brand of bar is that? my bar looks to wide compared to yours. I called Addco for that reason and was given the same measurement as the one I have. I will send you a picture and you will see my end links are pointed outboard way more them yours.
 
Whats the part number on the bar that you are trying to install ?

Thanks
James From
 
Whats the part number on the bar that you are trying to install ? Is the part number 150? Then it should have and eye to eye distance of 45". I would start with double checking that.

Thanks
James From
 
What brand of bar is that? my bar looks to wide compared to yours. I called Addco for that reason and was given the same measurement as the one I have. I will send you a picture and you will see my end links are pointed outboard way more them yours.

That’s a stock bar.

The eye to eye “should” be the same on the Addco or little less.

The 66-69 B-bodies take a sway bar that is very close dimensionally, just 1” or so wider. Maybe you got one of those by accident? Just a guess.
 
Thanks for all the help, the bar is a part # 150 and it is 45 " from eye to eye. I took the whole thing apart again and tried one more time leaving the frame bracket off all together till I got the end links bolted up lose.At that point I had to pry the bar forward to get the frame brackets in place then tightened the bolts on them. Then I finished the end links, this seems to be a poor design to have to deal with this.One last note, If I had stayed with the stock 5 1/2" end link bolts there would be no way I could have bolted this thing up. Thanks for all the help. Now I hope it was worth it.
 
Thanks for all the help, the bar is a part # 150 and it is 45 " from eye to eye. I took the whole thing apart again and tried one more time leaving the frame bracket off all together till I got the end links bolted up lose.At that point I had to pry the bar forward to get the frame brackets in place then tightened the bolts on them. Then I finished the end links, this seems to be a poor design to have to deal with this.One last note, If I had stayed with the stock 5 1/2" end link bolts there would be no way I could have bolted this thing up. Thanks for all the help. Now I hope it was worth it.
Hey bud! Can you post pictures?
 
Here you go, I used a 6" end link bolt and a spacer 1/2" to get this together. The stock bolt was 5 1/2". Once bolted up I cut about 1/2" of it off. The shock brackets have been pulled off now.

DSCN1908.JPG


DSCN1909.JPG
 
Ok.

I have the same brake setup and same sway bar lower control arm.

I my pic notice the top of the sway bar link is tilted out too. It tilts out when the suspension is at full droop. It changes when the suspension is at ride height.

BIG thing I noticed in your picture...you do not have a upper control arm bump stop installed. That missing let’s the suspension REALLY droop down. And the exaggerates the tilted out sway bar link.

Put the car at ride height and check distances.

Did you have a factory sway bar on this car before this Addco? If so, measure your OE bar eyelet to eyelet center. If it’s the same as your Addco, it’s not a sway bar issue.

85111D71-C663-4589-8942-48CDA9086016.jpeg


939F2270-69FB-433D-A355-8BF10BF85C80.jpeg
 
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Ok.

I have the same brake setup and same sway bar lower control arm.

I my pic notice the top of the sway bar link is tilted out too. It tilts out when the suspension is at full droop. It changes when the suspension is at ride height.

BIG thing I noticed in your picture...you do not have a upper control arm bump stop installed. That missing let’s the suspension REALLY droop down. And the exaggerates the tilted out sway bar link.

Put the car at ride height and check distances.

Did you have a factory sway bar on this car before this Addco? If so, measure your OE bar eyelet to eyelet center. If it’s the same as your Addco, it’s not a sway bar issue.

View attachment 1715223126

View attachment 1715223127
Ok.

I have the same brake setup and same sway bar lower control arm.

I my pic notice the top of the sway bar link is tilted out too. It tilts out when the suspension is at full droop. It changes when the suspension is at ride height.

BIG thing I noticed in your picture...you do not have a upper control arm bump stop installed. That missing let’s the suspension REALLY droop down. And the exaggerates the tilted out sway bar link.

Put the car at ride height and check distances.

Did you have a factory sway bar on this car before this Addco? If so, measure your OE bar eyelet to eyelet center. If it’s the same as your Addco, it’s not a sway bar issue.

View attachment 1715223126Y

View attachment 1715223127
 
You have very good eyes, I took them out trying to make it easier to bolt up the end links. I bought this car about 5 months ago and it was a mess, it did not have a sway bar on it so I have zero to go by. This is my first Mopar product and a big learning curve also.The car has some very good stuff on it but it was just thrown together, you guys here have been so helpful and I thank you for that. After I got the bar bolted up and put the bump stops back on it seems to be in the right place now. Will drive it soon after I get the rearend back together, I am also adding the rear Addco bar. Thanks again
 
I know this is an older post, but it's the best one I could find with pictures. I have a 70 duster /6 k-member and the Addco #150 sway bar. There is no way in hell that it will mount to the little bracket using the shock bolt. I bought the package from here, now I know why it was for sale.
The picture that @Dennis Hilliard shows is the best one I could find. What to do now? Make my own?
 
I know this is an older post, but it's the best one I could find with pictures. I have a 70 duster /6 k-member and the Addco #150 sway bar. There is no way in hell that it will mount to the little bracket using the shock bolt. I bought the package from here, now I know why it was for sale.
The picture that @Dennis Hilliard shows is the best one I could find. What to do now? Make my own?
I know how you feel and almost gave up myself. But thinks to all the help I had here I got it to work and it's great. I found also that trying to mount the bar with the shock brackets was not going to cut it, are you saying that you don't have the lower sway bar bracket's on your lower control arms? If not you may have to have someone fab up a pair for you. I have seen pictures of the sway bar bolt up to the L shape shock brackets but I don't know how that was done.
 
That’s a stock bar.

The eye to eye “should” be the same on the Addco or little less.

The 66-69 B-bodies take a sway bar that is very close dimensionally, just 1” or so wider. Maybe you got one of those by accident? Just a guess.

Sounds like you got a B Body sway bar on there by mistake.

A body bars on the left, B body bars on the right.


A B Sway.jpg
 
I was given 45" wide by addco for a A body and that is what it is. After I got it mounted it clears everything just fine and works great. I see you live in Farminton, I am just up the road in Durango and will be back sometime in April. I also installed the rear bar and the car handles pretty good for a old car.
 
I do not have factory mounting brackets on my lower control arms. I can fab some up no problem. I'm switching to disc brakes from a 73 also, but those lowers don't have them either. I had looked at buying this sway bar because "supposedly" it will work without the stock setup. I pulled the trigger when someone posted it for sale cheap on here. Now I know why,LOL.

It is for an a-body, 45" center to center.
 
I do not have factory mounting brackets on my lower control arms. I can fab some up no problem. I'm switching to disc brakes from a 73 also, but those lowers don't have them either. I had looked at buying this sway bar because "supposedly" it will work without the stock setup. I pulled the trigger when someone posted it for sale cheap on here. Now I know why,LOL.

It is for an a-body, 45" center to center.

Wow ! My 67 - 69 original A Body Sway Bars are 44" on center
69 original B Body sway bar is 43 3/4" center to center
Just measured them.

Summit Racing has the original weld on lower control arm sway brackets if you so desire.
They are on ebay too.
 
In case you're unaware, I believe there are two flavors of sway bar mounts. The brackets are the same, but they are flipped upside down and swapped side for side vs the earlier LCA's. Perhaps, if your mounts were cut off and flipped, then maybe it might fit better.
 
In case you're unaware, I believe there are two flavors of sway bar mounts. The brackets are the same, but they are flipped upside down and swapped side for side vs the earlier LCA's. Perhaps, if your mounts were cut off and flipped, then maybe it might fit better.
The earlier sway bars (pre 72) had the sway bar mounts outboard of the strut rod, like shown in Dennis's picture. the 73+ control arms have the sway bar tabs mounted inboard of the strut rods. I found this out when I bought a Hellwig sway bar for my 72, but I then installed QA1 lower control arms, which use a similar mounting location as the 73+ arms. I bought a 73+ sway bar and it fit just fine after adjusting the length of the end links. Here's a picture of the 73+ mounting.

20220501_145831.jpg
 
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