Aftermarket sway bar

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whtmontie

whtmontie

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Im looking to ad a front sway bar to my 75 dart swinger. Does anyone have any advice or experience on what to company to go with? I can find hellwig and hotchkis. Any advice would be great thanks
 
Helwig is cheaper but many people are happy with their Hotchkis stuff.
 
I have Hellwig's on my Duster and Hotchkis' on my Challenger. The Hotchkis pieces are sexy for sure, they make beautiful parts. But you pay for it!!!

As far as function goes, it's going to be hard to tell. Neither Hotchkis or Hellwig publish their sway bar rates. In the front they both make hollow bars, the Hellwig (55905) is 1.125" and the Hotchkis (22386F) is 1.25". So on the surface the Hotchkis bar should be stiffer, but since we don't know the inner diameter of the bar it's impossible to tell without testing. In the back Hotchkis makes a 1" diameter hollow bar that has 3 settings (22386R). Hellwig makes a solid bar that's 3/4" and has 3 settings (6907). The Hellwig bar will be heavier, but again, it will be really hard to tell which bar is stiffer without knowing the inner diameter of the Hotchkis bar. Hellwig bars have a silver/black "hammercoat" finish while the hotchkis bars are powder-coated gloss black.

What I can tell you is the Hotchkis front sway bar is like $344, while the Hellwig is $146. In the back the Hotchkis is $312, the Hellwig is $225. Those are Summit's current prices.

So, for the pair the Hotchkis bars are a little lighter, maybe slightly stiffer, and a LOT more expensive.
 
I have hellwig front and rear of my 72 duster, easy install, look great and work great. Flattened the body roll out, stays planted in corners (passengers say it handles like a modern sports car). I have no complaints. I didn't see enough difference in the Hotchkiss stuff to justify the $300 price gap. If I were autocrossing the car, sure. I don't think you can go wrong with Hotchkiss Hellwig PST or Firm Feel.
 
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Dave@Hellwig is a member here and has been very helpful. I found an opened box sway bar on eBay and got it at a pretty good discount. Can't wait to try it out.
 
I have and will be using the Hellwig front sway bar and a factory 76 police rear sway bar on my 65 Dart wagon.
 
Back in the 70s original owners might have purchased the Addco sway bar kit through J.C. Whitney catalog, etc... They aren't your modern hotrod/performance brand but been around forever, offering comparable to OEM. Beats the heck out of no sway bar.
 
Thanks i was leaning towards the hellwig just because of price. I dont think a bar is worth the extra 300 or so it is for the hotchkis. The car with out it is a so weird with out the sway bar the body roll is terrible. Thanks for the replies
 
For what its worth, PST has a good rep too. I have some of their other stuff on my car and it's all been good stuff. Sorry I forgot to mention you guys earlier James-I fixed it.
 
I'm running the Hellwig tubular bar (not solid). It was the first suspension upgrade that I did. I added it to the stock suspension and it made a huge difference! After that, I upgraded the rest of the front suspension.
 
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I'm running an Addco bar. The bar is great, but the mounting hardware is terrible. The k-member brackets wobble all over, which means the bar does nothing for you. I made my own brackets welded to the K member. Also made my own end links. Travel is nice and smooth.
frontsuspension10.jpg
 
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