PST Sway bar install

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Bryan bravo

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Hi all have a question about installing a PST front sway bar into a 75 Plymouth duster. My LCA's did not come with the factory sway bar tab. I am confused with the instructions. Can I mount them to the LCA's with the provided L tabs, or must I purchase the sway bar tabs then weld in from a provider such as Bergman?

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Steps 4 & 5 in the instructions seem to have you mounting the L brackets right to the lca via a bolt hole that you need to locate and drill.
 
Not so sure about drilling your lca to locate the L tab. I had an aftermarket sway bar on my car for a while before upgrades. The L tab was located at the shock mount bolt. Pretty sure pst doesn’t want you drilling your lca but you can easily reach out @PST .

Well I just read the directions from the site and holy cow they do want you to drill the lca. Just as Sean has said.

If it were me I might get longer end links and put that L tab on my shock bolt if there’s enough clearance. It would be much easier and pretty cheap to do.
IMO wouldn’t change the effectiveness of the bar. Others may chime in with better advise. Good luck.
 
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You can drill the LCA to mount the tab, as long as you don’t drill it massively oversize it won’t hurt anything. Hellwig uses the same set up on their 73+ sway bars if you don’t have a factory tabbed LCA.

The shock bolt location will require a longer end link, and it won’t give you a vertical end link. It won’t induce enough angle to really cause any problems, but ideally you want the end link vertical.

If you’re not worried about the tab looking stock, there’s no reason why you can’t weld the supplied tab onto the LCA.

And of course if you do want the tab to appear more stock looking, you can buy a tab from Bergman Autocraft.

You’ve got lots of options, they’ll all work just fine, although my personal preference is to weld the tabs on (any style tab).
 
I originally made this post because I wasnt sure if I could utilize the provided L tabs.
I don't mind the originality or look either. What I mostly am after is max resourcefulness.
I wouldn't be opposed to having them welded into the LCA. That is the route I would prefer but am unsure of exact placement for where to weld them in.
I have the k-frame on a table and I think it would need to be in the car first?

I do not see how one would be able to use the shock bolt.

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Damn Bryan....that’s def not what I envisioned. I think your right. It doesn’t look like the bar extends far enough to use the shock bolt. Yea I agree my thought process def wouldn’t work without throwing the geometry off. I use a firm feel bar and my lca has the stock link mount so made it a direct bolt in. My old aftermarket bar however did have the L brackets on the shock bolt and at the time my old lca didn’t have the mount. Where it looks like you already have reinforced lca’s blu’s suggestion of welding the L brackets or the stock tabs from BAC might be the way to go.
 
Yeah I think there is alot of permutations between the aftermarket sway bars and how the factory had slung them on there haha.
Additionally is yours the 73+ krame? If not I believe that design is different.
 
Yeah I think there is alot of permutations between the aftermarket sway bars and how the factory had slung them on there haha.
Additionally is yours the 73+ krame? If not I believe that design is different.
My k is from a 72 duster so yes the bar design is different but the ends if I remember correctly are the same stock design. The aftermarkets do definitely have differences.
 
My k is from a 72 duster so yes the bar design is different but the ends if I remember correctly are the same stock design. The aftermarkets do definitely have differences.

The change was at ‘73. The ‘72 bar would have used the 67-72 style tabs, which are all the way out at the end of the LCA. The ‘73+ sway bars put the tab further in. Basically the 67-72 bars put that tab outside the strut rod, the ‘73+ bars put it inside of the strut rod.

The 67-72 bars work better with the shock bolt mount.

As for the aftermarket bars, they actually all pretty much use either the 67-72 or the 73+ tab location. Where things get interesting is bars like the Hotchkiss or Hellwig’s “pro touring” bar for the 67-72 cars. Those bars mount like the 67-72 so they can be used on those K frames, but the tabs are basically located at the 73+ position (for tire clearance).
 
The change was at ‘73. The ‘72 bar would have used the 67-72 style tabs, which are all the way out at the end of the LCA. The ‘73+ sway bars put the tab further in. Basically the 67-72 bars put that tab outside the strut rod, the ‘73+ bars put it inside of the strut rod.

The 67-72 bars work better with the shock bolt mount.

As for the aftermarket bars, they actually all pretty much use either the 67-72 or the 73+ tab location. Where things get interesting is bars like the Hotchkiss or Hellwig’s “pro touring” bar for the 67-72 cars. Those bars mount like the 67-72 so they can be used on those K frames, but the tabs are basically located at the 73+ position (for tire clearance).
That’s some great info right there. Thanks blu.
 
I originally made this post because I wasnt sure if I could utilize the provided L tabs.
I don't mind the originality or look either. What I mostly am after is max resourcefulness.
I wouldn't be opposed to having them welded into the LCA. That is the route I would prefer but am unsure of exact placement for where to weld them in.
I have the k-frame on a table and I think it would need to be in the car first?

I do not see how one would be able to use the shock bolt.

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So, all I would say about welding the tabs on the LCA's while on the bench is that you'll want to mock up the strut rods too, just so you don't accidentally weld the tab in a place it will interfere with the strut rod.

Usually that's all done on the car, but really everything it needs to clear is mounted to the K. I would bolt up the strut rods and then locate the tab. Tack weld it in place, and then cycle the LCA up and down to make sure it doesn't interfere with anything. The tab should be located so the end link is vertical at ride height. If your car is to be lowered then the LCA will probably be pretty close to flat, like it is in the picture. If it will be closer to stock height, move it to the end of the table and let it hang down a bit. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to not hit anything. A 1/4" either direction won't change anything for how the sway bar works as long as it doesn't hit anything.

Personally I'd want to do this with the K on the car and everything mounted up, but, it's not 100% necessary as long as you check your clearances carefully and know roughly the angle the LCA will sit at when the car is at ride height. The rest can be adjusted with the end link.

That’s some great info right there. Thanks blu.

Happy to help!
 
Seems like the position of the tab on the control arm could change the performance characteristics of the bar dramatically. The farther in (towards the center of the car) the bar is the less leverage it would have.

A 1 inch bar mounted half way in on the arm would perform a lot differently than a 1 inch bar mounted near the outside end. Am I thinking about this correctly?
 
Seems like the position of the tab on the control arm could change the performance characteristics of the bar dramatically. The farther in (towards the center of the car) the bar is the less leverage it would have.
A 1 inch bar mounted half way in on the arm would perform a lot differently than a 1 inch bar mounted near the outside end. Am I thinking about this correctly?
The early bar was long, all the way around the K member. Long end link kits too. There had to be some response lost in all that. There is a lot more travel out at the end of lower arm also. Many factors to consider.
 
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