Need Help Picking Front Sway Bar

[BrianT]

I know that I'm going with a Hellwig bar but I need to figure out which one. My car is a 70 Duster with the stock K member and lower control arms with the early sway bar tabs. The front brakes are Dr. Diff stage II with the rotors towards the back. I think I need the Hellwig 5906 but am not sure. What do you all think? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

 

[Dart Frog]

Sorry I can't tell you about the exact fitment, but I will say I put that bar on my Dart a couple years ago and it made good improvement. I would say stiffen the front probably 25% to 30%. Over stock old bar .

 

[72bluNblu]

The Hellwig #5906 is correct for 67-72 with the stock sway bar tab locations.

There is also the #55917 for 67-72, but that one doesn’t use the factory sway bar tab locations, it’s narrower and uses a tab location that’s further inboard (essentially the ‘73+ location) to improve tire clearance.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Make you a dart target with different sway bar part numbers on it. Hang it on the wall. Wherever your dart lands is the one you get.

 

[Super-Cuda]

The Hellwig #5906 is correct for 67-72 with the stock sway bar tab locations.

There is also the #55917 for 67-72, but that one doesn’t use the factory sway bar tab locations, it’s narrower and uses a tab location that’s further inboard (essentially the ‘73+ location) to improve tire clearance.

Quick question on the aftermarket sway bars.

Are they all hollow?

I seem to remember the factory bars are solid steel ..

Reason I ask is because of its proximity to the ground and obstacles the aftermarket unit, if hollow, would be easily bent.

 

[72bluNblu]

Quick question on the aftermarket sway bars.

Are they all hollow?

I seem to remember the factory bars are solid steel ..

Reason I ask is because of its proximity to the ground and obstacles the aftermarket unit, if hollow, would be easily bent.

The Hellwig 5906 is a solid bar, but I have a hollow front sway bar on my Duster and they’re definitely not easily bent.

Maybe slightly easier than a solid bar but they’re not thin walled, you’d tear the mounting brackets off the K frame before you bent the sway bar.

 

[RustyRatRod]

The Hellwig 5906 is a solid bar, but I have a hollow front sway bar on my Duster and they’re definitely not easily bent.

Maybe slightly easier than a solid bar but they’re not thin walled, you’d tear the mounting brackets off the K frame before you bent the sway bar.

How much lighter are the hollow bars really? Is it a big difference?

 

[72bluNblu]

How much lighter are the hollow bars really? Is it a big difference?

Depends on the application and the size of the bars being compared.

Hellwig claims some of their hollow bars weigh half as much as their solid counterparts, but I haven’t seen those specs and I’d be curious if they’re comparing bars with equal torsional rates. Thing is most aftermarket manufacturers don’t offer solid and hollow versions of the same bar, so apples to apples is difficult. Like Hellwig, you could compare the solid 5906 to the hollow 55917, they’re both for 67-72 cars, but, the 55917 is shorter too, it uses the further inboard sway bar end link mounting locations so it would be lighter because of that too. Hotchkis makes a hollow bar for the 67-72 cars, but no solid bar to compare to. It also uses a non factory end link location, so, shorter than a factory bar as well.

From my experience you can notice it picking one up, but it’s not the kind of thing you notice driving the car. As part of an effort to make the car lighter as a whole combined with other parts it can make a difference though.

 

[junkyardhero]

How much lighter are the hollow bars really? Is it a big difference?

on a 1.125" bar it's fairly considerable.

granted the rate is different, but if your aim is to put the car on a diet then it would be a heavy consideration.

 

[Mike69cuda]

The price of some of them should help considerably in lightening up your wallet…..

 

[BrianT]

The Hellwig #5906 is correct for 67-72 with the stock sway bar tab locations.

There is also the #55917 for 67-72, but that one doesn’t use the factory sway bar tab locations, it’s narrower and uses a tab location that’s further inboard (essentially the ‘73+ location) to improve tire clearance.

Thanks for the reply Bryan. I had a #5906 on my 67 Dart w/o sway bar tabs and it fit well. I just wanted be sure that was the correct one for my Duster.

The next question is, the 5906 bar I had on my Dart was hollow, but Summit lists them now as solid? Here's a pic of the old box. I wonder if that's a misprint or did they switch to solid? I can't find anything on Hellwig's site stating either way.