Rear sway bar

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tekslk

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Just ordered a rear sway bar for the 67 barracuda from hellwig, 195 shipped, that seams fair, my question is what kind of handling diffrences will this make on a daily driver? Actually I ordered a hellig sway bar from truck springs.com
 
Well, first thing, you'd better have a front bar on there already. You never want a rear bar without a front bar, and the front bar needs to be the bigger of the two. Why? Because stiffening the front roll resistance promotes understeer, and stiffening the rear promotes oversteer. More oversteer than understeer is not really safe on the road (although it might be the quick setup for auto-x depending on the car).

So, for a factory front sway bar, which I think is pretty dinky (15/16?), you'd probably only want a 5/8 rear bar. With the typical aftermarket 1-1/8 front bar, you usually use a 3/4 rear bar. Of course, what counts is the actual spring rate, but this is usually referred to by using the bar diameter. Another factor is the length of the lever arm, which can vary in different designs. But most A-body bars are pretty similar in pattern.

The type of bushing you use in the end links has an effect on how quickly the bar starts working. Rubber bushings will deflect a lot before the bar kicks in. Poly is much stiffer. I set up my front bar with heim joints, so there is no delay at all, and I have poly on the rear. But you can use this to fine tune your setup.
 
Can you throw up any pics of your heim joint setup on the front sway bar?

Thanks.
 
I do have a front bar with poly bushings, it was off a 68 340 cuda. The back will have polys also 3/4 inch but adjustable. Are they worth the money for corning and every day driving?
 
That front sway bar that went around the K is a limber timber. It legs are too long, its end links are too long, and it attaches waaaay out near the lower ball joint where it twists on 1 half of the lower arm. Dont misunderstand, it is a heck of a lot better than no bar at all. An equally weak rear bar will help it a lot !
 
Can you throw up any pics of your heim joint setup on the front sway bar?

Thanks.

Uses 7/16" rod ends from Pegasus Racing. Bottom bracket is actually a lumber tie from Home Depot. It's a skosh thin looking, but doesn't seem to deflect noticeably -- the stress on it is almost all vertical. I reworked the piece a fair amount.

Note that the end links are length adjustable with a lock nut.

I also have collar clamps around the sway bar at the bushings to stop any side-to-side movement -- I found it would work itself from side to side and bind up. This might not occur with rubber bushings.
 

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