Sway Bar yes or no

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Thanks a bunch, I won't hesitate on 1.06s. Now your gonna laugh your butt off at me, in my haste to measure the eye to eye yesterday I was oblivious to the fact that the rear was on Jack stands, wheels off. Im in the middle of ditching the skinnies for 11x2.5s. I need more sleep!
 
I8NEMO said:
Thanks a bunch, I won't hesitate on 1.06s. Now your gonna laugh your butt off at me, in my haste to measure the eye to eye yesterday I was oblivious to the fact that the rear was on Jack stands, wheels off. Im in the middle of ditching the skinnies for 11x2.5s. I need more sleep!
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That’ll definitely change the ride height measurement!

:thumbsup:
 
I added a Hotchkis sway bar to my 69 Barracuda FB about 10 years ago. It was one of the BEST upgrades I have made. Handling was much improved.
 
harrisonm said:
I added a Hotchkis sway bar to my 69 Barracuda FB about 10 years ago. It was one of the BEST upgrades I have made. Handling was much improved.
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Good to hear this, I've ordered the Hotchkis as well, back ordered but I got time.
 
Ok sway bar swammies! Got the Hotchkis mocked up. Thing looks beefy.
Im shortening the end links to bring the " tails" level with ground correct?. Head on view shows links pretty far from plumb. raising ride height should improve this. So here's my questions:

1. " tails " or the sway bar ends, should be parallel to ground regardless of rake in stance?

2. Adding torsion bar spring should close the end to end distance issue some,I doubt all. What negative performance issues may I encounter?
2a. Should torsion bar be disconnected for long term wheels off storage?

3. How critical is deciding on final ride height now ( I'm in fit up, from here car gets torn apart again for paint) adjusting end link length in the future is not a problem

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Got the end links shortened just under 1", tails are level. Upon closer inspection, the LCA tabs elevation the same as LCA pivot point so adjusting ride height will do nothing to improve the head on out of plumb issue with the end links. Stupid to go with this? Seems the end links would end up bending. From earlier discussion I was prepared to see the QA-1 sway bar mounts within 1/2" of plumb however it appears to be closer to 1". See the out of plumb pic. Advice is always nice!
 
I8NEMO said:
Got the end links shortened just under 1", tails are level. Upon closer inspection, the LCA tabs elevation the same as LCA pivot point so adjusting ride height will do nothing to improve the head on out of plumb issue with the end links. Stupid to go with this? Seems the end links would end up bending. From earlier discussion I was prepared to see the QA-1 sway bar mounts within 1/2" of plumb however it appears to be closer to 1". See the out of plumb pic. Advice is always nice!
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Bend the end links? Uh, NO, that's not going to happen.

I also don't see how that's 1" out of plumb. There's an angle for sure, but that's not uncommon even with factory sway bars. The end links are not all perfectly vertical. That's why those end link bushings are so thick.

You have to consider how the sway bar and end links are functioning. When the suspension on one side moves, the end link pushes down or pulls up on the sway bar, twisting it. Just like a torsion bar, that twisting has a lb/in resistance it responds with. But you're not talking about thousands of pounds of resistance. A few hundred maybe. Not anywhere near what it would take to bend the end link, you're off by an order of magnitude there. Not even anywhere near what it would take to bend the tab. Look at the factory sway bar tabs, they're not even half as thick as what's on the QA1 LCA's.

I think you're getting far too concerned about a small amount of angle. Not all end links are even straight. Heck there are plenty of modern end links that have jointed ends. Like this-
ado-45g1030_wf_xl.jpg

That one's for 2009-2019 Ford F-150's all the way up to F-550's.

And before you say that's a Ford thing...
MEV-MK80821_GY_xl.jpg

This one is for Dodge Rams from 2003-2013, 1500's up to 3500's.

And those are just two examples, there are plenty more. End links do not have to be just a straight bolt, and they do not have to be perfectly vertical. I wouldn't worry one second about running those end links as is. If you go back to the picture of my car with the QA1 LCA's you'll see my end links are not perfectly vertical either. They've been on my car that way since August of 2017, and have probably done over 15k miles since then. No issues, sway bar works fine, nothing is bent.
 
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Holy cow, that's an encyclopedic chapter of experience there, and I surely appreciated every word of it, a few weeks ago I knew the function of a sway bar and that was it. Ive never replaced or installed one. Now Ive got a great confidence that this part of my build ( save for the bracket welding) is done! If it wasn't for you 72Blu, I probably would not have even selected a sway bar yet.
Thank Yu!
 
abodyjoe how much tire clearance do you have with the 1 1/8 5906 hellwig?
You think the 1 1/4 5907 hollow would be to much and further cut tire clearance. I’m planning on putting 17s on my 68 barracuda and already got 73 up disc kit. In input would be great ! Thanks
 
Tony Barracuda said:
abodyjoe how much tire clearance do you have with the 1 1/8 5906 hellwig?
You think the 1 1/4 5907 hollow would be to much and further cut tire clearance. I’m planning on putting 17s on my 68 barracuda and already got 73 up disc kit. In input would be great ! Thanks
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calipers are to the rear and i have no clearance issues.

@72bluNblu would be better help with the other questions.
 
I ended up going with the Hotchkis unit. Real happy with how it rides. Thanks 72bluNblu

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The Hellwig “pro-touring” front bar is the 55917. It was modified and it’s LCA mounting tabs are further inboard, like the later ‘73+ bars. It allows for wider tires up front and is a hollow, 1.25” diameter bar. The specs say up to 5.75” backspace with that one using 18” wheels, which would be enough for 255’s in the front. That’s probably conservative though, because it basically uses the same tab locations as the later bars which will clear a 6” + backspace and 275’s. I haven’t tried that with a 55917 though.

The standard ‘67-72 Hellwig front bar is the 5906, it’s a solid bar and 1-1/8”, but even 245’s up front interfere with that one. The Hellwig front bar should come with bolt on or weld on tabs for the non tabbed LCA’s.

So if the plan is 17” wheels and anything wider than a 235 the 55917 should be the one you use, it was actually designed with help from a member here to clear 245’s because the 5906 wouldn’t.
 
Just for another combination that works for any future searches. I run a 73 k member on my 72, with QA1 lowers and a Hellwig 55905 front bar. I had to shorten the end links to be about 1" in length and use shorter bolts, but everything fit great

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72Duster440 said:
Just for another combination that works for any future searches. I run a 73 k member on my 72, with QA1 lowers and a Hellwig 55905 front bar. I had to shorten the end links to be about 1" in length and use shorter bolts, but everything fit great

View attachment 1715981657

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Pretty much exactly what I run, Hellwig 55905, QA1 LCA’s and a ‘73+ K. Mine’s on a ‘74 though so it came with the later K.

I shortened the end links to work with the QA1 LCA’s as well but other than that they lined up well. I had boxed stock lowers with factory 73+ sway bar tabs before that, the QA1 tabs are almost in the exact same location other than the height difference because of the different profile on the tubular arms.

The 73+ Hotchkiss front bar should work with the QA1’s as well, there would likely be a little end link modification required again compared to the stock 73+ tabbed LCA’s.
 
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