I was looking for some info on this sway bar set up before I started, but I didn't find anything so I am going to share this for anyone interested. I like to drive my '39 Sedan Deluxe. After racing it up Guinella Pass for the 1st annual Hot Rod Hill Climb, I realized that I really needed to do something about the body roll around the corners. When I heard about Drake's sway bar kit for the banjo rear end, I ordered it. It's only taken me 2 years to actually install it I don't know why I procrastinated so long, but wow! What a difference! I lowered the rear of the car years earlier by reversing the eyes of the rear spring and removing 2 leafs, if I remember right. Drake offers 2 one for stock height and one for 2" lowered. I was concerned because I'm pretty sure my rear is lower than 2 inches, but it worked out just fine. One little thing that that the "destructions" didn't mention is the fact that the 3 1/4" bolts don't just go right in. I had to grind one the flat sides of each of the bolts. Then I had to cut out a little bit of my grease, splash guard thing... With that done, the new shock mounts were installed. Next was to mount the sway bar brackets. The destructions weren't very clear as to which rivet needed to be ground and drilled out, but after holding the sway bar in place, you could see it was the rear rivet. With the spring in, it's hard to drill a straight through hole, but it works. Next was to drill the rear hole for the bracket. The destructions don't mention that there is some sort of brace that is riveted above this hole. It has a sort of hump in it that will impede the nut from sitting down flat on the frame rail. I took my cutting wheel to it so the nut will sit flat on the frame rail... Next is to drill the holes and mount the upper shock mounts. You need to grind out the lip of the cross member so that the shock will clear when mounted. This takes a little time... Now to check and recheck... Oh ya, one other little thing...my dual exhaust ran right where the sway bar mounted. So I had to cut my exhaust out. I really didn't want to, but it was necessary. Now I get to have that redone. But, for now, it's beer thirty
I did this install a couple of years ago on my '40. Probably the best single thing you can do for an old Ford. I had two piece tailpipes, so removed the offending half & had the local muffler shop bend up a pair. Not a big deal. I didn't have to modify the grease shields on my Ford. Other than being laborious it was an easy installation. Looking at your rear spring, you might think about adding a long number 2 leaf to support the main leaf.
Thanks for taking the time to document this, as I'm getting ready to install the same kit on our '39 Tudor. -Ryan
Thanks for sharing your project with us. The destructions that come with most of these kits usually leave a lot of questions and potential interference problems unexplained. Your post will surely make somebody's project have less surprises.
Looks a lot like a kit that Chassis Engineering offers. Not sure if CE's is specific for banjo rears though. And yeah, what's up with your rear spring?
Are you talking about the Poly-slide spring liners? That right side does look different from the left. Might have to find that leaf. Hmm.
What great timing! I have a bare frame and was fitting the rear sway bar, when I noticed the bracket right where the rear sway bar bracket bolt had to go, came in from the garage to see what others had done with the bracket (I was about to cut the rivets off and remove the whole thing), but came here and found the answer! But I do have a question about the front shock kit, the second leaf wraps around the eye on the first leaf (for safety I guess in case the main leaf breaks..), if I reverse the eye on the main does this second leaf go right out to the eye, and does it cause a safety concern?
I'm not sure. I tried to use an after market reversed eyed spring on my front end when I rebuilt it, but with my 4" dropped axle, it sat to low. I had to use my original spring and removed a couple leafs.
something I noticed in the kit about the orientation of the shocks; the mount on the top is not in the same plane as the lower mount, the shock has to rotate slightly when it moves vertically. On the frame I had there was a shock mount already there, and under the shock mount was a tapered washer which prevented this twist. I salvaged those washers and used them under the shock studs in the kit to fix the alignment issue, I'll get pics tonight. The pic with the shock on it is the frame I'm using , it was on this frame before, the other 40 crossmember in front of it is another I have, but it had potmetal wedge/washers on both sides of the stud (these are disintegrating badly).
The below install was on a 1935 Ford, I struggled to find any info on installed units on the net so thought I would share these photos. The kit works well, I didn't have to cut any crossmember at all to mount shocks, mounted the stud as low as possible in cross member on the arc, this also left a path for exhaust close to standard location, this is a stock sprung car, You can install easily with basic workshop hand tools, use a grinder for rear rivets and a drill to remove rivet they are tight to remove, drill it out seemed to work best, and use a drill to add holes for rear sway bar mount bolt and upper shock absorber mount, was a fun install that can be done in a weekend. View attachment 3489364 View attachment 3489364 View attachment 3489364
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