Register now to get rid of these ads!

Customs Is a rear sway bar that helpful?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by BJR, May 23, 2016.

  1. BJR
    Joined: Mar 11, 2005
    Posts: 9,817

    BJR
    Member

    My 49 Buick sedanett has a 70 Cadillac posi rear end. I was looking at a 70's Cad limo that had a rear sway bar. Is it worth the trouble to get one and install it? Does it help in handling that much?
     
  2. RICK R 44
    Joined: Dec 13, 2009
    Posts: 474

    RICK R 44
    Member

    Put a Chassis Engineering rear sway bar on my Shoebox. I believe it improved the handling enough to justify the cost and time yo install it.
     
    loudbang likes this.
  3. Leakie
    Joined: Nov 10, 2010
    Posts: 270

    Leakie
    Member

    I installed a CHassis Engineering sway bar on my 37 Chevy sedan. It helped a lot with the body roll and improved the handling. I think that they help.
     
    loudbang and Murocmaru like this.
  4. Barsteel
    Joined: Oct 15, 2008
    Posts: 732

    Barsteel
    Member
    from Monroe, CT

    Same deal on my '64 Galaxie. Helped with body roll a lot.
     
    loudbang likes this.

  5. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    Measure your parameters. Then go to Pick-n-Pull, look under the F150 Ford pickups (rear)
    There's as sanitary an anti-roll ("sway") bar as you could ever find.
    Be surprised as I was how 'universal' the fit is...
    (are you dubious that a vehicle with rear overhang could 'sway'?)
     
    loudbang likes this.
  6. KoolKat-57
    Joined: Feb 22, 2010
    Posts: 3,073

    KoolKat-57
    Member
    from Dublin, OH

    Do you know what year Ford F150?
    KK
     
  7. Barn Find
    Joined: Feb 2, 2013
    Posts: 2,312

    Barn Find
    Member
    from Missouri

    I added a rear sway bar to my 63 Comet. It did not help. It did not prevent body roll. When the body rolled over as physics demands, the sway bar merely picked up the inside wheel along with it. The loss of traction was a worse effect than the roll it was supposed to prevent. I guess the bar was too big for the light car.
     
  8. Jalopy Joker
    Joined: Sep 3, 2006
    Posts: 31,179

    Jalopy Joker
    Member

    rear and front bar should not be same size, do not just run a rear bar - the way that it attaches makes big difference.
     
    loudbang likes this.
  9. King ford
    Joined: Mar 18, 2013
    Posts: 1,477

    King ford
    Member
    from 08302

    ....too much rear "antirollbar " leads to a VERRY "loose" or "over steering" car, if you run a rear antirollbar the front should have a larger one...
     
    dan c likes this.
  10. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,264

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I have hefty bars on both ends of my Falcon. Corners like a road-racer.
     
  11. mgtstumpy
    Joined: Jul 20, 2006
    Posts: 9,214

    mgtstumpy
    Member

    IMHO, yes. It makes the world of difference. I've had one on all my cars and never had any issues whatsoever. I don't drive them that hard and only use OEM rated, front and rear.
     
  12. Torana68
    Joined: Jan 28, 2008
    Posts: 1,415

    Torana68
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Australia

    what are you trying to achieve? less roll? increase the front size and fit a rear to keep things balanced, you want less understreer? maybe just the rear bar..... etc ...... changing things has effects, just adding a rear bar (or bigger front or a front where there wasn't one) on an otherwise good handling car may turn it bad (but decrease roll). By "Handling" I mean what you think plus what happens when you swerve at highway speed to miss some idiot, get it wrong and it will go bad.
     
    Ned Ludd likes this.
  13. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,355

    Hnstray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Quincy, IL

    This is one of those subjects that you may be better served to buy a book or two on the subject. Suspension dynamics are far more complicated and subtle than many of us fully realize. Boning up on the basics will better enable you to choose what will work best for your specific car.

    Ray
     
    gimpyshotrods and Ned Ludd like this.
  14. chevyfordman
    Joined: Oct 4, 2008
    Posts: 1,354

    chevyfordman
    Member

    I have CE rear sway bar and it works great on the 48, but the front one didn't fit right, I tried CE's shorter version too, I can't see any difference with or without the front one installed so I left it off.
     
  15. theHIGHLANDER
    Joined: Jun 3, 2005
    Posts: 10,245

    theHIGHLANDER
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I always felt that a front was more helpful in just driving around. Not for high zoot corner burners who get Andretti flashbacks now and then, just plain ol driving. A sway bar (really an "anti sway" bar) essentially borrows some spring load from the opposite side of the car to hold the frame/body assembly flatter in cornering. Rear bars help, but a good front bar supplemented with a rear Panhard Bar might do just fine for the average build. How hard do you drive? You like high speed corners? Are there any issues right now, such as excessive lean pulling into a driveway? That limo probably needed the extra help given load considerations and the total length of the car. Is the chassis/rear axle assy built like an oversized Chevelle/Regal/Cutlass, as in angled 4 bar? The sway bars used on those took measurable deflection out of the rear suspension by connecting the 2 lower bars with a sway bar. You could benefit from that too.
     
  16. 36DodgeRam
    Joined: Dec 16, 2008
    Posts: 505

    36DodgeRam
    Member

    Yes, very help full in my opinion. I put a '79 Trans Am posi rear under my '40 Plymouth coupe. With the stock rear leafs this car had a lot of body roll. I added the stock TA rear sway bar, it made a big difference. corners pretty flat now.
     
    loudbang likes this.
  17. Ned Ludd
    Joined: May 15, 2009
    Posts: 5,026

    Ned Ludd
    Member

    What's your handling balance now? Anti-roll bars ("sway bars") are for reducing roll overall first and tuning handling balance second. Add or increase rear bar if you've got too much understeer. (It's a bit counter-intuitive, but adding a bit of rear weight transfer this way will reduce front weight transfer. That's because total weight transfer doesn't depend on roll stiffness.)

    Edit: on the other hand, if you're experiencing huge body roll at the moment just about anything you do to reduce roll will tend to reduce understeer. That's because the (lack of) camber recovery on your front end means that at relatively large roll angles you've got quite a lot of positive caster on the outer front wheel, and almost as much negative caster on the inner, all while the rear wheels are pretty much perpendicular to the road. That means outward camber thrust at the front end and consequently understeer. Bigger front bar, add rear bar, it doesn't matter that much until you get rid of that huge camber change.
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2016
    gimpyshotrods and Hnstray like this.
  18. BJR
    Joined: Mar 11, 2005
    Posts: 9,817

    BJR
    Member

    I copied the 70 Cadillac that I got the rear end from, angled 4 bar with the stock 70 Cad bars, top bars being shorter. The limo I looked at had the sway bar connected to the lower 2 bars.
     
  19. theHIGHLANDER
    Joined: Jun 3, 2005
    Posts: 10,245

    theHIGHLANDER
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    You would likely feel an improvement, might gain some subtle stability and a little flatter cornering at speed, like on a freeway ramp.
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.