Projects Help Anti sway, anti roll bar tech for transverse springs- who's got some?.

I've been looking, not finding much on the home brew set ups or adaptation of salvage yard parts. There's a few "1-800-hotrod" kits but that's not really what I'm looking for.

 

I'm still thinking

 

I will be running a factory 1935 Oldsmobile rear type sway bar (I think) and rear hyd lever shocks. Never seen a set-up like this before, the rod is like 3/4" diameter and goes from one end link of the shock to the other. I modified it a bit to fit my quick change set-up that's going in my 30' Chrysler coupe project. Not sure if it helped much back in 35', I guess I will find out if it's only for looks or??

 

Thanks, have any pictures ?

 

RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!

...So how do you envision using late model sway bars? What's the idea?

I'd say go try and score one for $20 out of a small car like an Escort and hold it up to your project then stare at it for half a day, moving it around occasionally.

 

Yeah!

Actually thinking about the torsion bars for front suspension, arms and links.

But your idea and some tequila sound like more fun even though it won't be quite as productive.

 

Up again

 

You may be looking in the wrong places.
Try old race car parts places for torsion bars, arms and anchors. Even Ebay has lots of that stuff. Stick with the later 1 1/8 spline stuff. The older 1 inch stuff is harder to find.
The later stuff is still in production also.
If you get used stuff, be sure and magnaflux it before using it.
A race car suspension torsion bar with an arm on each end works as a anti-roll bar really well. They come in various lengths as do the arms.
Old race cars are probably the most overlooked place for street hot rod parts.
They also have a big advantage over rusty junk yard parts, they really look KEWL.

 

Thanks !

 

saw this sway bar today that I think would work well on an early car. 27" wide and about 10" arms. it is on the rear of a 1980 land cruiser. has a link set up like early car knee action shocks so it would probably look right .

 

My 41 truck's rear anti sway-bar is half dial 1-800 and half dial @Pist-n-Broke , CE sway bar mounted "above" the axle on home made frame mount brackets and axle mounts I welded up. It's stealthy and healthy without the need to be wealthy!

 

Weld-er-up has a torsion sway bar that can be cut down to size.

 

I have made bars for my roadster from mild steel. I never bent one. I get a piece of bar and weld levers on the ends. I have experimented with different sizes to eliminate the understeer and get it to neutral. I have to change it every time I change tires. I think I have 3/4” under it now. I have run 7/8”to1/2”.
I have checked roll stiffness front and back by jacking up the axles in the center one end at a time and sitting in the door opening. I measure the drop(roll). Coil overs offer little roll stiffness.

 

What's Weld-er-up? I google it and get a Vegas ratrod shop selling T-shirts.

 

I think he means Welder Series:

https://welderseries.com/Sway-Bar-Kit-Trim-To-Fit-1-Bar-p200927215

Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I've posted this caution before, and I'll do it here too...

You need to be careful when installing a housing-mount rear bar on a Ford 9" housing. First, not all housings are created equal. The truck housings seem to be heavy-duty enough to withstand a bar, and housings out of coil-rear-spring cars also seem to qualify. It's the leaf-spring car housings you need to be careful of. Ford used various thicknesses for the axle tubes, and the thinner ones can bend with this type bar.

My experience was on a OT car with a factory 9" that I had Art Morrison narrow slightly to tuck tires under the car. So I started with a straight housing. I then installed a bigger front and added a rear bar, a 1.125" in front and a .75" in the rear. The rear bar install was almost a twin to Bandit Billys (I'm not picking on you, honest...). Handling was great; the car cornered like it was on rails. Then it started eating axle bearings... First pair lasted about 5k miles, the next interval was shorter, the next shorter yet. The axles were also getting increasingly harder to pull/reinstall. I had to purchase my own slide-hammer puller to get them out (and in). The third set started getting noisy, I knew I had a major problem. Pulled the housing, took it back to Morrison. Explained everything I'd done, Art figured he screwed up the narrow job and re-did it, making sure it was dead straight. Reinstalled it...

5K later, same thing, axle bearings start going bad. Pulled the housing back out, took it back to Morrison. It's bent again. Went over the install again, we determine it's the bar bending the housing. Straighten the housing one more time, put it back together minus the rear bar, no more bad bearings....

The problem with housing-mount bars is the bar mounts on the housing are inboard of the spring pads. When cornering, the car weight is transferred from the spring pads to the bar mounts and bends the housing. After doing some research, I discovered that Ford was aware of this and their factory rear bars (such as used on the GT350 and Boss Mustangs) used a chassis-mount bar with links to the housing next to the spring pads, not at the unsupported tube between the pads and center section.

I'm not saying that everyone will have this problem. Which housing you have, bar size, vehicle weight, and how enthusiastically you drive the car will all affect this. But the potential for problems definitely exists. Think about how the off-roaders and serious racers routinely reinforce these to prevent bending.

 

Dontcha want the weight in the car, not on the axle? Reduce unsprung weight.

 

Actually, the more I thought about this, I wondered why you'd even need one. If you split the wishbones, the further apart you put the attachment points the more 'bar' you'll see. Hot Rodders have been doing that for years. Or are you after something more nuanced?

 

Tombstone here on the H.A.M.B. has an anti roll bar on his 32 three window. You could send him a pm. I don’t remember off the top of my head what he used.

 

LOL according to the HAMB (and the internet) anyone running split bones is running a sway bar.

 

I put a Welderseries sway bat on the rear of my 35 sedan many years ago. A nice product, it’s been perfect for many miles. It solved that “top heavy” feel when cornering.

 

Back in 73, I built a front sway bar for an asphalt late model using a bar steel call StressProof. It is pricey but that car ran through corners like it was on rails. StressProof is made by an American company named Niagara Lasalle. Surprisingly, they are still in business at niagaralasalle.com

 

I have used a Mustang II front sway bar as a rear bar; just turn it around. The part that fits under the oil pan sump on the Must II engine, fits around/under the pumpkin on the 9-inch rear. Mounted with muffler clamps onto the tubes, and then the arms pointing forward to links connected to the frame. Quite similar end effect to Bandit Billy's pic.
For front bars, I take some measurements and approx shape I need and then go searching the junkyard. I found a good bar in a Cadillac fwd car with the transverse V8 that worked good as a front bar with IFS.
For a transverse spring, you might be best to use something that is shaped like the stock Ford bar used in 40's cars, but a whole lot bigger diam. The stock Ford front bar might be good choice for the rear?
Just takes some creative imagineering to adapt something.

 

Would like to see axle mounts and source of sway bar for future reference.

Very clean installation.

 

For you my Blue buddy, anything.
The frame connectors that CE supplies in the kit were a bit flimsy so I beefed them up by building an additional bracket so that they bolted top and bottom in the frame rail.

To assure a tight fit I bolted them in, tacked them together, removed and welded up on both sides.

Bolted in the frame and you can see the tacked axle bracket prior to welding.

And from the other side. Hope it helps.

 

Thanks, pictures tell the story well.
As I said, nice work.

 

Nice work but if you mount the sway bar on the frame you would have less unsprung weight witch is helpful on a light car.