Rear Sway Bar only on top-heavy Suburban--what can I expect?

I'm driving the '62 Suburban out to B'ville this August, and am doing a bunch of stuff to make the trip better--OD trans, better gearing, etc.
It's a torsion-bar front suspension, and nobody makes a front sway bar kit for it. I should be able to fab something up with junkyard parts, but the time frame won't allow it before heading west. I do, however, have a factory bolt-on rear sway barfrom a '64 coming from a guy on the Stovebolt site.
My truck handles, well, like a top-heavy old truck on tall sidewalls with 5.5-inch wide wheels.
What would having a rear sway bar with no front sway bar do to the handling characteristics? It's 4,000 miles round trip to B'ville. Worth putting it on for the trip, or should I leave it off until I can do it in conjunction with a front bar?

-Brad

 

Generally a good idea to start at the front when adding roll bars or you might end up with a tail wagger, especially with a high center of gravity and lots of weight to the rear. I'd play it safe and leave it off until you can get the front bar fabbed up.

 

hopefully not this..
Dave

nevermind it wont let me load the pic.

 

A suburban set up for drifting......that's different.

 

My Sub is much newer, but it handles fine unless I have 750 lbs of car parts loaded in the back. Then it behaves like it could use a sway bar about 3 inches thick. If you're just hauling people, clothes, camping gear, that sort of thing, I can't imagine it would handle poorly. Just keep the tires aired up to the max PSI.

 

sway bar in the back will only make it better, i put air shocks on the back of my old truck and she handles way better, i have a load of iron work i take to all the street markets here on the island and she sways a little but no worse then a one ton loaded and they have no sway bar.

 

Ever have a front sway bar link break in the middle of a corner ?


I have.
Creates some serious understeer.

 

I always understtod a front sway bar (really should be called an anti-roll bar) caused more understeer, and a rear bar caused more oversteer. So adding a rear only bar should not cause any serious problems, as I am sure your Suburban understeers like crazy now when pushed to the limit.

 

over steer and under steer and bar changes depends on what chassis.

I'd say it would be an improvements on the old suburban, are you just driving out with the gear to be a spectator or planning on hauling a car and or parts? might plan for the return trip when you find random stuff along the way.
if youre just driving it should help you out, hopefully your front suspension is in good working order also.

 

It'll be an improvement during normal driving where you're not near the limits.

However with hard cornering or emergency maneuvers, may have negative tendencies. All depends on if you're starting with understeer or oversteer.

Give it a try, never know otherwise. Simple enough to remove if it doesn't work out.

 

Bwahahahaha! Driving it at it's limits?! Bwwaaaaahahahahahahahaha!
No towing right now. Just me and Boy Wonder taking a road trip to see the salt, smell the fumes and hear the noise.

It's a stock 45 year old truck, lowered two inches or so. I'm just tired of ending up in the passenger seat when I take a curve.

Very good point about it being easy to take off if I don't like it between now and then. Sometimes things are so simple they blow right by me.

-Brad

 

Might loosen it up a bit empty but with some weight in the back it won't be bad. If the handling doesn't feel good once you get going, just undo one drive link and keep on truckin' vic

 

'62 is leaf rear right? i have one for my '64 panel (it's coil rear) but i haven't brought myself to drill the rear arms.

 

1960s chevy trucks/suburbans were coil spring/trailing arm rear suspension.

Hey brad, slow down for the corners....it's an old truck, not a Maserati

 

OK, so where did the front torsion bar set up come from and how was it done? If you have a Mopar cross torsion bar clip that is bolted on, replacing the rubber bushings with either a hard urithane or even alumium bushings will stiffen up the front end a bunch. The original rubber was too soft in the 80s, probably about mush by now. If its something else, forget I commented. Gene

 

60-62 chevy trucks came stock with a torsion bar front end....

 

the front bushings aren't rubber and they're greasable. i have the poly bushing in the rear arms of mine and 3" drop coils. i thought the some of the 60-66 had leaf rear?......found it, 1 ton had leaf and 63-66 gmc's had leaf (1/2, 3/4 and 1 ton).

 

generally chevys had coils out back, Jimmys had leafs, 63-72. there were some exceptions.

 

hi guys my 63 has 3inch lowered coils on the front plus 2inch drop spindles,3inch lowerd coils on rear heavier poundage,it goes around the corners quiet well and in england there are fucking corners every fucking where,like squirell says go slower on the bends,i dont run anti roll bar.dont seem to need it,

 

Adding a rear sway bar where you have none currently, will only make it better. Instead of changing lanes like a motor boat, it will significantly minimize the body roll you are getting. If you are on bias plys, take those off too for the trip.

 

I drove a 66 Carryall/Suburban for close to twenty years. We put a rear sway bar on it right after it was bought and it made a huge difference in the ride. This probably doesn't answer your original question but I thought it might be beneficial.

 

Basic rule-of-thumb is you NEVER run a rear bar alone!!! Front bar alone is just fine, but you never, ever run a rear bar alone!!! You are better off running no bar at all, if all you are going to run is a rear bar.

That is why you never see any vehicle, certainly anything factory, run a rear bar alone. You do not want to do that!!!

 

post was from 07..i think he probably has it figured out by now..eh?