Front sway bar

[shadango]

Well, its about time for me to obsess over some new aspect of the car aside from the contant tweaking I have been doing to my carb, so I am thinking front sway bar.

I have 1" PST torsion bars and KYB shocks front and rear and the car handles "not bad".....

When I did the front suspension rebuild winter before last I welded on the add-on tabs for the front sway bar thinking I would someday use them.

Well, someday has come I guess.

Couple questions --

-  PST seems to have good product so I am leaning toward them....do we as CC.com members get any kind of discount?  Do they bring product to Carlisle and would it be worth just waiting for that? Or do you guys suggest a different vendor for sway bars?  I have seen ADDCO mentioned here and they have kits on ebay cheaper than PST.   What is the difference between the two products?

- Anyone know if there kit comes with everything you need like the bracketry and endlinks and such?  I have NOTHING but the welded on tabs right now.

- My k-member is a little "squished" from years of it being used as a jacking point I guess....I am guessing there should be enough clearance for the bar, but wondering if anyone has tips or tricks to unsquishing that?

Thanks for the advice folks.

[TreeFrog]

most car clubs get discounts in general, I am not sure if we have a special deal in particular.

[Chryco Psycho]

I prefer the rear sway bars that bolt to the frame & link down to the diff like the factory bars , the ones that bolt to the diff & link ot the frame I have seen pull away from the frame rail damaging the rail

[mopardave]

http://www.rosevillemoparts.com/product_info.php/p/front-sway-bar-70-74-e-body/products_id/714

I have one kit in stock your $ is 149.00 + ups

this is for a 1 inch bar kit.

[HP2]

-  PST seems to have good product so I am leaning toward them....do we as CC.com members get any kind of discount?  Do they bring product to Carlisle and would it be worth just waiting for that? Or do you guys suggest a different vendor for sway bars?  I have seen ADDCO mentioned here and they have kits on ebay cheaper than PST.   What is the difference between the two products?

Between those two products, the only difference is probably just the color of the bar. Same with any "house" brands offered by Summit, Jegs, etc. Addco and Sway Away were the predominate bar manufacturers for years and they repackaged and sold their stuff through multiple outlets. While they may offer differing sizes, most are pretty close to the same deal, solid steel forged to size. It hasn't been until recently when Hotchkis released their tubular bars that much changed in the retail sway bar market for street cars.

- Anyone know if there kit comes with everything you need like the bracketry and endlinks and such?  I have NOTHING but the welded on tabs right now.

Most kits these days will have all the brackets, clamps, bushings and bolts. You might see if them differentiate between cars that have no bar and those that came with a factory bar that are just upgrading. Some kits for vehicles that do not have a factory bar are a skosh wider so they can bolt to a bracket that mounts to the lower shock moun, some do not. Either one can be made to fit with the end link orientation.

- My k-member is a little "squished" from years of it being used as a jacking point I guess....I am guessing there should be enough clearance for the bar, but wondering if anyone has tips or tricks to unsquishing that?

My Challenger was this way. Since I used to build race cars, I have several sections of .130 wall mild steel cage tubing. I used a 5' long piece to unsquish my k frame. I wedged it in the sway bar pass through, then used a jack to lift the tube. Drop it back down, push it in further, and repeat. Worked both sides until I get enough room to slide the bar through. Didn't take much to open it up enough, but your sway bar choice will dictate how much space you need. EG, the Hotchkis bar is 1.25" while some other solid kits are only 1" or 1.125"

[shadango]

http://www.rosevillemoparts.com/product_info.php/p/front-sway-bar-70-74-e-body/products_id/714

I have one kit in stock your $ is 149.00 + ups

this is for a 1 inch bar kit.

Thanks Dave

What would shipping be to 15132 zip?

Do you know if the endlinks/bushings are poly or just plain rubber?

[shadango]

So, is 1" ok or is bigger better?

[mopardave]

rubber bushings, and shipping 32.00 to mc keesport pa

[shadango]

rubber bushings, and shipping 32.00 to mc keesport pa

Thanks Dave.

Do you have a kit with Poly?

Other question:  Is that a solid bar or a hollow bar?

On another forum, I found a bunch of references to "hollow" sway bars and the weight savings they have....hadn't thought of that but more I think about it, may be a good idea....no reason to add more weight if it can be avoided.

Of course, if the cost is twice the price I guess that is another factor altogether...LOL

[cudazappa]

I went with the addco 1 1/8" front sway bar.  I had to fab up corrected mounting plates for it and made custom end links (because it was faster than finding a set that would fit).  I also have the 1" t-bars and find a very nice ride that's much better than stock.

[shadango]

I went with the addco 1 1/8" front sway bar.  I had to fab up corrected mounting plates for it and made custom end links (because it was faster than finding a set that would fit).  I also have the 1" t-bars and find a very nice ride that's much better than stock.

So the mounting plates and endlinks that come with it wont fit the stock LCa setup?

[dodj]

I went with the pst front and rear kit. 1 1/8" front, 7/8" rear. All brackets were supplied and they fit. The only problem was the one mentioned by CP. I have since strengthened the frame.
Very happy with the improved handling and I have .96 bars and a 440 up front.

[brads70]

I went with the Hotchkis bars because of the weight savings. With a BB I'm careful about weight esp. over the nose. I think it was PST that has hollow bars too I think? That's also part of the reason I went for an aluminum rad, water pump, intake, and headers. One of these days I'll move the battery to the trunk too. In my way of thinking less weight is free HP and makes for better handling too?  As the age old saying goes.... going fast costs money, how fast do you want to go? 

My car before the Hotchkis sway bars, upper control arms,RCD shocks C-Body spindles/rotors,A-Body LCA, and corrected bump steer used to push like a dump truck in the corners. It was REALLY bad!
Now, when I really push the car it's slightly loose  ( rear end slides out first) . This wasen't all from the Hotchkis sway bars, but they are part of the "package"

[cudazappa]

So the mounting plates and endlinks that come with it wont fit the stock LCa setup?

The bar is bent correctly to the original sway bar.  The problem is that their brackets (at least on my car) pushed the sway bar ends UNDERNEATH my LCAs.  So the brackets needed to be fabbed to move the sway bar back to the original position (7/16" forward).

At that point you can use OEM endlinks.  For me, I was already invested enough that I just made mine out of scrap material I had laying around.

[HP2]

So, is 1" ok or is bigger better?

Generally, yes, bigger is better, but, it is also part of a system so getting a good combination of front and rear springs and sway bars is a good thing. However, it is usually hard to go too large in front for the average driver in the average street car.

But that extra size comes with the penalty of weight. So yes, you will pay more for a tubular unit. On average, I think it is about $100 more for the tubular front and around $100 more the adjustable rear compared to the off the shelf, bolt on solid units.