Factory rear sway bar with Firm Feel hardware?

[cuda346pk]

I needed to replace the bushings in my rear sway bar hangers and end links. I talked to Dick at Firm Feel and decided to order their frame mounts with greasable poly bushings and end links with poly bushings. Dick said they had not seen a factory set up before they made theirs so it did not match up with the factory holes but he believed the top hole matched. Once I went to install it seems the brackets are much different. They are wider than factory so they are made to slide up the frame until snug. Problem here is the frame rail does not go straight up it angles back so as you slie the bracket up it also moves farther back so the length of the arms on the factory sway bar are too long to center over their perch mounts at the leaf springs, which would put the end links at a bad angle even at ride height.
 To make matters worse the FF end links are almost 3/4" longer than factory which puts the sway bar arms at a big angle with rear end at ride height even if I put the brackets in the factory location. I assume ideal is sway bar arms roughly level at ride height and the shorter the end links the more stable. When I questioned Dick about the length of the end links he said I could modify them as needed, they usually tossed the spacer/sleeve and used washers to adjust the length.
I am planning to mount the FF frame brackets at factory height and cut the spacer sleeve for end link down and use a shorter grade 8 bolt to make arms sit level. I will have to use washers behind each bolt hole on the frame brackets to shim it so I have to prep it well so I don't create a corrosion problem area between it and frame.

Any opinions on this?

[erat340]

If Im not mistaken, factory A body front links are the same as E rear. Anyone else know if this is true?

[Katfish]

Here's what I used, 69 b-body I think.

[cuda346pk]

Yeah the factory is almost 3" spacer like Katfish shows. My pics wouldn't upload earlier then our power went out for 5 hours. So I fired up the generator and worked on the car some more. I hooked up the factory end links and let the natural angle of the mount determine where the brackets needed to be. I can use the original bottom hole and have the bar in exactly the same spot as it was from factory. I will cut the end link spacers down to factory length and use 1" shorter bolts and it will be like factory again. The arms are not going to be level at ride height as I used the lowering hole in my front hangers so it is 1 1/2" lower now.
I think I am going to drill thru the frame and weld tubes through so I can run full bolts thru the frame since it is so thin the bolts do not do much good. Also since the FF bracket is wider than the frame I can extend the tubes to the correct length so it doesn't have to pinch the bracket down over the frame.

[rUNCHARGER]

I just wish he sold the housing end brackets separately, they look like the factory pieces which I cannot seem to find.

Sheldon

[cuda346pk]

I just wish he sold the housing end brackets separately, they look like the factory pieces which I cannot seem to find.

Sheldon

Which pieces are you referring to, the plates that sandwich between rear end and leaf springs for the end links to attach to? Call Dick and ask him, he is very easy to work with and just might sell them separately or call Cass at Dr Diff and check with him, he is very easy to work with too.

I got one side welded in tonight. Tomorrow to grind welds to match angle of hanger and get other side done. Almost ready to start repainting engine, trans and engine compartment -    Of course that means re disassembling the front end so I can paint all the old stuff without having to tape off and the shiny new pieces. At least I only loosely put it together to be able to roll it outside to be able to degrease and pressure wash everything, so it won;t be to bad to pull apart again.
I think I am over the hump on this project now.

[FY1Cuda]

Old thread but a relevant question:  Last year my son bought an OEM E-body rear sway bar, but it didn't come with the perches, so he got a set at FirmFeel. I got some end links from Energy that are the same basic dimensions as shown in this thread: 2 7/8" in the middle with about 4 1/2" between the  bottom edge of the sway bar end and the top surface of the perch.  I modified the frame rail bushings (as shown in some other postings) but when I put the end link on between the bar and perch loosely, the sway bar doesn't want to reach back to the frame.  Are the FF perches longer (further away from the axle) than stock?
Are the end links I described correct?
His '70 Challenger doesn't have the dimples in the frame, so hopefully someone can tell me where the bracket should go on the frame.  Since their shapes are tapered inside, I can get an idea by where they fit, but the sway bar won't reach without pulling the end links off of 90 degrees.  A measurement from the bump stop bolt, maybe, to the bracket would be very helpful

[cuda346pk]

Are you using OEM or FF frame brackets?
 I will get out in the garage later today and get some pics and completely refresh my memory on how I ended up finishing it. I will get some measurements in the photos too as possible. Especially of the perch.

[crash340]

I fitted the bar chassis bushes from FF, no issues, here is what I did,
I did not want to drill any holes in my chassis rail, so, I drilled the spot welds on the factory bush strap which left me with a piece of U channel that bolted to the chassis rail with the four factory screw/bolts. I then got a piece of 1/4 plate, drilled and tapped counter sunk the back of it to suit 3/8 (I think) countersunk allen head grade 8 bolt. then weld the plate to the U channel to form two studs to mount the FF bushing bracket, the factory bush also stood about a1/4 taller than the FF bush so the FF bush now holds the bar in about the same place as factory adn is rock solid.