Hey Guys:
I have a rear sway bar laying around from about 3 years ago. Its for my 64 dart i just never got around to putting it on. Is there any links or DIY's for adding a rear sway? I have looked and looked and I cant find much.

Also if I remember correctly I think the sway I got was in anticipation of adding a v8...which I never got around to. Which leads me to question 2...what are the downsides to adding to thick of a rear sway bar?

The rear will "come out" quicker around corners with a big rear bar.

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I have no idea what I am talking about.

Want to see a video of a Barracuda spinning at Willow Springs because of too much rear roll resistance caused by the rear sway bar? Too much throttle didn't help either!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJW-YvipFYE

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Joshua

Is there a front anti-sway bar on the vehicle now? If so, how thick is that bar?
What rear bar do you have, an old Addco #919 or something else? How thick is the rear bar?
DD

Generally, Mopar handling dudes who know what is what do NOT run a rear bar. It will make it oversteer (tail happy), unless you have a huge front sway bar and/or huge tbars. I had one on my '68 Dart for a while and took it off and never went back. You can tune over/understeer very well with the rear spring rates and front sway/torsion bars.

All that said, you might want a rear bar for autoX (rotate car a lot) or low speed city driving.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

So if the Mopar dudes who know "what is what" don't run them, what was the purpose of putting them on the Mopar AAR/TAs and 70's cop cars? What about the late 70's Pontiac Trans Ams? Herb Adams put big sway bars on those.

Not being a smart ass, just wondering. I figured Chrysler put them there for a reason. I have a Dippy cop car rear bar I was going to add to the rear of my Valiant. I already added an aftermarket 1 1/8" front bar.

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Scott - waywardgarage.com
Why is the rum always gone?

I cannot comment as much on E or F, J, M bodies. Different susp geometries, esp on the Dippy vs. A-body. I am really talking about A-bodies. If you put big enough front sway or tbars on a car, then yes, you will probably want a rear sway bar.

"Big" bars would pretty much mean you'd need a strong 8-10 pt cage to make the chassis stiff enough to run those bars and not leave the chassis as the less stiff part of the suspension action. 1.14" or bigger on an A-body, I'd say.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

For me, a rear anti-sway bay is just another "tool in the tool box" for dialing-in the suspension system.

As already noted, a rear bar can produce oversteer, especially at higher speeds and a "tail happy" vehicle is not good for fast lap times on a "long" road course.

As for street cars, adding a rear bar (and some oversteer) is something I like so I tend to run them on my street cars. ( combined with a large front bar)
I tend to keep the rear spring rates a little softer on my street cars... and the rear anti-sway bar gives me the added roll control, with-out the harshness of a stiffer spring / shock set-up.
It's a "personal taste" thing...
DD

Different era, different tires, different rules for the race cars, different bean-counters for the production car, and different knowledge bases for everyone.

It's through experimentation that racing improves the breed.

I'm no handling guru, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express once.

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

Thanks for all the great info guys. I scanned the paperwork that came with my sway and tryed to added it here but I cant seem to just add an image...I think its the #751? I looked all over the sway and there was no markings or notchings.

I currently am not running a front sway that I know of...I also just found a set of heavy duty rear leaf springs for the car, I may throw those on but I think they are 5 or 6 leaf which may jack it up to much or make it to ruff. [/img]

So after doing some research this is a front sway...lol wish I had made some notes a while ago. So I guess my question now is, do you think it worth it to just install the front with no intention of installing the rear anytime soon?

yes

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I have no idea what I am talking about.

Pictures have to be hosted elsewhere like Flicker or Photobucket. Instructions: http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4434

You can run stiff springs so long as you have adequate chassis rigidity and dampers (shocks) to match. I ran 1.04" torsion bars on my '67 Valiant with QA1 Stocker Star adjustable shocks and the ride, while firm, was not harsh and the handling was quite good. See the car lapping my friend's little dirt track. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4fv0N3LvAw The Valiant has no sway bars.

I used to road race a '66 Dart. It had 1.04" torsion bars and an Addco 1 & 1/8" front sway bar. With stock late A-body 5-leaf rear springs it understeered. With the front sway bar disconnected it understeered less. This is why I tried the Valiant without a front sway bar and was happy with the results.

If you do find the need for increased rear roll stiffness a small (1/2" or 5/8") rear sway bar is about all you'll need or be able to use without making the car tail happy at high speeds. Of course rear roll stiffness goes up with stiffer rear springs. So you may find a rear sway bar useful with wimpy rear springs and find oversteer when used with more appropriate rear springs.

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Joshua

Do front bar first and see how you like it. I ran stock tbars on my '64 Dart and 1.125" addco on the front on the road course and street for a while. HD rear springs and no rear sway. Neutral handling to slight oversteer at high speeds. I had diff tires front/rear too, which can be a tuning tool.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I’m running [url=http://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=304376&highlight=sway+bar+mount#304376]Adco 1.25â€￾[/url] front bar with a [url=http://www.summitracing.com/search/?keyword=ens%205%205135g&dds=1]factory stile[/url] mounting bracket to K member that came from summit. New Firm Feel 0.940â€￾ Torsion Bars, and all new front end bushings, and sub frame connectors.

Addco’s angle iron one bolt flopping mess universal mounting method is not up to the task.

What I did was mix & match brackets & bushings from both Addco & Summit bracket with a bit of egging out mounting holes to get it all to fit forming a factory tight connection to K member. At Loews I found a longer spacer for the end link to improve its geometry and provide clearance from spindle.

I have six leaf rear springs, similar to what a Cuda S would have come with, at stock ride height from [url=http://www.springsnthings.com/]ESPO[/url] which you won’t see listed, a phone call will get them to your house in a week, four inexpensive Monromatic gas shocks, and no rear sway bar. Car is flat in turns, over / under steer balance seams to be neutral, and car rides softer than my 300C, and stiffer than the 1982 LeBaron for what that is worth

The car is a pleasure to drive on secondary roads, and can easily keep up with modern traffic through the twisties.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC