Thanks, Ed! Nice choice in transportation, I must say.
Any other tips you might have for installing the bars in my 64 would be most appreciated.
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| Author: | emsvitil [ Thu Aug 21, 2008 1:41 pm ] |
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You want poly bushings for the sway bar(s). I got the addco front and rear bar (3/4") Try shox.com for the bar. He beat summit's price(s) when I got mine a years ago. (bar(s) may not show up online, just ask) |
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| Author: | armyofchuckness [ Thu Aug 21, 2008 1:50 pm ] |
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Thanks, Ed! Nice choice in transportation, I must say. Any other tips you might have for installing the bars in my 64 would be most appreciated. |
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| Author: | emsvitil [ Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:14 pm ] |
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http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15325 |
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| Author: | Doc [ Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:16 pm ] |
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The challenge with the aftermarket front anti-swaybar kits is to mount the bar in a way that maintains good ground clearance. The lower tab of the "saddle brackets", used to mount the bar, can hang low and hit speed bumps and such. You can move the brackets outward and up but then you have to off-set the angle of the K-frame "legs" with a special "platform bracket". Another option is to mount the brackets to the flat face of the K-frame but be sure to bend the lower tab 90 degrees rearward, then bolt it to the bottom of the K-frame. DD 
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| Author: | 440_Magnum [ Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:45 pm ] |
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Quote: Rear swaybars on a leaf-spring car are definitely a matter of opinion. I had them on one '64 Dart that i owned (with the original 4-leaf springs) and did not have them on the other '64 Dart with 5-leaf springs from a later Valiant. I preferred the car with stiffer springs and no swaybar.
Rear swaybars are only mandatory if you want the car to handle really, really well under hard driving. The front swaybar is not optional.  The reason is because while adding a front swaybar will control the body roll, it also introduces a metric poopload of understeer if you don't balance it with a rear bar. That is fine for a casual driver that you don't ever get aggressive with, and its safe because most drivers can deal with understeer far better than oversteer. By running a rear bar, you can run a smaller front bar and get far better overall handling characteristics- much more neutral rather than biased toward understeer or oversteer, so that you can go from one to the other at will by judicious application of the right foot to the loud pedal .FWIW, the worst thing imaginable is a rear bar and no front bar- I've had a front bar link break before, and when that happens you get a car that has so much tendency to oversteer that it tries to swap ends every time you go around a corner. |
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| Author: | armyofchuckness [ Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:00 pm ] |
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Seriously, am I dreaming? This information is too cool! I had no idea this kind of information existed for my car. Thank you all so much for the helpful links and tips. This has really lit a fire under me to get going on my Valiant again. Sounds like I'll probably be getting the front and rear bar. I probably won't be driving it too crazy, but it'd be nice to know I could if I suddenly felt the need. The need...for speed. I can't believe I just typed that. |
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| Author: | Dart270 [ Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:14 pm ] |
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Hey Doug, where'd you get that pic??  That was taken in front of our first apartment in Chapel Hill, NC in 2002 on the '64 Dart for Sam Powell during his visit.Most anyone who has done serious handling with Mopar A-bodies agrees that a rear bar is not desirable. This includes ralley and Trans Am guys and modern road racers. The Mopar leafs are quite resistant to roll already. My '64 is perfectly neutral with a full tank and a little loose with less than 1/2 tank. If you have super soft rear springs, then OK get the rear bar. If you want to autoX, though, you want the car to oversteer to "rotate" the car. Then you want a rear bar. Lou |
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| Author: | armyofchuckness [ Fri Aug 22, 2008 6:05 am ] |
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Hmmm. Never have minded having a little powerslide in my corners....  Maybe I'll try just the front bar first and see what happens. |
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| Author: | Aggressive Ted [ Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:43 am ] |
| Post subject: | Hellwig sway bar #5905 |
Running the big 1" 1/8, #5905 Hellwig front sway bar (for 73 to 76 Dart) on my heavy car (3600 lbs.) with the 60 series tires and a posi provides a very controlled power slide. Something that comes in handy on those wet rainy days and in icy conditions during the winter months. It provides you an extra margin of safety. On my commute to work and back I travel along the foot hills for about 60 miles on some very twisty roads and the extra handling assurance is sure nice. |
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| Author: | Doc [ Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:16 am ] |
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Quote: Hey Doug, where'd you get that pic??
That image popped-up when I did a Google image search for sway bar mounts. I somehow knew someone would see it and say "Hey... that's my car"   There are a few nice shots of swaybar install posted at that site.DD |
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| Author: | armyofchuckness [ Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:08 am ] |
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More pics, you say? Hmmm. |
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| Author: | emsvitil [ Fri Aug 22, 2008 2:13 pm ] |
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With my 64 with stock torsion bars (soft) and stock rear springs (soft), I find that I have neutral steer with front 1 1/8" front and 3/4" rear Addco bars.......... So I'd do that with yours if you still have stock springs. You can fine-tune with bushings (rubber is softer, poly harder) either by all rubber, all poly, or a mix. |
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| Author: | armyofchuckness [ Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:13 pm ] |
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Given the softness of the ride previously, I'm pretty sure I'd want to go with the poly bushings to stiffen things up a bit. I am having shackles put on the back springs though, so that will hopefully stiffen the ride up a bit. I would much rather have better handling over a cushy ride. |
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| Author: | Dart270 [ Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:01 am ] |
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I recommend poly rear bushings for better handling. Make sure to grease them and they may start to squeak after a while, so be warned. This will not affect handling. The Edel IAS shocks would do a lot too. Lou |
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| Author: | armyofchuckness [ Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:26 am ] |
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Heh. Yeah, I learned that with my poly-bushings on the front end kit I got from JustSuspension. It worked out great, though. I fixed the squeaking. I'll definitely look into the shocks as well. Thanks again for all the tips, Lou. I'm debating now about whether to try three way seat belts or four way harnesses. I've done some serious digging over the weekend and it appears there are some very valid arguments for both sides. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'm also reading up on the pros and cons of big 2 barrel vs small 4 barrel. Apparently another hotly contested debate around here. I'll most likely defer to whatever you and Charrlie_S recommend. Speaking of, I'm waiting on Charrlie_S to get back to me on a few things. He thinks he's found me a good manual steering box to replace the sloppy mess I have right now. That will be a nice change. I'm also hoping a check for some side work I did comes in soon and I'll be able to start buying these parts. I've started a folder with printouts of the recommendations listed here, where I can find them, and how much they cost. It's a good feeling and it's exciting to know these parts actually exist and are still readily available. It's even more exciting to know there's people like you and the other fine members of this forum who share my Leaning Tower of Power passion and are willing to share their secrets.
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