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sway bar

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 14 4:26 pm
by Bryan
ive noticed sway bars come in different thickness (7/8, 1" & 1 1/8") . I need to order one for a small block in a charger sized car.

Any idea which one or is bigger better.

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 14 7:38 pm
by Adrian Worman
Depends on the manufacturer. Some really good bars are hollow and are huge but light, but most solid bars are stiffer the bigger the diameter.
Ain't most things ;)

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 14 8:45 pm
by Bryan
Thanks Adrian. A big stiff one for me then. :shock:

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 8:56 am
by Dave-R
Adding a sway bar increases the spring rate and when you do that at one end of the car only will effect the handling of the car.

If the car is under-steering, adding a sway bar to the rear will help.

If it is over-steering adding a sway bar to the front will help.

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 12:24 pm
by paolo_mangusta
also depends on how stiff your front torsion bars are already. you might want to think about stiffer T-bars if your car is under-endowed in this area and as Dave says, if you fit a heavy bar, balance it with a read as well.

My old Dart had front and rear bars and HD T-bars and handled pretty darn well for something of it's size

Most other makes (and some Mopars) came with front bars from the factory,

Don't bother with Addco unless you are a dab hand with a welder and want to make your own brackets.

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 4:10 pm
by Bryan
paolo_mangusta wrote:also depends on how stiff your front torsion bars are already. you might want to think about stiffer T-bars if your car is under-endowed in this area and as Dave says, if you fit a heavy bar, balance it with a read as well.

My old Dart had front and rear bars and HD T-bars and handled pretty darn well for something of it's size

Most other makes (and some Mopars) came with front bars from the factory,

Don't bother with Addco unless you are a dab hand with a welder and want to make your own brackets.
Its a 68 fairlane and they don't have torsion bars.

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 6:25 pm
by paolo_mangusta
sorry, just an assumption cause it was on the mopar site! substitute coil springs for torsion bars then, the same is still true.

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 7:51 pm
by Bryan
Thanks Paolo, i was looking at the addco but i think i'll look elsewhere, how about hell wig

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 11:48 pm
by paolo_mangusta
I've only got experience of the Addco bars, and it's not worth the saving as although the bars themselves are ok, the bracketry and bolts are all the cheapest rubbish you'd get from a hardware store, and not designed at all well, so by the time they've fallen to pieces (and in my case ruined a weekend when I was supposed to be enjoying a music festival!) and you've re-engineered them you'll wish you'd spent the extra on a decent product.

Hotchkis and hellwig tend to get very good reviews for their Mopar products, so would assume they were also quality across the range :?