Thoughts on making my 76 Lesabre handle curves better? I know these are luxo cruisers ... But I would like to make mine enjoy curves a bit better , it does lean on back road curves. My thoughts are of course a the Bigger Sway Bar up front at 1 1/8" . The rear I'm reading is a sway bar from our area of rides or a 90s B Body wagon. It was also mentioned , or I read, use those same lower trailing arms withe sway bar brackets. With that said , at 114 k on my suspension , I like to upgrade those parts eventually. PROFORGED Parts I've used on my Skylark , and 85 Lesabre. PF has upper and Lower Balljoints, Inner Tierods, once piece tierod sleeves , and Idler Arm.. And since they are heavy duty use built, I wanted the same for the rest,. Found out that the outer tierods are the same as 2000s 1500 truck, and Mevotech makes those overbuilt for truck use, and they make Mevotech centerlink. As for tcenterline. Up front. , I'm kinda thinking either PST or 70-80 2nd Gen F body Delrin Bushings from Ridetech ( yes they are same bushings according to Moog) As for the rear Bushings I'm thinking PST. As for the rear sway bar, either the orginal style mounted to the lower control arms. Or since the rear is wide like the 90s B Body Wagon... and those guys on the Impala SS board use CrownVic rear swaybars on their wagons.... 15mm , 17mm, 21mm , all mount to the axle in their case a 3" muffler clamp , then tie rod end links to the frame . Then just box in the trailing arms.. I also read somewhere there was/ were rear Triangulation bars used on 75 -76 Rivieras like the ones used on A body Big Block 4 speed cars.. Where can one get those? Stock springs , maybe update to Bilstein shocks... Not looking for a Auto Cross Road Challenge car.. But a Big car that can handle some back road curves. Thanks
Youre gonna need a front sway bar from a 71-76 B or C I would imagine - on my 72 Grand Ville conv I used a factory 1.125 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon front bar. I also used a aftermarket 1" rear bar, think it was an Addco, it used bushings in the lower control arm void. . I've never seen triangulation bars on a B or E (doesnt mean they dont exist) I used koni shocks and regular rubber bushings and the car stay very flat in turns and has a very stable and predictable oversteer. .. . People get a little freaked to see it drift around an on ramp..
I Like your ride!! Nice setup for suspension... Sounds like shocks , and bars are the answer. And all that on rubber bushings ...
235-75-15'S - I think we're envisioning two different levels of handling but my setup def made a different car outta the Pontiac.
Big pig 455 ... Nope same vision of handling similar to yours ... What rear bar did you use?. Read we hafta get rear sway bar for a 91 -96 wagon .. if we can't find a factory ... Was your Addaco for That era ( 91- 96 B Body wagon ) or direct fit for 71-76 Gm B-Body Sedan / Hardtop?
I have kyb and 255 60 17s on my 72 centurion. That alone has improved it. So for the rear you can get tubular lowers. Upper you could use the heim joint adjustables from a abody. Front global west makes control arms but they are very expensive. I have a rear sway bar but i havent added it yet. The car handles pretty well. No worse than some modern cars and trucks ive driven.
the trianglation bars they might be talking about are possibly those braces that are up by the trans that go to two different places on the frame. I think only high end cars had those or big block one. My centurion does but my lesabre did not.
Nekkidhillbilly. Found out what they were referring to inches other board/ forum I read it on They do attach the the lower rear trailing arm bolt locations on the frame to just under the upper trailing arm location, they just bolt to the frame lip .
check the bar on The drivers side lower control arm , zoom in and you will see it go from the arm to the frame ..
Addco used to make custom front bars (thicker) matched offone you sent them. Anyone still do anything like that?
Ok my centurion doesnt have those. There are 2 braces similar on the front though. You can see the shocks and wheels/tires on my channel in my sig id sure like a subscriber lol. Im going to add a sway bar and boxed lower rears in the future on there. After car show season and I get the bronco driving Im going to swap bushings do the rear sway 700r4 cam headers and efi. Should make a good street car.
My youtube is in my sig below. Get time check it out. They are 17x8 jegs wheels im not sure the back spacing but they fit great. That short has a good shot of them, youtube.com/shorts/W-upk59ArAQ?feature=share
