REar sway bar.. Are they really that good?

Hello
Hopefully in the next 2 weeks I'll be ready to stick my new rear end under my 67 Skylark convertible.....
I keep seeing these rear sway bars on eBay and am thinking about getting one for my Lark while I have it apart.

Does it really make it handle that much better?
Is it worth the $150 or so I'll have wrapped up in it?

Thanks in advance for your opinions!
Rick

(Hopefully this is the right area of V8 Buick to put this thread??)

....I guess the next logical question would be if anyone had one they want to sell too. I'd rather give the cash to someone from here, than a stanger on eBay.

 

intrest

I have some intrest in this one.

although i've been debating on doing used and new.

I would think a used one can work harden over the years i could be wrong.

thru summit you can pick up a rear one from addco new for 150 bucks plus shipping. for a 1 inch torsion bar.

 

driving around

I am sure they help a little bit for daily driving, but not as much as a front sway bar.

i think one big benifit would be for drag racing and keeping everything organized when launching from the line.

I have never had a swaybar on the rear of my car becuase I had one on the front and handled as good as you can get an A body to handle.

 

stock

I do have the stock front one. what size is it? .75"?
i get TONS of roll in the rear. It corners like a boat. thats why I thought to put one in the rear.

doh sorry... not my thread.

Nate

 

I have a front 1 1/4 sway bar from a TA under my skylark. It handles very well compared to my original sway bar. Reccomend the front for sure. I have yet to put a sway bar in the rear but I will defenitly do it in the future.

 

poly bushings

Nate

if you get new poly bushings in your skylark, it wont handle bad at all. Thats what I did to mine, brand new bushings EVERYWHERE and there was no need for a rear swaybar, but It cant hurt any.

isnt the front sway bar 7/8"

 

yes it is 7/8

 

hhhhmmmm

Seems that a few of you don't think it's worth installing one...but then again, none of you have ever had one...

11SecondGS:
What are you basing your opinion on? Maybe your car handles great with a good front swaybar.....but maybe it'll handle 10 times better with a rear one too?? Who knows?

Is there anyone out there that has actually installed one on a 67 Lark to be able to tell me if the difference is noticeable and/or worthwhile?

Maybe I should go ahead and box the arms and put the braces around the bolt holes now while it's apart, so I can always easily bolt one in later if I decide I want one.

Thanks for the comments. Keep 'em coming!

 

Hi Guys: I have a 1 1/8" on the front and the factory (7/8")
i think on the back and the car does not lean in corners,and
feels nice and tight in all driving. really digs in on take off.

I would recommend the rear sway bar

Sincerely John:TU:

 

I think the rear bar will help a lot, plus a bigger front bar as well.

Don't buy those $150 ones, go to the junkyard! It does not have to be off the exact same car as you have. For instance, a late 70's/early 80's Z-28/Trans Am have nice thick bars. (Good steering boxes too!). A lot of the newer cars with FWD have big beefy bars since they have so much weight on the front. Just look at your car and where the bar mounts as far as the dimensions, maybe make a sketch. Take that to the yard and see what you find.

I actually put a front sway bar from a MustangII on the rear of my 38 Chevy. Has a little dip in the center that just fits great under the rear diff. It's 3/4 inch diam and complements the front 1 inch bar great. Just get creative.

Recently i hit the junkyard and picked up a 1.25 inch bar out of a early 90's Caddy FWD "boat" that I plan to put in my 37 Chevy truck. It was half price day and my total cost was $12. That beats the hell out of $150 doesn't it? Also picked up a rear sway bar at the local swap meet for $10. What does it fit? I don;t know, but I will try to make it work. Use exhaust tubing clamps to fashion a mount on your 3-inch diam axle tubes and then just a small linkage to mount the ends to the frame, or the control arms.

Like I said, use your imagination. Go to a junkyard where you pull the parts, like a pick-n-pull or pick-your-part or similar. You might just find some other good stuff as well!:TU: :TU: :TU:

 

Some good comments. Thanks!


...is that a GN supercharger I see on that V8 buick in your avatar!!??!!??
:jd: :shock: WOW...how's it run?

 

i agree

I think putting on a rear sway bar won't hurt at all. I always planned on doing that, but then I took a different route with my car and all the sway bars came off.

I had my upper and lower rear control arms boxed for some more rigidity with the lower control arms being the ssm lift bars, but I don't remember if it made a difference in handling.

I will tell you this though, before I started my suspension and wheel project I had stock wheels with stock rubber bushings that were original with the car. That thing would handle so bad it was frusterating and dangerous. Then After I switched all the bushings to brandnew poluurethane from energy, it was a dream come true.

 

Well...I bought one.
I guess I'll let you know if I notice a difference in a few weeks.
(At least I hope I have it on the road in a few weeks!)
:beer

 

Rear Sway Bar

I put a junkyard rear bar on my '68 and a Z28/Trans Am 1.25" on the front. I don't even know what the rear bar came from - it was attached to a loose rearend and had metric bolts holding it to the rear control arms.

The car stays pretty flat in turns, but I still have the variable rate steering and a no-armrest bench seat. The overall effect is slightly imprecise steering at speed, and only a lap belt to keep you in place around corners. A little body lean might be better! I don't try to do much sporty car cornering stuff right now.

 

Just a little suspension info for you. If you put a larger bar on the front, and leave the rear alone(no bar or stock bar) the car will feel better because it doesnt lean so much, but you are actually INCREASING the amount of understeer. If you leave the front stock, and bolt on a larger rear bar, the car will tend more towards oversteer.
Basic rule : If you stiffen the front (swaybar, springs, shocks) the car will get more understeer or less oversteer. Stiffen the rear, you will get more oversteer, or less understeer.

It is best to use a set of matched front and rear bars for the correct handling balance.
Plus, a rear bar can help you at the dragstrip with flatter launches without needing so much pressure in the airbag.
Phil

 

Hi Rick
Which bar did you get? I'm looking for one myself.

 

Sway Bars

Here's my question for the group, especially for 65lark: What do you guys think of the Global West lower trailing arms? Global West says, in their "what goes with what" whole-car suspension design for the A-body, that with their stuff, including a 1 1/8" front sway bar, one should not use a rear sway bar at all. Instead, they use their tubular lower trailing arms with their own special bushings, which will let the rear suspension articulate better, and therefore handle better, than with a rear sway bar. This is, of course, while using their whole design, though.

I've just put a 1 1/8" front sway bar and four KYB gas-a-justs on my '65 Sportwagon, but the balance of the suspension is stock. These parts have improved the ride and handling considerably, but the rear of the car still has a little waggle in turns, so I'm thinking about a rear sway bar, or the Global West lower trailing arms. What to do?

Opinions??

Best,
Steve.

 

Put a stock GM swaybar in my Skylark last fall. It's the same car as it was last year except for this change, my best 60 foot time last year was 1.91, my best time this year was 1.79 sixty foot. Sorry, there is another change now that I'm thinking, I took off the 850 T/Q and put on a 800 Q/J. Funny thing is the car runs the same ET as before but the MPH is down about 1 MPH. Anyway for the price a swaybar is a good addition to any car. IMHO!

Dave Berry
:bglasses:

 

I went and put a 1-1/4" on the front and 1" on the back. Along with my poly suspension and Edlebrock IAS shocks, the thing handles like it's on rails. I did have to put air bags on also because of my 325 rear tires were rubbing up in the fenderwells on big bumps and going around curves real fast. I just run those at 8-10 lbs.

 

Steve,
I think that Currie has the best control arms for the rear suspension. They have a what they call the Johney Joint that gives you a spherical joint at the frame but unlike a heim joint (what GW uses) it is insulated in poly. The lower control arm was $225 and are very well made. Will post some pics this week on my set up just before I put it in.