Stabilizer bar needed on M II front?

[enjenjo]

FWIW, I have heated and rebent bars numerous times, and have yet to have one fail. as long as they are heated enough to bend without cracking it should be fine. A good solid red seems to work good for me. I do sand the outside after it cools to remove any surface defects created when heating and bending.

On the links, you can buy shock bushings, the same bushing used in sway bar links pretty cheaply at most parts stores, the only other thing you need are a couple 3/8" bolts the right length, and the spacer sleeve, which you can make from 1/2" steel Bundyflex line if you don't have something laying around.

If needed you can space the sway bar down from the frame, this does change the roll center slightly , but sometimes  it is necessary.

[40cpe]

Thanks to you all for the replies and suggestions. I installed a Chassis Engineering bar this week. In just a couple of drives I can tell  the car is a lot more stable. I have fat tires on the rear and before the bar I had so much body lean the tires would scrub the body on sharp turns and driveway approaches. I drove the same routes and haven't heard them scrub at all since installing the bar. I think I'm going to like it.
Thanks again,
Gene

[Bob Paulin]

Thanks to you all for the replies and suggestions. I installed a Chassis Engineering bar this week. In just a couple of drives I can tell  the car is a lot more stable. I have fat tires on the rear and before the bar I had so much body lean the tires would scrub the body on sharp turns and driveway approaches. I drove the same routes and haven't heard them scrub at all since installing the bar. I think I'm going to like it.
Thanks again,
Gene

Not to stick a fly in your Ben & Jerry's, but you still might want to do the parking lot test I outlined in the other sway bar thread.

While the rear bar has, obviously, contributed to limiting the body roll to the point where it no longer rubs the tires, the car may still need a slight tweak to be fully balanced.

The front and rear suspensions combine to limit the body roll, but is each end of the car doing its correct percentage of work?

You might need just one step up on the front bar and/or spring - or perhaps a slightly softer rear spring - to balance the car off.

There is, of course, the possibility that I mentioned earlier - and that is that the aftermarket rear suspension manufacturer has actually engineered - or stumbled upon - the correct rear bar to match your OEM front suspension...in which case the car should act pretty balanced in the parking lot test.

I would still do the test just to satisfy my own mind, but it sounds as though you have made a major improvement in the handling and safety of your ride.....Congratulations!!


Bob Paulin

[GPster]

I only swap this scientific point mentioned once, but their was no question who mentioned it. Center of gravity. I would think that allof the information would be helpful but keep that in mindwhen what works on a low-down convertible doesnt seem worth the trouble on a sedan with a back seat and a roof that goes clear to the bumper. Of course I may find myself wrong. The '53 car sway-bar on my truck project has been removed because with no fenders and no bed I hoped that the cab would only seem top-heavy because of the "big head" (mine) behind the wheel. Keeping with the idea of using what you have the sway-bar will now serve as the headlight bar because it fit so nicely between the front shockupper mounts. The brackets that held the sway-bar to the frame are left on the bar and will serve as hinges so that the hood can flip foreward. The sway-bar link mounts where removed from the lower control arms to be used as mounts for the top of the rear shocks. Now you guys can get back to the original subject. GPster

[Phat]

I dont think i would heat a sway bar as its like a torsion bar...you heat it and its softer therefore changing the rate(maybe not a failure).  I have cut the ends off but heating more than a inch or so in would change the rate of the bar.  Also the Bar can not change the rollcenter...Only panhard bars and a-frame mounting, balljoint, spindle and some other good stuff(about 50 measurements) will change roll center... bars dont no matter how you mount them.  Bob is correct with softer springs.  I see this   all the time.  A guy will tell me he does not think he needs a sway bar(anti roll bar) as he has very little body roll...well after you drive the car and rattle your teeth he is correct it does not need just a sway bar but also a softer set of springs.  On most rods with coil overs the frontend guys have coil over with up too 650 lbs spring on the front drop that 150 to 200 and the ride is so much better but now you need the bar.  Add the bar and you have the best of both worlds. Unless scaled no one can possable tell you what spring rate to put in your car...h ell there diff in the same cars.  2  41 willys i have are a good example.  Both blown big block chevys.  One i have 450 lb springs in the other run 525s across the front But one has and aluim rad,engine and inch set back more, aluim heads ,no power steering,mini starter No a/c The other is a cast motor with all the bells and whistles so it heaver and needs the 525s.  So its a guessing game and if you want to really tune it it may take 2 maybe 3 sets of springs to get it right.  Guys like Bob and myself are lucky because we probaly have 20 sets of springs on the shelf from racing(maybe more LOL) Find a good race shop and check your springs also.  Sometimes even springs that are marked are wrong.  Bob knows this as we would change the # on our race springs to keep the competion guess.  Plus sometimes out of the box they are wrong.  There is also a fomula to figure out sway bar rates..maybe Bob has it ...i will drag one of my old setup books out.  Its pretty easy with a calculator and a tape measure to figure what you have so you can change if wanted.  If they have been heated the fomula wont work.  Well thats my book for the day...off too work on a little race car Q-midget LOL.