I will be removing the pan in a few weeks. Reading the manual it says to remove the front sway bar. It also says to put the weight on the front wheels while doing this. Is that really necessary or can it be removed with the wheels suspended with jack stands under the frame. I have the wheels presently off the car and it would be more convenient to leave them that way while working on the motor.
You can probably pry it off but you will never get it back on.
I always R&R my ADDCO sway bar with the suspension hanging. I use safety jack posts both installing and removing.
Doesn`t the ADDCO sway bar use end links? If so, totally different design than a factory 57 bar, which is mounted with 4 rubber bushings clamped to the lower control arms. As mentioned, it may be possible to remove the bar with the wheels hanging, but may damage the mounting clamps, plus will never be able to reinstall it that way.
OK thankyou for sharing your experience. I see I will have to install the front wheels and let them rest on ramps so the front springs are loaded.
As mentioned many times in the past, a HD sway bar is going to give you the most bang for the buck than just about anything else you can do.
ADDCO stay bars are definitely much better than original. However not for us purists. The 1" replacement type from Jeggs is an improvement over stock 7/8 bar.
If there is one part of the design of my 57 that I would like to change, it is definitely the sway bar. I think it is very inadequate. Eventually I will change it. So I would ask, which is the best one to use?
If you really wanted to avoid putting the front tires on, you may be able to put a floor jack under each control arm and raise them enough to unbolt the sway bar, but the front of the car may lift up before you get it high enough, especially if all the weight is not in the car.
Which aftermarket front swaybar.......Gasman (Gary) and others have used the ADDCO bars. Not sure where they get them. Most of us here have used the bars from Thunderbirds Southwest, also available at Concorse. Results are probably very similar, but I believe the design and mounting differ from each other.
I believe both suppliers I mentioned are on our list of vendors.
Thank you for all the advice and input.
The sway bar on my 58 Edsel Pacer was a perfect fit on the Ranchero. I suspect that setup would be the same for 58 - 64 Fords? There were even holes in the lower control arm for the links. I did have to weld the brackets to the frame. The rubber for the frame mount and it's U shaped fastener were stock 58 Edsel. Just made a couple of plates to weld up.
https://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=6035.120 post 128 on that page.