sway bar

57 imposter · 2012-10-02 15:22

Has anyone had any luck finding a heavy duty front sway bar that will bolt in the stock location?

suede57ford · 2012-10-02 18:13

A '59 Ford sway bar is a more traditonal looking bar. I used a '59 station wagon one on my '57 Custom Sedan. It worked really well. I hated the original style bar.

I also bought one of the aftermarket style that bolts under the bumper brackets. I took it off right away as it was ugly and always hitting stuff.

I am going to try larger diameter aftermarket '59 Ford styled one from the Quikor company that fits '59 and is original stlyed on my Ranch wagon and future builds.

To use a '59 styled bar on a '57 you have to put some nuts in the front frame horn and then you can use a standard aftermarket bushing and aftermaket brackets to hold the bar to the frame. I made a flat steel strap with two 3/8 lock nuts welded to it and cut a slot in the frame to slide it in. I then welded the hole in the frame up.

The '57 control arms already have the hole for the endlinks to go through.

It was worth the time when doing the lower control arm bushings as a '59 sway bar cannot be installed or removed without taking at least one control arm off as the '59 bar actually goes over the control arms.

I did rear sway bars too. The aftermarket for that seems to work really well. I did use a '57 chebie aftermarket one on the back of my '57 sedan when I mini tubbd it. It was cheap on eBay and worked good too.

RICH MUISE · 2012-10-02 20:49

I'm not sure what you mean by bolting on in the stock location, but the one that Thunderbirds southwest sells bolts on with existing oem holes...no mods needed....it just isn't the"stock location" you refered to. I'm not sure if it's the "ugly" one Pat was talking about, but I have a pic of mine posted in the gallery section...under construction...second page about 1/2 way down. Instalation time is about an hour...even for an old guy like me.
Rich

gasman826 · 2012-10-03 08:21

PST offers a larger diameter sway bar that fits the OEM location. I made poly inner bushings. With only the upgraded front sway bar, car corners pretty good even with air bags.

Alex L. · 2012-10-03 11:08

Addco makes a stock looking one that is a larger diameter and fits up with the original brackets. I have it and it works pretty well, not road racing stiff but a good increase over stock.

57 imposter · 2012-10-03 13:50

Thanks guys, did some research and found that Addco makes a sway bar that is 7/8" dia. part number 2151. PST sells theirs under the same part number and Addco lists Southwest Thunderbirds as a dealer. My guess is everyone is running the same bar from different suppliers. The problem I have is that the stock sway bar is 3/4" dia. and it seems to me that another 1/8" is not going to make much of a difference in handling. Maybe it is made from much better material and will give increased performance. Anyway I have a call in to Addco Tech service and if I get a call back I will see what they have to say.

RICH MUISE · 2012-10-03 17:03

The one from Thunderbirds is not the same...it's an 1 1/8 dia.(big diference) and mounts to existing holes on the lower control arm. It is their design and they have it manufactured for them....(they told me this is a revised design from their initial offering which only had one frame mounting bracket in the center).
Concourse Parts is a distributor for the T'brdSW version also. If you order one from Concourse it will probably be drop shipped from T'BirdSW.
I think my old one, btw, was 5/8, not 3/4.

57 imposter · 2012-10-03 18:20

1 1/8" now that's more like it! I will give them a call tomorrow

57 imposter · 2012-10-03 18:30

Rich.......Just checked out your sway bar picture, That thing looks serious enough for Daytona. Gota have one thanks

robhaerr · 2012-10-03 18:46

Here are photos of mine, but I haven't driven yet. I also got the rear sway bar, too, but I don't have a great photo of it. I got them from Concours Parts. http://www.concoursparts.com

link to front sway bar: http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~dyndetail~Z5Z5Z50000051e~Z5Z5Z5AAQUM~P229.95~~~~S3M1171OS997931410232a~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50000051e

There are different sway rear sway bars depending on what model you have.

This video episode shows the rear sway bar at 1:30 in the clip...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1FWwsjxJKw

Looking forward to getting this runnin' and drivin'...

Rob

Zapato · 2012-10-04 16:08

Didn't realize ADDCO was still around, bought stuff from them years ago but haven't noticed them mentioned anywhere for years. Not being into sports cars anymore may explain that. Anyone check with Quickor to see what they offer and price? They built one for my 51 years ago and can/would build anything wanted. If they don't have specs for one they can build one using yours as a pattern but as desired. My guess if you contact any of them and ask for more diameter than they normally use they will build to order. Its done for road racers all the time.

Zap-

57 imposter · 2012-10-04 16:09

So I got ahold of Lance at Thunderbird Southwest today to order my sway bar. What a nice guy to deal with. We were on the phone for almost forty minutes discussing everything except sway bars and politics. I didn't have the guts to ask what it was going to cost so I guess I will have that as a little surprise when I get the package. They do make these for a lot of different years and models. I am sure it is going to do exactly what I am looking for.

RICH MUISE · 2012-10-04 20:10

should be about $230 plus shipping.

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sway bar