After market front sway bars

[lalessi1]

I was about to pull the trigger on a Southwest T-birds/Concours Parts front sway bar. A question came up in another thread about wheel/tire clearance problems with these bars depending on backspacing, wheel diameter, tire size and when the sway bars were produced???. I am running 15" Vintiques, 4.25" backspace, and 225/60 tires. Will this work?

I am also considering a sway bar made by Quickor that is for a '59 and will clear any wheel tire combo, but it mounts in a stock 59 location and I am not familiar with the mods necessary to install one of these...anybody using a 59 sway bar?

[canadian_ranchero]

i measured the granada rim from where it bolts up to where the tire bead sits on the back side.it is 3 1/8" 

[SkylinerRon]

57-59 Frame horns are the same. The 59 bar is similar to most all modern sway bars.
You may have to drill holes in the frame and lower control arms as most 57's aren't drilled.
Back in the old days someone suggested running both 57&59 bars at the same time,
never tried it though. BTW; 57-64 LCA's are the same except for the hole for the bar mount.
Goodluck,
Ron.

[65kcode]

SkylinerRon,

That is great information about the 59 bar. Anybody got the dimensions about where the hole is drilled in the 59 LCA? Pictures would be even better!

Kevin

[canadian_ranchero]

if you look at my 4.6 swap post, you will see pictures of the aftermarket front sway bar

[lalessi1]

There is a company making a 1" bar for a '59 that fits in the stock location. They also show a 1" bar for a '57 Ford, no pics though. They claim that any wheel and tire will clear the 59 bar.

http://www.quickorgarage.com/newparts/newfrontsway.htm

[Raven Rider]

I looked at the above link and they say it fits 59 fords am I to assume this would work for a 57 Wagon?  Has anyone used these sway bars before and are they the correct diameter?

[lalessi1]

I bought one. I think their bar offers the same or better roll resistance as the Southwest/Concours bar even though it is slightly smaller in diameter because it has much shorter "arms".

[RICH MUISE]

Let us know how it works after you get it set up. We're expecting step by step hd pics of course! Let us know on the tire clearance as well. I would think this is more of an issue with the guys that are using the steering boxes. Since the turning radius on the R & P is so much less anyways, I wouldn't think it would matter for us. I can't say for sure if I will have atire clearance issue because I''ll have just the for-rolling-around donuts on the front until next year.

[lalessi1]

Will do!!

[lalessi1]

Well I finally received my Quickor Garages front sway bar yesterday. The bar looks great and it installs in the '59 factory location. The kit uses the factory clamps to mount the bar to the frame that I don't have and after a quick look on eBay, I bought a pair for $20 bucks this morning. They are very thick and the bolts are on one side of the bar. I'll post pictures when I get the clamps. The installation should be very straight forward, two issues.. getting it into position and bolting the clamps to the frame. The instructions say I will need to remove one lower control arm and/or remove the harmonic balancer or remove the engine (say what!!!) ... I am gonna start by removing the harmonic balancer.... won't happen till next Friday at the soonest.

[hiball3985]

SAY WHAT!!! your not kidding. I don't know what the 59 bar looks like or how it mounts, for some reason I always ignored 59's  . I assume it goes behind the front cross member if it requires removing the balancer.  I'll be interested to see how this goes. I got the bar from Concourse and installation was a snap.

[RICH MUISE]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the reason for going with the '59 was eliminating posible interference with the wheel/turning radius that the '57 HD's may have.?

[lalessi1]

Rich you are correct, the only reason I opted for this bar is wheel/tire clearance. I really liked the Concours bar and I knew it was a simple install. I am expecting some mounting mods will be required with this bar, we shall see how difficult.... hiball, yessir this bar mounts behind the radiator support. Even though the bar is 1" I think it may be a little stiffer than the Concours bar. I also saw that the Concours bar can bottom out on lowered cars so I figured this may be an option for those of us with dreams of "low riding".

[hiball3985]

Yes, thats the one draw back of the Concourse bar. I've bottomed mine out more then a few times. I'm sure it would be fine with a stock ride height but I have Granada spindles so it's sitting lower in the front.

Nice looking bar, hope it works out good for you. I can't picture why the dampener needs to be removed?