Rear Sway Bar Opinions

[70 Challenger Lover]

As I continue the metal work on my 70 Challenger, I know I want to add a rear sway bar. My car is a shell at the moment and it occurs to me I will need to have the rear suspension compressed to set up the rear bar. Mainly, I just want to ensure I weld the brackets at the right location on the rear rails. The shell is on a rack currently and I hope to transfer it next to a rotisserie to at least epoxy and paint the underside.

Any thoughts on how to mock up the rear axle tube so I can figure out where the frame rail brackets go?

On another note, I'm considering the Hotchkis bar. Any others I should look at?

[Chryco Psycho]

if you use a factory rear bar there should be dimples where the brackets are mounted & the screws go in .

[70 Challenger Lover]

I was hoping to use a thicker aftermarket one. But maybe Hotchkis locates their frame bracket in the same spot which would tell me where to weld without having to put anything together for mock up.

[gzig5]

I'm pretty sure most, or at least several, of the aftermarket bars use different mounting points than the OEM frame locations. 

On my car, the frame rails rusted BADLY under the sway bar mount brackets.  Probably not as much a problem now as when these cars were daily driven in the rain and snow. But keep that in mind.  Anytime you are layering components like that where moisture can get in between them.

[70 Challenger Lover]

Everything is new metal now and once finished, it won't see the harsh elements again.

I think what I'm going to have to do is finish the rear metal work and sit it back on the ground, on its rear wheels and compress the suspension normally, then mock up the new bar and figure out the ideal location of the frame brackets. I want to get the car on a rotisserie at some point to clean and paint the underside so I can always weld the brackets in then once I have the proper location identified.

[EB3-GranCoupe]

I purchased my rear swaybar from Firmfeel.  Factory specs, bolts at factory location, tho i think the factory welded the brackets on.

[70 Challenger Lover]

That looks pretty nice. Appreciate the photos.

[Brads70]

I have the Hotchkis rear bar. Here are some pictures if it helps?

[gzig5]

I purchased my rear swaybar from Firmfeel.  Factory specs, bolts at factory location, tho i think the factory welded the brackets on.

Nope.  The factory brackets are bolted in.  Similar to that picture.

[70 Challenger Lover]

Thanks for the Hotchkis picture. That's the one I was considering for a few reasons. It's thicker, the brackets are heavy duty welded to the frame and it goes under the rear end which would provide good exhaust pipe clearance.

If the brackets were a 1/2" too high or too low, that would change the angle of the bar slightly but would that matter? I was looking at their instructions and it only said to mock it up to determine the bracket location. It did not specify the ideal bar angle. I assume level. I also noticed three positions on the links. What does changing them one way or the other do for performance?

[Brads70]

Thanks for the Hotchkis picture. That's the one I was considering for a few reasons. It's thicker, the brackets are heavy duty welded to the frame and it goes under the rear end which would provide good exhaust pipe clearance.

If the brackets were a 1/2" too high or too low, that would change the angle of the bar slightly but would that matter? I was looking at their instructions and it only said to mock it up to determine the bracket location. It did not specify the ideal bar angle. I assume level. I also noticed three positions on the links. What does changing them one way or the other do for performance?

I'd wait till it was on the suspension before I welded on the bracket. If you get it wrong the bar could hang down too low. The 3 hole change the rate by making the arm shorter or longer. Always nice to have options. IMO . Nice thing about this bar is when I changed to a B-Body width Dana it simply bolted back on to the new housing. No mods required. Its also much lighter that the stock set up or Firm feel set up. 


I guess it you welded it on in the wrong spot one could simply make a new link using rod ends easy enough?

[dodj]

It's thicker, the brackets are heavy duty welded to the frame and it goes under the rear end which would provide good exhaust pipe clearance.

I have a PST bar which goes under the rear end as well. BUT, from a handling perspective they are not as good as the frame mounted bars because when they are axle mounted, they are unsprung weight. Which is detrimental to handling.

[HP2]

Simply slapping a large rear bar under a car doesn't always create the desired results. Sway bars work as a system with the suspension. If, based on your current front suspension, your car is a bit loose or tail happy already, which can happen depending on your torsion bar and leaf spring choice, adding a rear sway can make it even worse.

There also are numerous design considerations that are part of the formula. I have found that the factory 3/4" rear sway bar produces almost the same rate as some 7/8" aftermarket bars.  This is due to the length of the attaching arms.  The factory style arms are much shorter than every aftermarket offering out there.

There also is the frame hung vs axle hung difference. While it is always desirable to reduce unsprung weight, IMO most of us can't tell the difference in unsprung weight a 10-15# sway bar produces. Heck, I've seen many people ditch aftermarket wheels for stock versions that add that much weight  PER  WHEEL, and not notice a difference.

In any case, if you still want a factory style but in a larger version, call the guys at Firm Feel and ask them about it.  While they only advertise the factory style .75 inch unit, I believe they  can bend up a larger version for you at an extra cost.

[GoodysGotaCuda]

I didn't see this mentioned but, pay attention to your proposed exhaust routing. The Hotchkis bar runs under the axle, which allows for lots of space above the axle for exhaust to run over and out the back.

As mentioned, the couple pound difference of unsprung weight here isn't going to matter.


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[Mrbill426]

Does anyone sell just the bars to replace the originals while using the factory hardware or are they all "kits"?