Rear Sway Bar Help Needed

3spd on floor · May 19, 2004

So i'm trying to figure out where to drill the damn holes for this thing to mount to, and having a bit of trouble. I'm trying to find a place so that the links are pretty much un-stress when the suspension is at normal ride height, but i cant get it to happen like that. With the full weight of the car on it, the links are pretty flexed and the end of the actual bar is no where near level. Could this be because i havent lowered the rear of the car? Would lowering blocks change this?

I've tried using longer bolts with spacers in the endlinks but i dont know if this would cause any adverse handling affects. I attached a pic of it with both end link sizes, again, this is with the suspension at neutral height.

any ideas? is this just how it should be?

66P51GT · May 19, 2004

The swaybar I installed is a different design but faces foreward, not backwards. It also mounted on the bottom of the axle, not the top. The frame rails are much lower in front of the rear axle.

3spd on floor · May 19, 2004

well for a minute there i thought i was a complete idiot, but after 20 minutes or so of laying on my back under the car with damn cicadas crawling all over me i can confidently say there is no way that this bar is designed to mount under the axle facing forwards. unless of course i relocate the shocks and notch the leaf springs for clearance.

i really just want to avoid putting so much preload on the bar that it messes up handling.

any other thoughts?

thanks again guys.

Route666 · May 19, 2004

With full weight on it it looks like the bar should be level to me. You should probably mark the holes after putting it back on its wheels.

3spd on floor · May 19, 2004

do you think the suspension would really sag that much more if i put the wheels on and let it down off the jack? When i was trying to line it up the only thing holding it up was the jack under the diff, so i thought that would be pretty much all the weight. I'll try that tomorrow and see if it fixes anything.

Thanks

Route666 · May 19, 2004

Well if the jack is under the diff, it will still go down a little, maybe an inch or so, so it most likely won't be perfectly level, but should be ok I think.

EDIT: Especially with the jack being near the centre, the wheel will have more leverage on the suspension than the jack right under there. Hmm, although the whole thing is in the air, so it shouldn't matter. Making it lower (jacking it down) will transfer weight to the rear a little too.

Best to do it where it is going to be mostly anyway.

Route666 · May 19, 2004

Oh, and I'd say use the extension spacers and longer bolts.

66P51GT · May 20, 2004

Route666 said:
Well if the jack is under the diff, it will still go down a little, maybe an inch or so, so it most likely won't be perfectly level, but should be ok I think.

EDIT: Especially with the jack being near the centre, the wheel will have more leverage on the suspension than the jack right under there. Hmm, although the whole thing is in the air, so it shouldn't matter. Making it lower (jacking it down) will transfer weight to the rear a little too.

Best to do it where it is going to be mostly anyway.

It doesn't make any difference if the jack is in under the differential you use jack stands under the leaf springs. You are still lifting the rear from the suspension.

I've used two different styles of rear swaybars (fixed and adjustable). Both faced forward and fit perfectly.

66P51GT · May 20, 2004

Not my car but it should give you the idea...

Route666 · May 20, 2004

66P51GT said:
It doesn't make any difference if the jack is in under the differential you use jack stands under the leaf springs. You are still lifting the rear from the suspension.

I've used two different styles of rear swaybars (fixed and adjustable). Both faced forward and fit perfectly.

I know, that's why I added more to my post, it may matter slightly that the car is on a jack though that weight isn't distributed like it would be sitting on the tires.

Route666 · May 20, 2004

66P51GT said:
Not my car but it should give you the idea...

That doesn't look like the same kit.

Route666 · May 21, 2004

I should say, that from 66P51GT's post of that pic, that if you can rotate the sway-bar diff mounts, like in the pic, you will be able to mount to the subframes perpendicularly, thus having no tension on the connection (where the bushings and extension are).

EDIT: I don't mean rotate it so it is under the diff, just so that the bits of the bar that run length-ways along the car are parallel to the subframe, thus making the connection more or less perpendicular.

mustangdave · May 21, 2004

What brand sway bar do you have?

KillerKittyCat · May 21, 2004

IMHO - take the bar back. You do not need it. Rear bar on an early Mustang is equivelent to saying chrome will make you go faster!

Snail50 · May 21, 2004

It looks like we have the same bar, and that yours is installed basically correct. Take a look at the pics I emailed you and see if you can see anything different in there.

is the rod with the bushings on it tightened down already? If so, loosen it up so the upper mounting bracket has free play until you mount everything.

also, if the car is jacked up by the frame, I think that is wrong. You'll need to jack it up and put jackstands under both sides of the axle, not the frame. that way the car still has load on it, but is raised up where you can work.

Snail50 · May 21, 2004

I don't know if I mention this to you in my PM, but you cannot position the mounting bracket on the frame without the car either being on the ground, or with the axle sitting on jackstands. you won't be able to locate the bracket correctly for drilling if the car is jacked up by the frame wiht the axle hanging down.

Rear Sway Bar Help Needed

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My rearend needs a stud and two nuts.

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