sway bar

[will_95gt]

OK my sway bar broke (don't ask how the hell that happened cuz i have no clue)

So, after leaving it hanging off on one side for a good month or 3 i just now took it off. I figure, its not like it was doing any good at all or even working. Now, this is where it gets hairy. My parents see me taking a large bar out from under my car and throwing it in the garage... no matter how much i convice them that i can still drive 6 streets down to school and back without the car falling apart because i took off the sway bar... they are still freaking out and are now saying i can't drive untill i buy a new one! crapola

soooooo, how unsafe is driving without a sway bar. I realize i'm not going to spin out of control going 30 to school and back but what do u guys think? How urgent is it to get a new one. I don't plan on highway driving or anything for a while but do u guys think just residential stuff is fine for now? Also, i found a used cobra one for 80 bucks. IS that a fairly good deal?


Thanks guys

 

[BlackVert]

on our cars, a broken sway bar is very common. i had mine off for a year and a half. some people who have aftermarket control arms take them off on purpose.

if you have stock control arms, a sway bar will help keep them where they should be and you should definately get a new sway bar, but you can go a few weeks without worrying, just drive gently.

 

[RFMustangGT]

what does a broke sway bar feel like?

 

[urban96]

front or rear?

 

[RFMustangGT]

both

 

[will_95gt]

well my rear sway bar is the one that was broken. I didn't feel a difference in the way it drove although it made a hiddeous racket.

 

[will_95gt]

This guy told me he could weld mine as good as new... is this ill advised? Are the stock sway bars steel?

 

[TMC]

don't weld it...it's a spring and by welding it you will change it's rate and make it more brittle.

Tell you're parents to climb under a v6 stang and look for that silly bar, they won't find one.

 

[Labora]

Common problem. I haven't driven with my rear bar for over 8 months. (and from what I've heard Cobra's even have a softer rear spring rate then GT's (big sway bar and softer springs)) so you shouldn't have any problems.

It is perfectly safe. I've had my car up to 120ish, been to the 1/4 mile track, and done a autox without it. If you can get a 94-95 Cobra bar for 80$ jump on it thou sounds like a good deal (if it also isn't cracked or broken!)

 

[chrismillion]

correction

don't weld it...it's a spring and by welding it you will change it's rate and make it more brittle.

Tell you're parents to climb under a v6 stang and look for that silly bar, they won't find one.

there is a sway bar under V-6 stangs. when mine broke on my 95GT, i took the one off my 95 V-6 and put it on.

 

[TMC]

there is a sway bar under V-6 stangs. when mine broke on my 95GT, i took the one off my 95 V-6 and put it on.

Hmmm...learn something new everyday.

 

[CManT1914]

When my sway bar broke the rear just felt a little more squirrely in the twisties. But that was going like 80mph on back roads, not 15 around residential corners. It's not that big of a deal really. I did end up buying an Eibach set, but that's just because I'm picky.

However........... losing the FRONT sway bar can be bad. You will lose a lot of cornering ability. The only good part of doing that is it allows more weight transfer to the rear wheels = better launches.

 

[95cobradude]

the rear cobra bar is the fix for that but the front cobra bars on the 94-95 aint worth a lick.

 

[BlackVert]

yeah, i heard that the cobra sway bars are much beefier than stock gt sway bars.

 

[FORCED2DV8]

I think the rest of them covered it.

 

[will_95gt]

welllll, i had my broken one welded... the guy said he'd weld it for free so i figured why not. It had broke right at a bracket so naturally that bracket is probably lying in some ditch in the mid-eastern US. Would it be worth it to order another bracket and put in the welded one? I don't see how it would make a difference, it seems to be as good as new. And what size brackets are on our cars? thanks guys

 

[whitesnake1994]

dumb question...where is the front sway bar??

 

[CManT1914]

dumb question...where is the front sway bar??

It attaches with the help of some end-links to the a-arms IIRC. You can't miss it, it's a big bar in the shape of a C.

 

[Zero Signal]

Our stock setup in the rear sucks. It's not even mounted right. It has no guide bushings. With the lateral play in our 4-link rear, the stock bar just snaps under just the right loading conditions. I broke two of them, and now I don't have one. When I get around to getting a new one, it's going to be a real swaybar from MM or equivalent.

 

[ccoypat]

I had my rear sway bar break. I had it welded and it didn't last a month. I went to the dealer and ordered a cobra rear sway bar for about $130. I haven't had any problems since.