I've got a 56 F100 with a Camaro sub frame and the wife has a Durango. When I take one of them into the mountains, I'm usually pushing the cars in front of me because they drive too slowly. I took the Fairlane up to Arrowhead a few months ago and had to keep pulling over to let other cars go by because the Fairlane wanted to wallow in the curves. I knew something had to be done. I have talked with nascardave on the phone a few times about a new sway bar and when I went to the GNRS Saturday, I was halfway to his house so we made plans for me to pick up the bar. My old sway bar was a 3/4 inch bar (I thought they were all 9/16 inch stock, so either the Fairlanes got a bigger bar or someone before me had switched it out). I had thought about going with the 1 inch bar but later decided to go with the 1 1/8 inch. You get everything you need to install the new bar except the four bolts that go into the frame to mount the bushings. All the bushings are urethane and the bar is powder-coated. I went out early this morning to start the swap, had the old skinny bar off within about 15 minutes. I didn't have to remove anything else, it just slipped right out. When you look at the old bar next to the new one, the difference is obvious. Putting the new one in wasn't as easy as removing the old one, it was too big to just slide in. I had to remove one wheel, the rotor, backing plate and back the shock nut off to the end of the threads and then the bar squeezed in. All in all, not a tough job but, in replacing the brake pad, I broke a tab that holds the pad on and can't get a new one till tomorrow, had to order it. It's funny that the cars we take parts from to update ours are old enough now that their parts are hard to find. When I got the bar, it looked great, any scratches on it are because I don't have the patience to finesse things. I will be taking the Fairlane back up to the mountains within the next week and will let you know my impressions. P***enger side. Drivers side. I guess this is for the six cylinder motor mount. Dave includes shims in case the bar hits here but I decided to cut it off. You get the two center supports. This is all the tear-down I had to do and just on one side.
Let me know Ken, Maybe ill race you up the mountain (LOL). Ive taken mine up to b ig bear and it drove great with the 1" sway bar. My stock sway bar was 9/16". Maybe the 55's were 9?16 and the 56's were 3/4"
I never even measured the stocker on my 55. All I know is, the 1 1/8 I bought from the Thunderbird Ranch sure made that old car handle like a new one.
Stig - based on your images, it looks like you're using a late model Ford engine (5.0L from a Mustang or Explorer), and it's still wearing the stock/original harmonic balancer. Keep a VERY close eye on the sandwiched rubber portion - the late model balancers (~'86-'95) are notorious for failing, even when totally stock. The elastomer goes bad and begins to squish out. It then goes out of phase, and will, literally, take off the front of your engine when the snout of the crank snaps. I've seen it happen to friends with stock-ish engines, and it happened to me 35 minutes into my stint of a 3 hour enduro (that was a very expensive 35 minute first stint). In my instance, it destroyed the block, crank, front timing cover, water pump, all 8 rods, distributor, oil pan, damaged the pistons beyond reuse, cam was stuck in the engine, bent 6 of the 8 valves in each head, etc. We junked an awful lot of iron and steel parts that afternoon..... If that were my engine, I'd be looking to replace it with a Ford SFI unit - ASAP. I will NEVER use a stock balancer on ANY late model Ford engine, regardless of how hopped up it is, or isn't.
1982-1995 5.0's all used the same balancers,here is about the best deal on one:http://www.ebay.com/itm/PRW-SBF-289...Parts_Accessories&hash=item58970187aa&vxp=mtr
I bought mine from Thunderbirds Southwest, 1-800-722-8697 or, www.thunderbirdssouthwest.com Very nice people to do business with.
When installing that bar couldn't you put the bar in position on the drivers side then turn the wheels to the right to get the bar in place ? That bar has to come off of some make of car. Wish someone knew which one to look for in a salvage yard.
Hi rdah, The sway bars that are being discussed are custom made to match the original except they are being made in larger sizes, 1" and 1 1/8". These bars are for 54,55 and 56 fords this is not a retro fit bar from some other car. Dave
My bar from nascardave was about $170. It is about 3/8 inches bigger than the stock bar and there was no way to put it on without removing things. The stock bar came off without removing anything else.
Stig - in 11 years of road racing a late model 5.0L roller engine, the only balancer I'll use is the Ford Racing SFI 18.1 damper. I had that exact unit on my previous daily-driven 1986 Mustang that was Vortech Supercharged (375RWHP/385RWTQ, 30,000mi before I sold it), and my former CMC Championship 1985 Mustang GT. I put that damper on my racecar in 2004, and never had a problem. I know we all like to save a few bucks here and there, but buying an inexpensive damper is not a place to scrimp. The Ford Racing unit is expensive, but, IMO, based on my own personal experiences using them both on the street, and in a true racing environment, they are well worth the money. If you need additional information, don't hesitate to send a PM.
The sway bars run $170 for either 1" or 1 1/8". I can ship them or you can pick them up, I am in los angeles,calif. Dave
Nice looking sway bar. I plan on getting one of these from nascardave soon. nascardave: how much would shipping be to Texas 76240 for one of the 1 1/8" bars?
Do the really big bars (1-1/8) ever cause a problem with the skinny tabs on the 55-56 A-arms? One of the photos shows the big difference in part sizes.
Hi Hunter73, Fedex estimates the shipping of about $33. Dave Hi Greenbird56, I am not sure what you are talking about as a stress point, but if it is the lower support for the link end. I don't see that as a problem. Dave
I have a 54Merc monterey I have installed a 1inch bar on.(car is still in progress of build) IT will not enterchange with the Ford .Addco bent one up for me. I feel you should be careful taking your car to the edge of traction till you have had a chance to try it out. It will probably be a little loose when your on the edge with a 1 1/8 bar. Good luck. PS loose is faster on the track Good luck Nial
Hey Stig, inquiring minds want to know what you thought about the bigger bar? I believe you went to a car show shortly after you did this swap.
They work pretty good. I haven't done any wild driving yet, but seem good on regular roads. I'll be going up to the mountains within the next week so we'll see how they handle then.
Whoa! Be very, very, very careful in the mountains with your new bigger front anti-sway bar, the-stiq! A larger front anti-sway bar will cause your car to PUSH (understeer) to a much greater extent...maybe right off the edge of the road! You've got to be very careful to BALANCE the front and rear anti-sway bars so that the car goes neutral to slight understeer (this allows the use of throttle to induce mild, controlable oversteer) in the corners to be safe - just the opposet of what a bigger front sway bar will do. Here's a great explaination of how anti-sway bars work that might help: http://www.houseofthud.com/cartech/swaybars.htm Most original rear wheel drive p***enger cars are set up to understeer to a greater or lesser extent. This is considered the safest trait for the non-skilled driver to deal with. In emergency situations a car with moderate to heavy understeer will go pretty much straight ahead regardless of heavy throttle or brake applications. On the other hand, a car set up to oversteer in neutral or trailing throttle is spooky. It feels really good until the rear end starts coming around...but then you are right and truly screwed: more throttle and the rear comes around faster spinning you out; less throttle (or brakes) and the car will tend to high-side violently putting you into the outside guard rail if you don't correct fast enough. Also, be aware that heavy anti-sway bars upset the spring rates on rough - even mildly rough - surfaces which can reduce traction under those conditions in a turn. On a smooth track (or road) everything is predictable, but add some bumps or frost heaves and everything becomes unpredicable...and can absolutely spoil your day. The canyons on both sides of Mullholland Drive are littered with the carc***es of those who didn't do their homework well enough to avoid a tragedy. I hate to return to this great social group as a know-it-all, but I'd hate even more to hear that you'd bent up your cool Ford - or yourownself and your family - because nobody gave you a heads-up on the dangers of mucking with your anti-sway bars without proper knowledge of the consequences.
That's a really interesting article. I just ***umed that with sway bars, bigger is better and front + rear is better than just front. Definitely got something to think about now.
I have a 1" sway bar that I got from nascardave a year ago, I went up the same mountain that The-stig is talking about and it was a world of difference from the 9/16" stock bar. The-stig and I are going to go up the mountain together in a couple of weeks (as we are nieghbors). We'll see whos car handles better.
I haven't been to the mountains yet, but I have put about 400 miles on my 56 since adding the new sway bar, including a 150 mile round trip to the beach today. It corners a lot better now. I am able to take curves and corners a lot easier. I'm no canyon carver, but I do like to push it a little in curves. I am very happy with the results.
That's great news! Apparently your car likes more front bar than it had originally. Many early cars do...as long as you don't overdo it. Here's something you might want to try in order to find the limit of your new setup. Find an empty parking lot and drive the car in a fairly tight circle going ever faster until the car won't hold the circle any more ("washes out"). This will give you an idea of how hard you can push your car in the corners when you do take your little trip into the mountains...without risk of a big drop at the end. It will also give you some experience with the warning signs that the car is about to lose traction in an understeer event. The whole idea is to be able to enjoy the car in the curves, but without getting in over your head...with decidedly unpleasant consequences. Sounds like you started doing your homework today. Good man.
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