I'm getting conflicting info.. my 40 Ford convert has a front swaybar. Did they originally come with one or is it an add-on?
OEM, I believe there were 2 kinds. Actually properly it is mainly an anti-roll bar, but one of the versions used laterally rigid lins so that it worked against sway also!
That's good to know, because I thought they all had them too, since the previous model years handled so poorly in the corners.
Yeah, there's one on my 40 coupe. It's a deluxe. As Bruce says, it also helps resist sideways movement too due to the link pivots. They look like spring shackle pins to me. The 40 spring is longer and the shackles hang almost vertically. instead of at an angle. This is acceptable due to the sideways location afforded by the anti-sway bar. Mart.
My 40 Standard Coupe had the factory sway bar and I've seen plenty with them. I don't think the DeLuxe only idea holds water any more. There was an early version and the later one which used links(sometimes called knuckles) to connect the bar to the perch.
My standard has the provisions on the perch pins for the sway bar, but no bar...I've got a bar, but not fitted it.
Anyone care to post a pic of it? I have an old setup (bar and mounts) I thought was off a '40, but can't be sure.
I have a couple pics here.. The lower pivot is a shackle bush. the swaybar attachments to the chassis aslo resist sideways movement.
'40 and '41 share the same drawings in the books... The early '40 has odd ends containing a small ball stud like a Ford shock absorber link, which attach directly to the perches.
Anyone notice the illustration shows the perch bolts and links backwards? Backwards to how they're fitted in my car anyhow. I can't see how they would fit if they were the other way round (in my car anyhow..) Mart.
Ford was notorious for making running changes that did not coincide precisely with a model year change. It's entirely possible that early '40 Standards may not have had a stabilizer bar, but Standard, Deluxe, and 1/2 ton pickup/panel were all built on the same basic chassis. Never saw a stabilizer bar on a pickup, but don't recall ever seeing an original '40 car that didn't have one. My next project on my '38 pickup with stock front end is to find a stabilizer bar setup from a '40 car and install on my truck. The longer '40 spring (which makes the shackles hang almost straight down instead of at an angle) was done to get the car lower in the front, but this design made the car more prone to swaying, thus necessitating the stabilizer bar.
I've got one that came is a parts buyout. It has one tube shock tower, is that an aftermarket item or did Ford offer tube shocks as well as the standard lever type?
Tube shocks came into partial production in 1947, took over in '48. My early '48 and a few others I've seen had the lever type. Tube shock aftermarket conversions for all V-8s are very common.
my copy of the 1940 ford salesmans manual states that "ride stabilizer on all 85hp cars" page 11 it goes on to state that "the ride stabilizer and the changes in the spring suspension are not included in the 60 hp cars" (page 5)
The front stabilizer bar on 40 fords also created the frame cracking at the firewall problem. Most 40's in the gravel road country had their frames cracked at the firewall. 35-39 didn't have the sway bar and usually the frames are ok at the firewall. The anti sway bar must have really stressed the frame. Pat.
I’ve had 2 40 deluxe sedans, one had tube shocks all round and sway bar, one had friction shocks and no sway bar....
My sedan Delivery had one from the factory, has since been replaced with one of our 1" diameter bars. Bigmac 48 sedan has the factory bar.
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