Adding rear sway bar pros or cons

[gtx6970]

Toying with the.idea to add a rear sway bar to my car.

Looking for advice or brands or types to maybe avoid or look at closer

It has the oem front bar on it that I have no interest to change or feel the need to upgrade

 

[Cranky]

Ain't no cons to that but have no recommendations as to what brand. Only con is if you go too big....that is if you hate oversteer.

 

[Darter6]

Did a 67 Dart with front and rear. Handled like a slot car. They were Hellwig.

 

[Doorkicker]

I put in a Hotchis rear and a Hellwig front. It's been great.

 

[qkcuda]

I looked into putting a rear sway bar on my 66 Charger. Before you commit to a brand, study the frame mounts carefully, there is not a lot of room between the frame and the mufflers. I ended up with just a larger front bar on mine and it seems fine.

 

[WileE]

Add me on the "pro" side of a rear sway bar.

 

[Jonas Nordstrom]

Rear and front hotchkis. Together with everything else upgraded, handles like a go-cart.

 

[junior340]

Very happy with my Hellwig.

 

[Kern Dog]

It is a matter of balance.
A properly balanced car will be predictable when you make sudden steering actions. An improperly set up car will surprise you and in a bad way.
Roll stiffness is reduced when you add a sway bar to either end. That usually helps but just like a big, rowdy cam in a stock, low compression engine, there are limits as to how big you should go.
Using a BIG rear bar with either a small front bar or no front bar is a bad idea. The car will feel okay at low speeds but as speed increases, the tendency to spin out gets worse. A rear bar has two effects. It reduces body roll and in extreme cases, reduces actual traction on the inside tire in a turn. A sudden jerk of the wheel at speed can result in sending the rear of the car sideways which can be very hard to control.
Those guys that “drift” are skilled at riding that edge where the car looks like it could spin out at any moment. For them, the tail happy oversteer is desirable. For most regular guys in a street car, too much rear bar can leave you nervous.

 

[Huicho417]

I added the Summit house brant to my Coronet front and rear. It completely changed the ride of the car. I would also highly recommend QA-1 tubular upper control arms and adjustable shock.

 

[Cranky]

It is a matter of balance.
A properly balanced car will be predictable when you make sudden steering actions. An improperly set up car will surprise you and in a bad way.
Roll stiffness is reduced when you add a sway bar to either end. That usually helps but just like a big, rowdy cam in a stock, low compression engine, there are limits as to how big you should go.
Using a BIG rear bar with either a small front bar or no front bar is a bad idea. The car will feel okay at low speeds but as speed increases, the tendency to spin out gets worse. A rear bar has two effects. It reduces body roll and in extreme cases, reduces actual traction on the inside tire in a turn. A sudden jerk of the wheel at speed can result in sending the rear of the car sideways which can be very hard to control.
Those guys that “drift” are skilled at riding that edge where the car looks like it could spin out at any moment. For them, the tail happy oversteer is desirable. For most regular guys in a street car, too much rear bar can leave you nervous.

I like a car that has a touch of oversteer to it....and if you end up with a combo like that, a bit wider tire on the rear can help it get closer to neutral. My V6 Dakota with 255-60-15's mounted on 8" wheels was about as perfect as one could ask for in a pickup with a fat looking factory front bar and no bar on the rear. My V8 truck that was set up the same (except for wheels and tires) plowed like crazy until ya stabbed the gas and then it would go into full OS! It still had the factory skinny tires and wheels though.

 

[#41]

The only con is spending the money and a little added weight. Not really cons when you consider the gain of less body roll and improved tire contact without impacting spring rate.... maintaining the comfy ride.

 

[Cranky]

The only con is spending the money and a little added weight. Not really cons when you consider the gain of less body roll and improved tire contact without impacting spring rate.... maintaining the comfy ride.

Years ago a buddy went with heavy duty springs along with a pair of big bars and better shocks on a 73 Cuda. Dang thing rode like a 1 ton truck.....it sucked. Imo, having that combination on a street car is....well, not my cup of tea. I like my cars to ride good too and not rattle my teeth out and have been a proponent of NOT having harsh springs but going with bigger front and rear bars.

 

[hunt2elk]

On both my B Bodies. I left the original front bars and added Firm Feel 3/4" rears. I was very surprised at how much body roll was eliminated. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[tmaleck]

Toying with the.idea to add a rear sway bar to my car.

Looking for advice or brands or types to maybe avoid or look at closer

It has the oem front bar on it that I have no interest to change or feel the need to upgrade

I used Addco on my Charger. I used a factory style bar on my 442. These old cars practically beg for one. I used to get a ton of rear body roll, I see why they are called land yachts.

 

[Dave6T4]

Many years ago, I took the complete rear sway bar setup out of a junkyard '80's Police Diplomat and installed it in my '67 Coronet station wagon. I had to modify the frame brackets because the B-body frame rail is wider than a Dippy rail. This made a huge difference in how the wagon handled. I had no clearance problems with this addition.
A few years later, I decided to put a rear sway bar on my '67 R/T to solve a problem of my rear tires getting scuffed. The tires had clearance around them as the car sat still, but in actual driving, the car moved around on its suspension enough that the tires were getting marked. Since junkyard Police Dippy's were now scarce, I ordered a rear bar from Firm Feel. When it arrived, I was surprised to see that it looked identical to the Police bar I used years before on my wagon. The kit had wider frame mounts for the B-body frame rails. The kit installed easily with no clearance problems. The bar is hung from the rear frame, so is unsprung weight. It looks factory, like the ones used on some E-bodies. GM used a similar setup on 442's, etc. The addition of this bar did exactly what I wanted it to do. This cured the rubbing of my tires.

 

[gtx6970]

Excellent info.
My car is factory hemi car, so I know I'm fighting a huge boat anchor weight problem already.
I followed it a few weeks back when my daughter was driving it. I really noticed the body rolled pretty good in a simple intersection left turn

So I'm just looking to make it a little more sure footed on turns.
I'm not after a canyon carver or truck type ride.

And I'm toying with the idea to go ahead and convert it to front disc brakes while I'm at it

Decisions Decisions

 

[AR67GTX]

Typically, you would suspect that Detroit engineers designed the cars handling to be fairly balanced between oversteer and understeer, even if the roll was high and limits low. Adding a rear bar would reasonably necessitate adding a bit larger front bar to keep that balance and not increase oversteer. Going to a larger front bar alone could add a bit more understeer but it’s more easily compensated for with the throttle.

 

[Sixpactogo]

Disc brakes are an upgrade along with the rear bar. I used the Firm Feel 3/4" rear bar with my stock front sway bar. As hunt2elk said it was a great improvement in handling. There are a couple benefits for the Firm Feel bar in that it is mounted like the factory mounted them on E body cars. Up above the axle and out of the way unlike most of them that are mounted under the axle. The other plus is that it is not "unsprung" weight. Meaning the weight being mounted to the body is more desirable than being added to the axle. I never cared much for the looks of a bar hanging down under the axle anyway.
By the way, if you have power drum brakes now and upgrade to discs, you will need to upgrade the booster to a dual diaphragm booster to get the needed boost for the discs. Also you will need to swap out the distribution valve with a proportioning valve. Gotta keep them Hemi cars safe and well healed.

 

[1MYTGTX]

I had the Hellwig on the front and the Addco on the rear of my Charger. Loved the way it handled. Along with Bilstein shocks on all 4 corners it was very nice.

I wanted to add the rear bar to the 67 GTX but I have read they simply don't fit with the dual exhaust pipes...especially since mine are 2.5" Anyone use and install one successfully on a 66-67?