Front Swaybar - 1954 Pontiac
Just finished installing the original sway bar on the front. I was going to buy rubber swaybar mounts but found that the price of just the rubber bushings was the same as going to aftermarket urethane mounts. I figure that the handling is not going to be one of the strong points so going to urethane sway bar mounts and links will tighten up the suspension.
A swaybar is used to minimize body roll during cornering. One side is attached to the driver's side lower control arm and the other side is attached to the passenger's side control arm. When the car rolls in a turn, the sway bar counteracts the body lean and tries to keep the body level to the road.
The factors that affect a swaybar's characteristics are the bar's diameter, whether the bar is hollow or solid, the length of the swaybar, the length of the arms that attach to the control arms and the location of the attachement point on the control arm.
The 54 original swaybar is 11/16" in diameter and very short. I will have to drive the car for a while to see how effective the swaybar is.
Picture of the cleaned up and painted swaybar, bushings and mounting brackets
Energy Suspension #9.5105G Urethane sway bar bushings and mounts. Black center bracket is the original 54
I found that Energy Suspension Part #9.5105G urethane 11/16" sway bar bushing set is almost a perfect fit. It is a universal bushing set that fits the front or rear of most domestic applications (taken right from their literature!). The kit (both sides) is about the same price as one rubber bushing for the original mount.
Problem with the bottom of the frame rail!
It's hard to see in the above picture but the bottom of the frame is not flat. There is an indentation where the rubber bushing is to seat. The urethane bushing bracket expects that the frame to be flat. The picture is taken with the urethane bracket flush with the bottom of the indentation. A 1/2" spacer is required on each mounting tab so that the urethane bushing will sit flat.
Swaybar mounting tab spacer (4 required)
The spacer is very simple:
- Use 1/2" thick stock of steel (preferably 1.5" width)
- You need a piece that is 1.5" x 1.3" x 1/2"
- Drill a 0.400" dia hole for the 3/8" mounting bolt.
- Make 4 of them.
Spacer dimensions
76 Camaro shortened swaybar links
I took the polyurethane swaybar link off of my parts car, cleaned them up and used a 1" shorter grade 8 bolt. I had to shorten the middle sleeve by 1" to make it fit.
The link connected to the swaybar
To figure out the position of the swaybar link bracket on the lower control arm, I just hooked it up and marked the lower control arm. So much for trying to calculate or measure where it's supposed to go!
Swaybar mount welded on and connected up!