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Post Info TOPIC: Sizing sway bars for an A-body


Uber Guru

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Sizing sway bars for an A-body


Just measured my front sway bar on the El Camino. 20.5mm is what I've got with no rear one. 

which size should I get for the front and rear ?



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Poncho Master!

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Front should be bigger than the rear, otherwise it will be tail-happy!

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Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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My front is 1 1/4" or an 1 1/8", can't remember exactly, back must be about 3/4". World of difference for these cars.

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Jerel


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Have a 1 1/8 in the front of mine and 3/4 hanging on the wall for the rear. Jerel: did you ever drive yours with only the front in? Does it push in the corners with the rear installed? Have read many posts about front and rear sway bars and some say rear hinders when going hard into a corner and some say it helps? I know when we raced circle track we would clamp one side down tight and let the other have about 2" of travel,but that's always cornering one way...no right turns!

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No I didnt. When I beefed up the front I added the rear at the same time. Have to admit Im never hitting the corners super hard but I just appreciate loosing all that sway heading into the corners. Stays nice and flat.

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Jerel


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I have a 1 -1/8" sway bar out of an early 80's Camaro on the front only - no rear sway bar. Huge improvement in handling. I no longer feel like I'm going to drag the door handles in hard cornering. The car stays level and handling is pretty much neutral, with some under-steer at the limit. At lower speeds, I can get throttle induced over-steer (less than about 30 mph, it will swap ends pretty quick if I get too aggressive on the throttle). I haven't pushed it that hard at higher speeds to see if I can get the rear end to come around - I would love to get it on a track to try it out, but not on public roads. I am running 3.73:1 posi rear, 700R4 and a little over 300 HP.

I suspect the 1-1/4" front (early 80's Z28) would level out the front end even more and create more under-steer? In which case, the rear stabilizer would likely help keep handling more neutral.

I have considered adding the rear stabilizer, but the front stabilizer made such a huge improvement, I've never really felt the need. Maybe on a track where I would push the limit at speed, the rear might help reduce the under-steer, but for driving on the public roads, the under-steer is quite mild - handling is pretty well balanced, and a little under-steer is better than a bunch of over-steer on the street (IMHO).

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Guru

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If you put an 1 1/4" in the front be sure to either bolt through from the frame with a nut on it or you can tear the brackets right out of the frame-happens quite often when people tighten up the end links too much-no room for any flex at all and something will give. Rear sway bars factory are usually 7/8" I think?

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Uber Guru

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Thanks for all the info. Got an 1-1/4 front and a 7/8 rear.

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