[Brick B-Body]

How do these Ford-style rear sway bars compare in stiffness to the aftermarket wagon specific bars from Hotchkis (Hollow 1-3/8" contoured) or Navy Lifer "Regular" (Solid 1-5/16" contoured) and "Super" (Solid 1.5" straight across) units?

For easy calculation, I think we would only really need to know "A", "B" and "D" on the Ford-style bars as shown in the attached pic.

 

[autoarcheologist]

They mount differently so I think it is hard to compare. I can tell you my 21mm Ford bar made my wagon twitchy enough that I am considering downsizing. A stiff, twitchy car with loose steering is no fun.

 

[Brick B-Body]

They mount differently so I think it is hard to compare. I can tell you my 21mm Ford bar made my wagon twitchy enough that I am considering downsizing. A stiff, twitchy car with loose steering is no fun.

When you added the Ford-style rear bar, did you enlarge the stock front bar as well? What springs are you running in wagon, stock or something different?

As for figuring out rate, it's nothing more than a fancy torsion bar. With the measurements I mentioned in my above post, calculating stiffness is fairly straight forward.

 

[Dan Fahey]

Hope am not off topic.

Installed new Metco Lower Control Arms for the Wagon.
Designed to bolt on a Stock SS Stabilizer Bar.
Wagon handles great !!

D

 

[autoarcheologist]

Brick - I am running the stock HD suspension that comes with the tow package. KYB gasadjust shocks in front which are close to stock softness (i.e. too soft for my taste)

 

[Moparman]

They mount differently so I think it is hard to compare. I can tell you my 21mm Ford bar made my wagon twitchy enough that I am considering downsizing. A stiff, twitchy car with loose steering is no fun.

I upgraded the front to the T/A bar (1.25"? IIRC). I also tightened up the steering box, doing both adjustments on the bench. Made a world of difference to the steering.

 

[SScottT]

I had the 17mm bar on my wagon until last trip to Chicago (from LA). Loved the tighter/flatter feel around town! But on the "open road," it was too much for the stock front bar, and made the front too loose and "twitchy." Many white knuckle miles!!

I had the bar removed (in Chicago) for the trip home, and it was MUCH more comfortable! Although I have fat, sticky tires, lowered front springs (stiffer too), and upgraded "boxy" shocks all around. So it handled fairly well anyway.

I'll try the 15mm bar next chance I get. It should be "just right!" ;-)

Just my 2 bits...

 

[autoarcheologist]

I also disconnected the rear bar on our recent trip, with a trailer and the typical sloppy steering it was way too twitchy. But I agree around town it is very tossable.

 

[RoadMonster FIN]

I also disconnected the rear bar on our recent trip, with a trailer and the typical sloppy steering it was way too twitchy. But I agree around town it is very tossable.

Weird! I have the 17mm Ford bar and i think that it is very well both Highway and cornering. My car is driven only 110K miles and the steering is very precise. I have normal front springs and back springs with Airlift 1000 bags.
The shocks are poormans Monroes, Gabriels Taxi-versions in front and best what Gabriel had for back too. Tires are 235/55-17 Kumhos front and Goodrides back. Both front and back tires are on their last summer, under my car anyway. Last summer i had issues with tires, when i changed tires front to back. The Goodrides have had been back tires for too long, they had so bad edges that they didn't work as front tires anymore. Had a few white knuckle situations back then... Changed them Kumhos Back front and the car was as good as ever!!! Any how my RMW works wery well with the setup i now have!

 

[BigBlackBeaSSt]

I am running Impala SS rear springs with Airlift 1000 bags, 4 Bilstein shocks, lowered sedan front springs, Impala SS front sway bar and 21mm Crown Vic bar on the rear. Car tows, handles, drives great any where with any load.

 

[PHANTOM 309]

On the orange car I am running stock springs,(non towpak car) stock front sway bar, hotchkis rear sway, and 4 bilsteins, with the imp rims and 255-50's,. Car has a decent alignment,

I run my tires pretty hard to eliminate squirming,. car has a nice solid feel,.

 

[wagon64628]

pick and pull is your wallets friend

I just went to a local pick and pull (in KCKS) today and got a ford sway bar. It cost me $2.00 to get in the place, 15 minutes in a mud puddle removing the part, and walked out the door with it for $5.90...so $7.90 and 15 minutes in the mud (well actually I pulled a cargo mat out of a lexus to lay on, so I didn't even get dirty and was pretty comfortable...lol)...pretty good score.

 

[Fred Kiehl]

I just went to a local pick and pull (in KCKS) today and got a ford sway bar. It cost me $2.00 to get in the place, 15 minutes in a mud puddle removing the part, and walked out the door with it for $5.90...so $7.90 and 15 minutes in the mud (well actually I pulled a cargo mat out of a lexus to lay on, so I didn't even get dirty and was pretty comfortable...lol)...pretty good score.

Did you measure it to make sure it is a 21mm?

 

[wagon64628]

Did you measure it to make sure it is a 21mm?

Sure did, was off a loaded up 96 model, looked like its life ended when it hit a deer. Prior to that is must have been pampered, the bottom of this cv looked better than the top side of most cars you meet on the street.

 

[wagon64628]

Sure did, was off a loaded up 96 model, looked like its life ended when it hit a deer. Prior to that is must have been pampered, the bottom of this cv looked better than the top side of most cars you meet on the street.

And now the rest of the story....I ordered 21 mm sway bar bushings and they arrived a couple days ago. I brought them home and they were way too big for my sway bar, hhmmm, I got out my digital calipers and measure the sway bar again, still reading 21mm? I then measured the new 21mm bushing and it read 26mm? I take the new bushings, calipers, and my cv sway bar to the parts store...turns out my calipers were jacked!!! I discovered I had a 17mm bar, well figuring since I had the bar (and it is a 120 mile drive back to the salvage yard), new end links, and a wagon with no sway bar...I ordered new bushings for the 17mm bar.

They arrived yesterday, so today I installed it via the 3" muffler clamp method mentioned at the beginning of this thread. I also used the slotted part of the frame to mount the end links, plenty of room to mount them with the bolt head on top (the pics in this thread showed the end links mounted nut on top of the slot) made assembly very easy. Put everything in place finger tight at first, discovering that the bar could not be mounted directly beneath the axle tubes...it would be resting against the gas tank heat shields. So I rotated the muffler clamps so the sway bar sat forward of the centerline of the axle tube, actually made the end links set closer to vertical as well. Made sure everything was centered up on the car, tightened it all down and took it for a spin. Even this small bar was a huge improvement over the stock (no sway bar) suspension.

The larger bar (21mm) may be the best, but I have no complaints about the 17mm bar. All together I spent $47.36, the sway bar was $7.90 (pick and pull Kansas City, KS), the muffler clamps were $3.29, energy suspension end links (part number ENS 9.8125R) were $16.66, energy suspension sway bar bushings (part number ENS 9.5155G) were $16.73 (new parts sourced at O' Reilly Auto Parts) and then the tax on the new parts bringing the total for new parts at $39.46!

So that's it, for less than $50 bucks and about 20 minutes of install time and I have a wagon that handles much better than it did when I started, and based on what I have read, the 17mm bar is the easiest (pretty sure the cheapest...$7.90) to find...if a crown vic has a sway bar, most likely it is the 17mm!

 

[wagon64628]

21mm bars in short supply?

When I upgraded to the 95 wagon, my current ride (91 wagon) was no longer needed, so sold it to by step-son. Anyway, after riding in my 95 wagon with the 17mm sway bar, he decides to make the same upgrade and asked me to pick him up a sway bar next time I was in the city.


So a few days later, I go to a different pick and pull (actually same ownership, just different location) to look for a cv sway bar among other parts. Well this yard was the mother load of crashed cv cop cars, I think they had at least 8 of them, plus about as many civilian models. Most of the cop cars were in the early to mid 2000 model years. All of them that still had rear ends left (5 I think) had 17mm sway bars, I pulled out the nicest one, and compared it to a mid to late 1990 civilian model and as far as I could tell they were the same. So I went and paid for the cop car bar, man they really put the meat too me on this one (first bar I bought was $5.90), it cost me $14.99. I still think that is cheap enough, don't know why the first was so much cheaper and didn't want to press my luck, both could have been errors!:grin2:

 

[r67northern]

When I upgraded to the 95 wagon, my current ride (91 wagon) was no longer needed, so sold it to by step-son. Anyway, after riding in my 95 wagon with the 17mm sway bar, he decides to make the same upgrade and asked me to pick him up a sway bar next time I was in the city.

It really is amazing how big a difference that bar makes. I've loved mine for years now.

 

[Fix Until Broke]

Not at all to detract from the great info by using the Crown Vic RSB's on the B-body wagons, but there may be another option.

A 96 Cadillac Commercial Chassis has a rear sway bar installed. I need to take some measurements to see if it's a fit for the wagons or not and will update this thread once I have more info and better pictures.

For now, this is the only pic I have, but will get more of how it mounts, and overall dimensions compared to a roadmaster wagon.

 

[The Stickman]

Not at all to detract from the great info by using the Crown Vic RSB's on the B-body wagons, but there may be another option.

A 96 Cadillac Commercial Chassis has a rear sway bar installed. I need to take some measurements to see if it's a fit for the wagons or not and will update this thread once I have more info and better pictures.

For now, this is the only pic I have, but will get more of how it mounts, and overall dimensions compared to a roadmaster wagon.

It won't fit. It fits sedans, the wagon bar is wider. You can use a sedan bar if you use the Metco LCA's that have holes for both types of anti sway bars. Best bar you will find is the solid 1.5 Herb Adams type bars. But you will need to upgrade the front bar as well. You end up with a very neutral balanced car

 

[Fix Until Broke]

Not at all to detract from the great info by using the Crown Vic RSB's on the B-body wagons, but there may be another option.

A 96 Cadillac Commercial Chassis has a rear sway bar installed. I need to take some measurements to see if it's a fit for the wagons or not and will update this thread once I have more info and better pictures.

For now, this is the only pic I have, but will get more of how it mounts, and overall dimensions compared to a roadmaster wagon.

It won't fit. It fits sedans, the wagon bar is wider. You can use a sedan bar if you use the Metco LCA's that have holes for both types of anti sway bars. Best bar you will find is the solid 1.5 Herb Adams type bars. But you will need to upgrade the front bar as well. You end up with a very neutral balanced car

Good to know, thanks for sharing - sorry for any confusion.