Wagon rear sway bar - from Ford (specs and pics)
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ordered all my parts.they are on the way!
This is great! I cant decide if I want the factory Marauder one or the beefed up Addco one. Probally gonna go with addco as I can get free shipping from summit when I order some stuff for my truck. What is the biggest bar avaible for the front of a b body? Is an Impala 30mm bar solid? What size is the factory 1991 front wagon bar?
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2,786 Posts
i just got done installing the factory Marauder sway bar on my wagon.i cant belive how easy it was.looks like it came with it.
parts i used
1( 9.8125r end links energy suspension for both
2(9.5165r sway bar bushing but i only needed the metal brackets not the rubber bushing cause it came on the stock sway bar already
3( sway bar factory Marauder yw7z 5a772 ca
4(2 3 in muffler clamps from advanced auto
all for about $100 bucks.havent drove it yet.will do that later.
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parts i used
1( 9.8125r end links energy suspension for both
2(9.5165r sway bar bushing but i only needed the metal brackets not the rubber bushing cause it came on the stock sway bar already
3( sway bar factory Marauder yw7z 5a772 ca
4(2 3 in muffler clamps from advanced auto
all for about $100 bucks.havent drove it yet.will do that later.
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581 Posts
Where did you order the bar from?
hello
i see you put the end link in the slot for the crossbrace, do you have to drill a hole for the endlink to fit, and if so, what size drill bit did you use, and is there enough of the bushing on the top to hold it all in place? (it looks by the pic only one side of the bushing is holding)
i read some drill the existing holes near the cross brace bigger, what size drill bit for that? and is it better to use existing slot, or re drill existing holes?
is it just preference or is one way easier
thanks
i see you put the end link in the slot for the crossbrace, do you have to drill a hole for the endlink to fit, and if so, what size drill bit did you use, and is there enough of the bushing on the top to hold it all in place? (it looks by the pic only one side of the bushing is holding)
i read some drill the existing holes near the cross brace bigger, what size drill bit for that? and is it better to use existing slot, or re drill existing holes?
is it just preference or is one way easier
thanks
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2,786 Posts
i read in this past post that i would have to drill the slot out bigger but i didnt.took me longer to jack the car up and get my tools out.maybe some folks use thicker end links that may require it but not with the part number listed that i used.it doesnt look like from the pic but the bushing fits perfect on top of the channel.drove the car last night..man what a differnce in the way it feels.this is one GREAT mod!
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2,786 Posts
here is where i got the bar from..it was $44 plus $18 shipping.shipped fast,about a week.
http://www.oefordparts.com/partloca...P090&callout=6&catalogid=1&displayCatalogid=0
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2,786 Posts
it might be better to go with the 9.5157..becuase the bar i got came with bushing already on it.so the bushing from my kit(9.5165r) didnt fit BUT the brackets did fit the stock bushings like a glove.so i just used the brackets out of the package not the bushings. hope this makes sense.
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2,786 Posts
the nut may not have been tighten down yet when i took pic.was still working when took photo.
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2,786 Posts
read some of the earlier posts.several folks did that.any sway bar is better than none at all.i am amazed at how much better it handles.
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104 Posts
Before I 'discovered' the Crown Vic to wagon rear swaybar swap.
The full sized Bronco/F-150 ('80-'96) rear sway bar assembly will actually bolt right in some applications, and,,,,, is a 'almost' direct bolt in, on other applications! The length of the mounting link bolts will have to be shortened.
Back in the late '80's I built a '48 DeSoto Rod, with a '55 DeS Hemi. A pack of Camels could barely fit inder the front bumper. Did that Bronco bar swap. (Shortened up the link bolts ay 6" or so) It was a night, day, differnce in handling!
What baffles me is, how are you guys able to go to the Ford DEALER and buy a brand new Merc/CV bar, for under a hundred?! They want 2-3 hundred for just the bar, around here!
Also, I noticed most of you guys are using a 3" or whatever, muffler clamps, as the rear end housing to bar mounts. (If it works, GOOD!)
But, I torched the bar to rear end housing mounts off the CV, and welded them on the Wagon housing in the same location as the CV.
These mounts I torched off the CV, looked like the leaf spring pads that the leaf spring center bolt goes into. Of course the CV pad didn't have that center aligment hole, it had a slot and a threaded hole for the mounting bolt to thread into. (there are pictures I took, somewhere in the archives. I'm afraid to go in there and look for them. I heard that a member on here, went in the archives to look for something and hasn't been heard from since! Weird organ music payin' in the background)
I also noticed you guys are using Y2-K and above, bars. There was a rear end change of some sort in the CV's in the late '90's (not sure, or care, what was chaged) But, I am courious now as to how the Y2-K and up rear bars are mounted to the CV/Merc rear end housing? Mine was off a '93 CV cop car.
I notice you guys are using that 'slot' in the frame gusset. I welded a piece of filler metal in that slot to make a round hole for the busings to fit, just like the CV. That gusset is just as strong as the frame, and will support the swaybar link bolts/bushings. Providing that gusset is badly rusted. Just like on the CV's/Merc's, if it's badly rusted, the bushing will pull through, that's all.
If the wagon frsme is rusted too bad, then either, the rear bar will have to be fastened to the LCA's or weld a better gusset plate,,,,,,.
Glad you guys are enjoying the 'imporved' handling, at a frugal $$ layout, without LCA failures.
The full sized Bronco/F-150 ('80-'96) rear sway bar assembly will actually bolt right in some applications, and,,,,, is a 'almost' direct bolt in, on other applications! The length of the mounting link bolts will have to be shortened.
Back in the late '80's I built a '48 DeSoto Rod, with a '55 DeS Hemi. A pack of Camels could barely fit inder the front bumper. Did that Bronco bar swap. (Shortened up the link bolts ay 6" or so) It was a night, day, differnce in handling!
What baffles me is, how are you guys able to go to the Ford DEALER and buy a brand new Merc/CV bar, for under a hundred?! They want 2-3 hundred for just the bar, around here!
Also, I noticed most of you guys are using a 3" or whatever, muffler clamps, as the rear end housing to bar mounts. (If it works, GOOD!)
But, I torched the bar to rear end housing mounts off the CV, and welded them on the Wagon housing in the same location as the CV.
These mounts I torched off the CV, looked like the leaf spring pads that the leaf spring center bolt goes into. Of course the CV pad didn't have that center aligment hole, it had a slot and a threaded hole for the mounting bolt to thread into. (there are pictures I took, somewhere in the archives. I'm afraid to go in there and look for them. I heard that a member on here, went in the archives to look for something and hasn't been heard from since! Weird organ music payin' in the background)
I also noticed you guys are using Y2-K and above, bars. There was a rear end change of some sort in the CV's in the late '90's (not sure, or care, what was chaged) But, I am courious now as to how the Y2-K and up rear bars are mounted to the CV/Merc rear end housing? Mine was off a '93 CV cop car.
I notice you guys are using that 'slot' in the frame gusset. I welded a piece of filler metal in that slot to make a round hole for the busings to fit, just like the CV. That gusset is just as strong as the frame, and will support the swaybar link bolts/bushings. Providing that gusset is badly rusted. Just like on the CV's/Merc's, if it's badly rusted, the bushing will pull through, that's all.
If the wagon frsme is rusted too bad, then either, the rear bar will have to be fastened to the LCA's or weld a better gusset plate,,,,,,.
Glad you guys are enjoying the 'imporved' handling, at a frugal $$ layout, without LCA failures.
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372 Posts
In '98 they went from a panhard rod to a watts link. Since thats behind and above the axle I can not see it making a difference how the sway bar mounts.
I lurk here once in a while, I had an '87 Caprice Estate before the current '94 9C1 and have been itching to get back into a Cappy/RM/CC wagon for a while now.
I saw the old thread and thought this CV to B-wagon swap was the coolest cheap mod since flipping the air cleaner lid over back in the old carburetor days!
BTW, I've been following this thread since page 1 but forgot, does this swap also work on boxy wagons too? I don't recall there being any frame differences, at least nothing major.
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238 Posts
Will do mine this weekend, got a set of 3" diameter axle spring perches to seat the bar mounts, I won't weld them on but clamp them on instead of using the weaker muffler bracket. You can also get 1/2" diam. U bolts for trailer use for more beef. Will put up pics when done...
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