Front Sway Bar

[moes]

anybody using a Hellwig front sway bar on their 1970 B body car?

 

[mmissile]

I have them mounted on my 70 cuda, and 67 Coronet. Questions?

 

[moes]

I have them mounted on my 70 cuda, and 67 Coronet. Questions?

how do you like them, did you notice a big difference with body roll after the install, easy to install, car came with no sway bar from the factory? Thanks

 

[mmissile]

I can't honestly say[both cars being assembled]. However....I talked with a guy who road-races an A-body, and he said that BIG front bar made his rear bar un-needed. I installed lower arms with factory mounts onto the Coronet. The `cuda was just a big-bar upgrade.

 

[Kern Dog]

I modified a 1 & 1/4" solid front sway bar from a 73-87 Chevy 2wd 3/4 ton truck. It was a fraction of the cost of any similar sized sway bar.

 

[Yatzee]

I modified a 1 & 1/4" solid front sway bar from a 73-87 Chevy 2wd 3/4 ton truck. It was a fraction of the cost of any similar sized sway bar.

View attachment 404062 View attachment 404063 View attachment 404065

That's an awfully huge sway bar - almost makes you think that when you get to that size you may as well weld your lower a-arms solid so they don't move. Cudo's for your enginuity in using a GM bar, I use a GM hydro boost and it's the best upgrade I ever did. I can't tell by the pictures exactly where your anchor points are attached for the bar's swivels or what the eyelet ends are connected to. Is your bar actually below the a-arms?

 

[Kern Dog]

The sway bar was very close to the shape of the stock bar. The LCAs are boxed. The bar is the same size as what Firm Feel offers so while itis big, it isn't unusual. There are others that are the same diameter but hollow to save weight. The hollow ones do have less effective rate as compared to solid ones. Hotchkis has a hollow bar of the same diameter. The 70-72 style passes through the K member and space through there is limited.
Yes, the bar uses inverted links with the bar resting below the LCA.

 

[Kern Dog]

More.

 

[Kern Dog]

Lower picture shows a size and shape comparison.
Top bar is the GM truck bar Silver color bar in the middle is an 1 1/8" ADDCO bar. The bottom one is a 7/8" stock bar.

 

[boneheadsGeTeX]

Kerndogn,,,,how much modification did you have to do ?

 

[Kern Dog]

Hey "Bonehead",
The GM bar was an easy job. I just laid my stock bar over the top of the GM bar and marked where to cut. The GM bar had longer "arms" so I just cut them to length using a cutoff disc in a Skilsaw. I had a metal shop drill the ends since the bar is hardened steel. The bushings are readily available and measure 1 1/4".

 

[Larrry B.]

Using this on my '69:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hel-55903

Fit without issue and less than other vendors.

 

[Kern Dog]

That is great. For those that want to just bolt in and go, buying a new bar is a great way to go. That bar is 1 3/8" but hollow. I wish they listed how large the hollow section was, as it would help determine the actual effectiveness of the bar. The further from center, the more the diameter of the bar matters. In other words, as the bar gets larger, the stiffness gets exponentionally greater. My bonehead math tells me that the 1 3/8" hollow may be as effective as a 1 1/8" solid but weigh half as much.
I run 1.15 torsion bars, the 1.25 sway bar in the front, 6 stage leafs and a 3/4" bar out back, Bilstein shocks and the car corners quite well.

 

[Larrry B.]

It helped tighten up the front end for sure going from the stock .925" solid bar. For the size and price it was a deal considering what Firm Feel and Hotchkis are charging.

1.06 T-bars, Hotchkis leaf springs and adjustable shocks and struts, Addco .75" rear bar, subframe connectors, xv racing lower radiator support. With the Borgeson steering it's a whole different car. Next year will be the xv inner fender support and U.S. car tool torque boxes when I get some body work done. I really want to ditch the "truck" tires and get a set of real performance tires.

 

[Kern Dog]

That Borgeson box upgrade is very tempting !

 

[Dennis H]

I got the Hotchkiss bar to replace the original on the front. No rear sway Bar. Lighter and stronger. Noticeable difference and no plans for a rear bar. Hampers oil filter install and the face-down zirc got knocked off on day one. Keeping it though.