I have a 1969 Super Bee that has 1 1/4 front sway bar, Bilstein shocks. Thinking of adding a rear sway bar. I see them from Summit, PST, Hellwig, QA1, Firm Feel, Hotchkis, etc.
Any suggestions on which one to go with. Hollow or solid? Tires are 275/60/15 on back, 225/70/15 on front. Maybe 3/4 inch?
I had a 1 1/4" front bar and a 7/8" Addco rear bar and the car wanted to kick the tail out way too easily. It would have been great at autocross where oversteer is desirable but for the street or even road course, you do NOT want a tail happy car unless you want to be playing defense with the car every time you drive it hard.
Choosing a bar is sort of like choosing a camshaft. There are several other things that matter and must be considered.
I'll tell you what works for me.
1 1/4" front bar, 1.15" torsion bars, 6 stage leaf springs, Bilstein shocks, 3/4" rear bar. My car has slight understeer under hard braking, is pretty neutral under light throttle and will kick the tail out with harder throttle. Body roll is minimal.
Years ago, I had the same front bar, 1.0 torsion bars, same leaf springs but the 7/8" rear bar. It liked to oversteer then. Here is why:
The end of the car that is the stiffest is the end that will lose traction first.
I had stiff leaf springs and a big sway bar......at the front were moderate torsion bars and a big sway bar. The rear was stiffer so the rear wanted to lose traction first.
In your case, IF your leaf springs are 318-383 spec 4 stage, you may be okay with the 7/8" bar. Otherwise, I'd go with the 3/4".
). Cheers!
