1972 Road Runner rear sway bar bushings?

[mopardog]

Can anyone direct me on where to find the above rear sway bar bushings (oem)? Having trouble finding them and yearone doesn't have them. Also looking fro possibly new sway bar hangers. These hold the bar up in "the middle" and had a bushing in middle that went on bar. The ends were held to frame with a C clamp style mount which all I need there are the bushings. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[mopardog]

By researching previous posts and googling about 100 links or so, spoke with Dick at www.firmfeel.com. He's in process of "hooking me up" sorry, bad pun I know. Will let y'all know what happens. Thanks to everyone.

'dawg

 

[idrivemopar]

Hey Mopardog, here are the ones I used from firmfeel, but these are for 73, not sure if the mounting plates are the same for 72 or not. Hope this helps.

 

[mopardog]

The guys at www.firmfeel.com come through for me and parts are on the way! A big thanks to them and to idrivemopar for all the help! I can't wait to get the parts in so the suspension will be done!

 

[mopardog]

Parts came in yesterday!! woooowhoooo! After looking at everything, it would appear that the 72 mounts up the same way as the 73, thanks again idrivemopar for the awesome pics. will try to get pics of my install.

 

[RJS]

My 72 setup isn't like that,found all my bushings with a bunch of searching on Ebay
Ron

 

[csilko]

Hey, I wanted to revive this thread because I am having the same issue finding the rear sway bar links and bushings. I can't even find the rear axle bumpers anywhere online, so I guess I will try to reuse the old ones. But unfortunately, one of those sway bar bushing links sheared on me, along with a stud on one of the mounting brackets for the sway bar. My setup is just like RJS's above. In searching the service manual, I can't even find a single reference to a rear sway bar. Did not many 72's come with them? Was it special because of the Dana 60 rear end?

I have an email in to firmfeel.com to see if they can help me as well, but I'll take any other help I can find. Here are a few pics.

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

All ’72 Road Runners came with rear sway bars. The Dana bar is different from the 8 ¾” bar and is rather rare these days, only 219 of them on the Plymouth side. The rubber parts and links are the same on both bars. Some hardware parts are also in common with later years. I’ve had good luck with aftermarket link repair kits designed for other applications, the rubber parts will fit in most cases.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OE-Style-M...566690?hash=item4d344740e2:g:7uAAAOSwHnFVid97

 

[csilko]

Thanks. I may give that link a try. Any idea on the sway bar bracket? One of the studs snapped on me when removing the nut. Seems the stud is pressed or welded into the bracket and can't easily be replaced.

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

The stud head is spot welded to the bracket. Should be able to carefully grind off the head of the stud, tack in a modified bolt as a substitute I would think. That bracket is used on a wide range of later years, have seen them on ebay every once in a while.

 

[csilko]

So, I'm about to order that 1974 sway bar link (for my '72), and I noticed on the ebay picture that it is a full inch longer from the end of the threads to the actual bushing opening. I don't suppose you can tighten the nut extra to make up for that inch, nor cut it because there would be no threads left. Seems the sway bar would just dangle another inch lower??? That gonna be OK? Thanks.

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

Yes, the aftermarket/later application front replacements are not the same length as your originals. Looks like your original stand-offs are intact, I would clean them up, replace the rubber parts from the kit and reuse them. A full inch may have the bar too far down. Defeats the purpose of the dip in the Dana only bar you have.

 

[rrTor-Red]

So, I'm about to order that 1974 sway bar link (for my '72), and I noticed on the ebay picture that it is a full inch longer from the end of the threads to the actual bushing opening. I don't suppose you can tighten the nut extra to make up for that inch, nor cut it because there would be no threads left. Seems the sway bar would just dangle another inch lower??? That gonna be OK? Thanks.

Have you contacted Dick at Firm Feel?

 

[Dibbons]

Don't want to hijack the thread, but this question seems relevant for those interested in the rear sway bar installations: I have an 8 1/4" rear end, will the factory '72 rear stabilizer bar fit my '72 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus? Thank you.

 

[csilko]

Yes, the aftermarket/later application front replacements are not the same length as your originals. Looks like your original stand-offs are intact, I would clean them up, replace the rubber parts from the kit and reuse them. A full inch may have the bar too far down. Defeats the purpose of the dip in the Dana only bar you have.

If by stand-off you mean that 5 inch bolt with the bushing links and the square part at the end, then no, that was one of the things that broke. One of them snapped about 1/2 inch from the end when I was removing the nut. With regards to the bracket - I have a friend with a fab shop, and he is going to drill out the broken stud and replace it. So that problem should be solved. But I showed him the bushing link thing and he didn't think there was an easy way to fix it, nor get it to look anything like original.

I spoke with Matt at Firmfeel, and he basically said that they sell the rubber bushing insert for the square stand-off link, but I would have to call a Mopar junkyard for the actual link that I broke. Or, choice B was some new advanced sway bar system ($400) plus a kit to make that kit work for another $265. Kind of defeats the purpose of wanting to stay original and contain costs.

 

[csilko]

All ’72 Road Runners came with rear sway bars. The Dana bar is different from the 8 ¾” bar and is rather rare these days, only 219 of them on the Plymouth side. The rubber parts and links are the same on both bars. Some hardware parts are also in common with later years. I’ve had good luck with aftermarket link repair kits designed for other applications, the rubber parts will fit in most cases.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OE-Style-M...566690?hash=item4d344740e2:g:7uAAAOSwHnFVid97


View attachment 758396

I see, I think I wasn't clear in my post that I broke the stand-off link. You were recommending this '74 kit only for the rubber parts - the link itself won't work on the '72 Dana bar because it's too long, right???

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

I see, I think I wasn't clear in my post that I broke the stand-off link. You were recommending this '74 kit only for the rubber parts - the link itself won't work on the '72 Dana bar because it's too long, right???

One of your first pictures appears to show two intact stand-offs/links. Yes, aftermarket kits are likely too long for that rear application. The rubber parts are very hard to get on their own I have found; the aftermarket kit was the only source for them.

I’d see if a very experienced welder could section and weld back together the longer links to match the original links length.
Or cut off a new link shaft at the correct length and weld it to the original square end.

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

Don't want to hijack the thread, but this question seems relevant for those interested in the rear sway bar installations: I have an 8 1/4" rear end, will the factory '72 rear stabilizer bar fit my '72 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus? Thank you.

Yes, the ’72 rear bars are a direct bolt on, you will find the frame bracket holes already present on your car. There were some changes made to some of the brackets to accommodate the Iso mount on the ’73 and up B-bodies otherwise those bars can be made to fit in most cases.

 

[csilko]

So they continued to make Dana 60 rear ends with sway bars after '72, right? Did the actual sway bar change from year to year, which drives the different stand-off sized from year to year?

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

So they continued to make Dana 60 rear ends with sway bars after '72, right?

No, ’72 was the last year for the Dana and the first year for a standard rear bar on the b-body performance models. The Dana bar is one year only. There is a straight bar for the 8 ¾” diff, and another bar with a slight dip in the center for the later 9 ¼” diffs. the stand-offs/links you are dealing with are also one year only. As mentioned, the stand-offs/links are a bit longer starting in ’73.

I'm currently running a later 9 1/4" bar with a Dana.