Sway bar question

[Pyasher]

Recently purchased a nice 72 Concours wagon - nice original 350 auto with air. The car came with a complete HO Racing suspension kit which includes 1.4" diameter sway bars. The stock bar is .8". What will these bars do to my ride besides control body roll. I want the car to ride nice but handle well. I do not want it to ride like an Ox cart. I will be installing the springs along with new upper and lower control arms. Your thoughts?

[SS Shaun]

the thicker the sway bar the stiffer the ride. I dont have any sway bars on my chevelle yet. I will tell you what the difference is next weekend..lol I know when i changed my sway bar from a .75 to a 1.5 on my rx7 it made a world of difference for me on auto cross. being that you are going to go up from .8 to 1.4 that is an increase of .6 you will feel a difference. If you have it put it on and sell the stock one. you will only notice it when you are driving fast in a corner.

[Pyasher]

Thanks SS Shaun. I would like it to be more stable cornering but I do not want to compromise the ride too much.

[Ken Hayes]

Sway bar is does exactly what its name implies. The smaller diameter, the more sway or body roll you'll get while cornering. The larger diameter, the less you'll get and will have better handling in turns. I will not effect your normal every day street driving.

As an ex race car driver I can tell you that, increasing the front sway bar tightens the car while cornering and increasing the rear sway bar will loosen the car.

[Pyasher]

Thanks Ken. I have a larger front and rear bar. By looser I assume over-steer? Based on your input I should move forward with the larger bars on both ends...

[SS Shaun]

Sway bar is does exactly what its name implies. The smaller diameter, the more sway or body roll you'll get while cornering. The larger diameter, the less you'll get and will have better handling in turns. I will not effect your normal every day street driving.

As an ex race car driver I can tell you that, increasing the front sway bar tightens the car while cornering and increasing the rear sway bar will loosen the car.
which is why i dont have a sway bar in my rx7 during auto cross...lol

[Ken Hayes]

If you have a rear sway bar on there now.......leave it and just do the front for now.

[Pyasher]

Thanks Ken...

[Pyasher]

Both sway bars installed. Wagon rides great and corners much better.