[coal cracker]

Hi all,

So after a long day at the junk yard I returned home with my goodies. One of which is a rear sway bar off a 78 T-bird. So I crawled under my 66 and started looking, thinking, and I said to my self, "self...seems as though there are to options to mount this, but I do not feel comfortable enough to make that call. Better get some information first." So here I am.

So I took everything off the T-bird that was for the rear sway bar minus one end link, it was not leaving the car ( it broke). I have the mounts that go around the axle tube and one end link, and the bar too. My thoughs on mounting are listed below.

(A) To mount it I can box in the trailing arms(fits perfectly between them), drill a hole to mount it to them, and call it done. The bar will be secured to the axle tube as well using the parts from the T-bird.

Problems: Will there be enough freedom for movement of the rear axle, will it cause binding?

(B) Make mounts that bolt to the frame, at the rear crossmember thing, but I will need to make shakles between the frame mount and the sway bar to allow for movement of the axle up and down. I think if I fail to do that it will create a situation that causes binding for sure. It will also be secured to the axle tube using the mounts from the T-bird.

WHich options is best. Myabe one not listed. I know I can buy one, but where is the fun in just bolting it in. There need to be some movement, but not as much as a rock crawler. I dont know how much is needed.

If you have a photo of one on a 65-67 that would help a bunch.

thanks,

coal

 

[expolice]

Coal Cracker'
What did you do to complete this install? I'm thinking of adding a rear sway bar to my 66 Custom 500. A JY sway bar would fit my budget better than buying something new. But I need to be able to install it easily to make it a good value!

 

[speez12]

You can install a sway barfrom a2001 mustang gt.it simply bolts to the inside of lower control arms with its original hardware.

 

[puttster]

Good job, speez!

 

[coal cracker]

So here is what I did, and it has yet to be fully road tested but so far so good.

I took the rear sway bar off a 78 or 79 T-Bird with all the hardware that I could get. That included the bracktes that mount to the axle tube, the U-bolts that held the mounts to the axle tube, the sway bar of course, and the end links.


All you would need is the sway bar and the axle tube mounts and hardware for said mounts.


I mounted my sway bar to the axle tube in the same manner as the T-Bird. I did have to make the inner side of each sway bar mount a bit bigger as the placement of the mounts just happened to be right where the weld is in the axle tube where there is a step down in tube size. If you look at your axle you will see what I mean.


I then driled a hole in the inside of the lower trailing arms and used a grade 8 bolt and and washers and a lock washer to make sure it all stays put.


The way I did it is a lot like the 2001GT mustang bar is mounted as was suggested, but with out the trailing arm mounts.


I can take a picture and show you what I have at this point in time, but it will be a while, it just snowed and there is a cold snap coming this week and that car is outside, most likely frozen to the earth.


-coal-

 

[expolice]

I hear ya regarding the cold snap; livin' and dyin' in SE Michigan and also have my car outside!

Pictures would be nice; when you can get to it. No point in freezing your nuggets off for a picture.

I've got a couple of nice I-Pull-It JYs by me so next "warm" Saturday/Sunday maybe I'll go for a tour to see what they have!

Speez12; Thanks for the tip about the Mustang GT bar. Between the T-Bird and Mustang; I gotta believe I'll find one easily!

 

[mase_met]

What are the odds that two of us came up with the same sway bar find over the last 2-3 weeks. I went to my local pick-n-pull two weeks ago looking for an alternative to a lower control arm mounted sway bar that others have used (I do have the Addco 1 inch bar just in case). As mentioned previously, the Mustang will work, but a Crown Vic sway bar may work also, although they are smaller in diameter, and the end links will need to be mounted to the cross brace. Here is some info regarding the various years and models that used the same sway bar as the 78 T-bird.

1. From 72-79 T-birds, Torino’s, Ranchero’s, LTD II’s and other model names all used the
same style sway bar.
2. The bracket that the end link mounts to was a bolt in style in the early years and
became a weld in style in the later years. Also in the earlier years the diameter was
larger, 7/8’s versus 9/16’s or 5/8’s.

I verified this against a 72 and 78 Ranchero and later LTD’s while at the pick n pull. Here are some photos of the entire setup complete with brackets for the frame.

The axle brackets will need to be trimmed so they fit flush with the axle. As Coal Chaser mentioned, it will mount right at the weld line. You will need 3 ½ inner diameter u-bolts or bend the originals to fit.

I didn’t take pictures of my initial test fitting, but I will try to describe it as best I can until I can get some taken (I’m out of town for the next week or so). I already had the car up on jack stands with the rear axle and gas tank out. So back in went the rear axle, minus the springs. As Coal Chaser mentioned, the sway bar ends rest on the inside walls of the lower control arms once it is mounted to the axle. With the end links attached, the outside bolt heads/nuts rest on top of the control arms. I then jacked the axle up to ride height, and set the brackets up onto the cross brace of the frame (the same one that holds the upper control arm). There was over an inch of clearance between the lower control arms and end links/sway bar. I then raised the axle all the way to the axle bump stops and there was still at least ½ an inch of clearance.

Again, I was looking for a frame to axle mounting alternative for our cars, so that we can have a sway bar and use the Spohn tubular lower control arms Rear Suspension Control Arms & Panhard Bar | 1965-1974 Ford Galaxie . I already have the upper arm and panhard bar, very nice product. Now as a note, I know that the 65-66 cross frame design is a boxed frame style, while 67 is more of a tubular style design. At least the 67 four door I got an extra set of control arms from did.

Addco makes an aftermarket 7/8’s rear sway bar that uses standard end links and comes with frame brackets. [URL="http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aco-938[/SIZE]"]http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aco-938[/SIZE][/URL] . For clearance purposes I would recommend using 2 ½ to 3 inch shaft length end links. Here is a how it mounts to the axle and frame. The diagram shows the end link brackets mounting to the outside frame, but for our purposes it would mount to the cross frame.

I will be ordering the control arms and sway bar kit very soon. I have a feeling everyone will not want to wait for me to finish redoing the undercoating, Por-15ing the gas tank, painting the frame, painting the axle and installing the rear disc brake setup from a 97 PI Crown Vic (I have the small bearing sized axle), so I will do an install for photo purposes once they arrive.

 

[70XL]

Awesome! I'm looking forward to the pics.

 

[hardfordcore]

Yep....I am really interested in seeing the actual installation. Never really liked the ADDCO bar that only attaches to the control arms on my 65 but it was the only thing I found available. And I would like to be able to use the Spohn stuff too.

 

[mase_met]

Well the rear sway bar arrived today, and the Spohn lower arms should arrive Saturday. One small problem, the locking device (U-shaped bracket) in the installation diagram, was not in my installation kit. I contacted Adcco, so hopefully it will be here soon. It won't hold up the install for mounting purposes at least.

I will get some photo's up of the Addco hardware. The U-bolts are the right width to mount over the larger diameter center section of the rear axle. I am still debating whether to use the end link mounting brackets that came with the kit, or the ones I pulled from the Ranchero. The Addco unit, is a single bolt mounting, while the Ranchero bracket is mounted by two bolts. Just thinking the second bolt would give some added strength for torque and support.

Lastly, the end-links in the kit are fairly short, maybe 1/2 inch between the center bushings. I have another set of longer end links I will also be trying to see if this helps with clearance and travel of the axle and sway bar.

 

[mase_met]

Well, it looks like we have a winner in the saga of the frame, not control arm mounted sway bar!!! As you can see from the previous posts, the Addco (part # 938) 7/8’s rear sway for a 72-79 T-birds, Torino’s, Ranchero’s, LTD II’s was a possible alternate for 65-66 Galaxies.
With the sway bar installed on the axle, I left the springs uninstalled so I it would be easy to cycle the axle up and down with the jack. New rear springs measure approximately 16 inches, so I measured the same between the upper and lower spring perches to simulate full extension. 9 ¾ inches is supposed to be with the weight of the car on the springs, so this was treated as ride height. Finally, I took the axle all the way up to the bump stops.
I honestly lost count how many times I cycled the suspension through these three points over the last two weeks. I was looking for the best mounting solution for the end-link brackets, optimal length for the end-links, and most importantly, any contact or prolonged/severe flexing that would cause any issues.
To give an idea as to the improvement a sway bar is going to make, before the end-links were installed, the axle would never go up evenly with the jack, the left would always be higher (I was jacking from the center of the axle, if that thought just popped in your head), but I could pull up and down on either wheel to level the axle (inches at a time). Once the sway bar was mounted, the axle went up fairly level, and I could barely get any up and down axle flex when I would try to move one end of the axle or the other.


Well………..
Pictures are worth a thousand words, and I took a lot of pictures to give as many views and angles to see if anything looked like it might be a problem. I have provided captions for each picture. There are more photos, if interested on my Photobucket.


Axle/lower spring perch at 16 inches.

Axle/lower spring perch at 9 ¾ inches

Center of axle/sway bar at bump stop

Center of axle/sway bar at ride height

Left end link at axle/perches at 16 inches



Right end link at axle/perches at 16 inches

Left end link at ride height

Right end link at ride height

Left end link at bump stops

Right end link at bump stops

Now the interesting part, where exactly to drill holes in the cross member?

If measuring from inside the cross member, it is right around 1 ½ inches from the bottom. Measuring from inside the cross member to the edge of the frame it is 3 ¾ to 4 ½ inches. As you can see in the right side, I measured once and drilled twice (my grandfather would kick my butt for doing a rookie maneuver such as this. Gonna have to weld that one closed before paint).

I decided to use the factory brackets I got from the parts pull 73 Ranchero, simply because it allows for a 2 bolt mounting instead of the Addco brackets single bolt.

Also to strengthen/reinforce the frame, I will be installing a 3 inch by 4 inch plate that will be between the cross member and the washers/nuts.

"That’s great Scott, but what about the Spohn lower arms? Does the sway bar clear with them installed?" Here are the photo’s of the control arms and end links with the axle at full bump stop. Since this was the only time clearance was an issue, I did not take any other pictures with the Sphon lower arms and sway bar installed. With the added clearance I may see about using an even longer end link to reduce the flex and angle of the sway bar and end link during travel (make them more perpendicular).

Also, I will be drilling the second whole for the Torino/Ranchero brackets and making the reinforcement plates this weekend. I will make sure to get pictures up here once they are done.





Left lower Spohn control arm with Addco sway bar, with axle at full bump stop.

Right lower Spohn control arm with Addco sway bar, with axle at full bump stop.

 

[puttster]

I didn't realize that the connection to the frame was towards the middle of the car. Is that the usual direction for a rear sway bar?

 

[PSIG]

It would seem most are, but there is no reason it can't be aft or up. It's whatever fits without hitting important stuff like the fuel tank. Likewise, I have seen them with the ends attached to the axle, and the center of the bar to the frame - like most front sway bars are.

One note, is that changes to the rear will often necessitate changes to the front suspension, as the rear directly affects how the front works, and how the whole car reacts.

David

 

[mase_met]

PSIG,
I agree, changes to the rear will require adjustments to front suspension. In my case I had already replaced all of the bushings, steering linkage, springs, shocks and upgraded to the large Addco sway bar.

Puttster,
Most of the larger newer chassis cars I had researched had their rear sway bars mounted in this configuration (LTD's, Crown Vic's, even non ford full size cars). I thought of a rear mounting, but the configuration of the lower control arm mounts, and the gas tank made it much harder to locate one that would work. I did try using a late model Crown Vic sway bar I picked up when I got the Ranchero one, but the arms were shorter (2-3 inches less).

 

[ScottURnot]

Nice! this goes on our list to do to my sons 69!

 

[FrankB]

MASE MET

Looks like if you use the junk yard end link brackets the sway bar will be
lower? Will anything in the way?

 

[mase_met]

There really isn't much a differnece in the height of the two brackets. The factory one mounts the end link maybe 1/8-1/4 inch lower. It doesn't really cause any added clearance issues.

 

[70XL]

Can you reinstate the pictures? I'd very much like to see them.

 

[mase_met]

Sorry about that, renamed the photobuck folder, and it changed everything. I will get the rest of the photos back up shortly.

 

[70XL]

Those pics are great. Thanks a bunch.

The Addco bar for later cars is the 935, which is a 1" bar. Addco Performance Anti-Sway Bar Kits 935 - SummitRacing.com Does anyone know if there is significant differences in the rears suspensions? I thought the suspensions were fairly similar from 65 through late 70's. The 935 may be designed to mount to the control arm, not through links to the frame.