What size anti-sway bar to use

  • Sponsors (?)


6T7GTA said:
I have a '67 GTA(289) and want to replace the original anti-sway bar. Which size would be better 1" or 1 1/8"?

You need to balance front and back otherwise you will have a severe understeer condition. The dia. of the bar to use also depends on the type of bushings that you plan to use. If you stick with rubber bushings, the ride will be a bit better but the bar won't be as effective (so you need to go bigger). Finally, the rear bar always has to be smaller than the front bar. A 1 1/8 front bar with a 3/4 rear bar should work well using rubber bushings.

Addco has a booklet that they will send you (or it may be on-line these days). Check them out
 
The hot ticket would be if you had an adjustable front sway bar. It's all about being able to tune the suspension.

As far as size and stiffness (insert Viagra joke here) the stiffness is a function of the diamater of the bar to the 4th power:

Stiffness=D<sup>4</sup>

Example: A 1<sup>1/4</sup> inch diamater bar is 2.44 times as stiff as a 1.00-inch diamater bar.

Also, size is not the only thing to take into consideration. Is the bar hollow or solid? A solid bar will be stiffer than a hollow bar, however, the solid bar will weigh much more. If it's hollow, you might have to go as big as a 1<sup>1/2</sup> inch bar to get the same effect as a 1-inch bar.

I have a 1<sup>1/8</sup> solid bar on my '68. It worked well when I had a 302 in the car and still performs well with the current 351W.