Which sway bar?

[chevelle327c5]

I have a 68 chevelle and replacing the front end... i'm thinking about ungrading the oem sway bar... I was told to look into a bigger sway bar since i'm using the 1" drop coils.

Which sway bar should i be looking at? which size? Using for street for now.. and road courses in the future.

1.) Spohn Performance Anti Sway Bars 1 5/16" Chrome Moly 146$
2.) Hotchkis 2202F 1-3/8 Hollow Front Bar 199$
3.) Addco 7091 1/4 in 161$

These are the ones i am looking at.. Trying 2 do this build as cheap as i can... Now i have no sway bar in the rear... I was going to add one when i install a new rear end next fall...

[LowBuckX]

cant go wrong with either.

[ProdigyCustoms]

We sell and install the Hotchkis hollow bars. the 2202F is on the shelf if you need it.

$190 delivered

[twolfinger]

If you are truly on a budget build, aren't we all? I have a 67 Buick GS400 and I went with a 77 Trans Am sway bar from craigslist. $25 1.25" and mates right up. I am pretty sure 64-72 a bodies all use the same sway bar dimensions.

It is solid, so you won't be losing weight. Otherwise each product mentioned will work well.

Tom

[chevelle327c5]

If you are truly on a budget build, aren't we all? I have a 67 Buick GS400 and I went with a 77 Trans Am sway bar from craigslist. $25 1.25" and mates right up. I am pretty sure 64-72 a bodies all use the same sway bar dimensions.

It is solid, so you won't be losing weight. Otherwise each product mentioned will work well.

Tom

i never thought about that... i remember looking up 1 of those sway bars i have up there and they said "works on 64-72 A body and 70-81 camaro firebird".. so i looked on ebay for camaro and trans am... but with shipping and the price of the part i should just go for 1 of the sway bar i'm looking at.... but then i started calling junk yards and i did find 1 place that has a sway bar for a 91 firebird for 40$... they claim it would work on the late 70s camaro... so would that work on the chevelle? you can't be telling me gm has used the same sway for for over 25 years?

[twolfinger]

i never thought about that... i remember looking up 1 of those sway bars i have up there and they said "works on 64-72 A body and 70-81 camaro firebird".. so i looked on ebay for camaro and trans am... but with shipping and the price of the part i should just go for 1 of the sway bar i'm looking at.... but then i started calling junk yards and i did find 1 place that has a sway bar for a 91 firebird for 40$... they claim it would work on the late 70s camaro... so would that work on the chevelle? you can't be telling me gm has used the same sway for for over 25 years?

No Idea on that, I know 2nd gen will work.

[chevelle327c5]

well it looks like the 3rd gen is 43 3/4 and the 2nd gen is 46 1/2... idk how they can say it would work if there different lengths.

[Dave@Hellwig]

Our tubular 1-5/16" front bar and our 1-1/8" tubular adjustable rear sway bar work really well on an A-Body. p/n for the front is 55703 and the rear is 55868 for a 68-72 GM a-body

Here's a picture of our rear adjustable bar installed.

[wmhjr]

I recently installed the Hellwig tubular (hollow) front bar on my '66. It came with all end link and frame bushing hardware - all of which I felt were superior to the Energy Suspension stuff I removed. The bar is of excellent quality, and the contour of it combined with the "hammered" finish seeming to hold lube have combined to also eliminate binding and noise from the front end. I have a very slight clearancing issue between the heavy duty tie rod adjuster and the hellwig bar (VERY slight) with no weight on the car. I believe it will be gone with an alignment and weight on tires. Installation was perfect and painless - even on a car with the SPC race uppers and tubular lowers with PT springs and Howe tall ball joints. I'm sure there are other good products such as what else was recommended. Just wanted to give first hand feedback about a recent (2 weeks ago) install.

[Taman]

I had a Hotchkiss sway bars front and rear on my TA. I liked them. Way better than the stock one and it was half the weight. Now I am running the Heidt's complete suspension.

[chevelle327c5]

Our tubular 1-5/16" front bar and our 1-1/8" tubular adjustable rear sway bar make a work really well on an A-Body. p/n for the front is 55703 and the rear is 55868 for a 68-72 GM a-body

Here's a picture of our rear adjustable bar installed.

So where can i buy your sway bars?

your front bar 5703

and the rear bar 55868?

I see on chevelle.com you have a phone number posted but when i call them.. they wont sell to me because i'm not a dealer???

[Dave@Hellwig]

Give Mark at SC&C a call at (610) 346-8154. He'll take the time to get you what you need for your combination. If you want the tubular front bar its p/n 55703. We don't sell direct because it doesn't help our dealers if we take their business. You can also buy our products from Summit, Just Suspension, Never Enough Auto, etc.

[Hotchkis]

Hope you guys don't mind one more opinion...thanks for the recommendations of our bars.

The Hotchkis bar includes greasable bushings, heavy duty mounts, grade 8 hardware, high quality end links, a powder coated finish, and tubular construction so they're lighter weight and a performance improvement. Many people get confused when comparing a hollow sway bar to a solid bar. Their immediate thought is that solid is stiffer. It actually depends on OD of each bar.

For example our 1 3/8” Hollow is 43% lighter than a equivalent 1.25” solid bar but 6% stiffer, so you won't lose any performance, and you'll have a weight savings benefit.

While budget is always a concern, if you look closely at the different brands, you’ll notice the quality difference in things like construction and included hardware. It's worth a little extra to have high quality materials and fasteners.

[crustysack]

is there any noticeable gain/difference from a sway bar ( on a 65 GTO) that mounts on the lower control arms (fwd facing)or one that end mounts to the frame(rear facing)??
thanks

[wmhjr]

I'm told there is by some experienced folks. I'm going to find out this summer. I've got a Spohn 1" sway bar mounted to my Currie rear suspension right now. I'm going to drive it a little, then I plan on replacing it with one of the newer bars and see the difference.

[Dave@Hellwig]

Mounting the sway bar to the control arms like the stock bar prevents the suspension from articulating and causes binding. Mounting the bar so that the control arms are free to move allows the suspension to articulate better and results in better ride and handling. My 68 Chevelle was one of the development vehicles for our new adjustable rear bar and there was a pronounced difference in vehicle dynamics between a stock style bar and our new adjustable bar. I was able to take one corner 5 mph faster because when using the stock style bar the rear axle would tend to chatter in the bumps while the new adjustable bar would allow the suspension to absorb them.

[crustysack]

Thanks Dave for the logic behind the answer- now I know for sure that I chose the correct bar