the 1999 Explorer rear swaybar is about 34 inches wide. It was looking like it would bottom out on my C notched frame no matter what side of the axle I mounted in on so I left it off. Also's it's only 3/4" diameter - looks kinda wimpy. How do you translate "wimpy" into Sweedish?

 

That would be "mesigt" in Swedish....

 

At the moment I am leaning towards leaving the chassie as it was designed without the swaybars........

But at this time tomorrow I will probably have changed my mind atleast 4-5 times.....??

What the heck......

 

"mesigt" hmm, not sure I can pronounce that. I do enjoy your threads and comments.

 

You can improve the ride with new springs from Posies Rods and Customs (see page 39 of their catalog). Several of us have used them. Dual Flex on the front and Super Sliders on the rear lower the front about 3" and the rear 2". This lowers the roll center. It is not a racing suspension but it does improve the ride and handling. You might want to call them and ask if they recommend a roll bar. They are an old time speed shop near Hershey, PA. They build a lot of street rods. They bought a spring company that was in their town a few years ago so now they make their own springs and some other parts.

Search this forum on the word Posies to see some pictures on various threads.

 

With the risk of still beating this poor horse any closer to his demise:
Sways are not going to change the "falling out the passenger door" feeling very much. That feeling is a combination of the driver's posterior being located far higher above the roll center than in modern vehicles, along with the flat stiff "park bench" type seat offering no support or cushioning and the upper body not being restrained from rocking side to side. Theoretically If you did nothing else but mount some well padded racing type wrap around bucket seats on the cab floor, much of that feeling would go away. (obviously not a very practical driving position though! )
To get a better perspective of what is happening let's create a simple model: collect a couple small seated position plastic figures like plastic soldiers or small action figures, a 3mm dowel abut 25 cm long, a marker and a hot glue gun (or even some tape)' Glue or tape one of the figures to the end of the dowel like he's about to slide down a pole. attach the second figure below the first about midpoint on the dowel so they are both looking the same way. Place a mark on the dowel about 2 cm below the second figure's butt. now with the figures facing away from you, pinch the dowel between your thumb and index finger at the mark (that point represents the roll center). move the bottom end of the dowel side to side with the free hand the resultant rocking represents the body roll. The highest figure represents you seated in your truck well above the roll center, the lower figure represents you seated in your late model family sedan just above the roll center. When you swing the end of the dowel the upper figure moves (rocks) side to side quite a lot compared to the lower figure. Reducing the body roll (by adding heavy sways,simulated by moving the lower end of the dowel 1/2 as far), and the upper figure still rocks quite a lot. You would need to reduce the body roll to near zero before you'd lose the rocking by the upper figure, Doing that would produce a very harsh ride indeed!
IMHO putting in new spring eye bushings and pins, some stiff side walled (and/or wider/ lower profile) radial tires, and most importantly some really good dampers will produce the best results. Sways will be a very marginal improvement at best. After that accept that it is a vehicle engineered almost 70 years ago, designed for low speed short trips on unimproved (or no) roads while carrying a significant load, and learn to enjoy it's quirks. Think of it as an amusement park ride, not a sports touring sedan!

 

This discussion takes me back, way back. IIRC, a course that I took the last year of engineering required a technical presentation. My presentation discussed the following:
At the time I had a well used 356B Porsche. It was originally a Super 90 model which had the highest horsepower engine (about equal to a late flathead V8) but it also had a rear "camber compensator". Being that it was like the VW bug and was a rear engine/transaxle, it suffered from too much weight in the rear, particularly noted in aggressive cornering. The Super 90 changes over the other models included slightly smaller (less stiff) torsion bars in the rear coupled with the camber compensator (think a single transverse leaf spring). The Porsche, until rusted, was a stiff structure, the opposite of our trucks. The idea was it allowed the rear to roll more in the rear effecting a transfer of more load to the front outboard tire on hard cornering. Fond memories of twisting roads in southern Vermont.

 

Well guys

Thanks for all the feedback. I have decided to let this, swaybar thing, be for a while.

I can always go back and add them later on if I feel the erg to do so.

 

I didn't mount a rear bar on my F1, here's why. First, my F1 has a Jag ifs, and a TCI reaf leaf lowering kit. The entire truck is about 4" lower than stock. The jag ifs has the stock bar, which is only about 7/8", IIRC. That's not very stiff. Even the heavier XJ12 only has a 1" front bar. Still not real stiff. Pretty much any bar I could adapt on the rear would be too stiff for the balance of the truck. I like my Miata neutral in corners, but I like my truck to understeer a bit. Second, I have an open diff on the rear. A too stiff rear bar unweights the inside tire in a corner. Alittle heavy on the gas and the inside tire spins. Most sports sedans that have heavier rear bars also have limited slip rears to reduce that. My set up is not optimal for sports car like handling, but it works just fine for a cruiser truck. I have no plans to autocross it. I saw a F100 at an autocross about 20 years ago. I was driving a prepped rabbit back then. It looked like the driver was having a good time, lots of wheel spin and sliding around. Lots of tire squeal. I said it looked like lots of fun. The driver said it may look fun, but it really wasn't.

 

Here is a NASCAR/circle track style sway bar on a chassis that Bobco was building for a customer. He wouldn't give me anything in the way of specifics about the source of the setup or the sway bar rate but here is an article that may help Sway Bar Rating Techniques - Circle Track Magazine
Schroeder makes many sway bars for the racing guys...ebay is full of "take-offs" from race cars if you decide that this might be a solution for you.

 

There is more to the stiffness of a sway bar that just it's diameter. The length of the lever arms and how close they mount to the ends of the axle as well as the mounting bushing compliance all affect the relative stiffness. Only if you are comparing bars of the same configuration and mounting on the same vehicle can you judge the stiffness just by the bar's diameter.
Charlie, that's a nice install except it doesn't look like the bar is mounted in any bushings. That's going to beat the hell out of the tube and make for a harsh ride in street driving.