Question for the solid front axle guys. I have a 64 F-100 and would like to know if anyone has tryed using a front sway bar. I know what the benefits are on the front indipendent suspension. I all so know that it works well on solid rear ends. Any takers?

 

Anti sway bars' function is to tie both independent axles' motion into each other to create a balance between them. Necessity for that is rebound rate of coil springs & different lengths of the twin I beams cause or create greater roll factor due to better flexing.

Since single I beam is already ties left to right or vice-a-versa, does not use coil springs, but has parallel eliptical leaves, anti sway bar is redundant & pointless. both wheels are already work relative to each other.

If you have excess roll factor, track bar or Watts Link will dampen it. So will good shocks set at correct angles. Also snug spring & shackle bushings help a lot too. FBp

 

Ok, fordboy
being a retired mech. engineer with a PE, I understand what you are saying....explane to me why you see sway bars on the rear ends with solid axle and leaf spring???? Would the front benefit just as well as the rear????

 

I believe it would benefit if it was a driving axle, such as a 4X4, but I can't see how a non motive live axle would benefit. It is castering along behind front pivots, in essence following front frame "horns".

As for rear anti sway bars, when differential drives 1 axle more than another, rear will have a tendency to skew. Although many Mfgr's use anti swaybar setup to buffer or balance counterforces, a track link [diagonal across longitudal centerline in the horizontal plane] really works better.

I know leaf springs on single, front, I beam interfere with correct frnt antisway bar set up, besides the question of marginal gain.
IMHO live front axle geometry is not optimum for best handling. It may be strong or durable, but it lacks finesse & precision due to it's technology alone. Probably why "Henry" developed tin I's in the first place. I have no problem trimming & tuning twins to get great handling. . .

 

Thanks Fordboy for your help...you gave my alotta bang for the $. My primary truck is a 1976 F-250 Ranger XLT Supercab with front and rear sway bars I got from a junkyard F-350 Camper Special.

Again Thanks for thr info!!

John

 

OK, I'm going to play devil's advocate here... when cornering centrifugal force is going to put more weight on the outside corner, so the spring loading is going to be higher there - as will spring compression; wouldn't a sway bar act as a torsion bar to give added spring rate as things flexed?

As I picture it in my minds eye, the mounts are staying fixed to the frame, but polar motion is pushing the side of the axle with the most cornering weight closer to those mounts, and moving the lighter side away from them - yes the ends stay the same in relation to the axle, but now the body is doing the twisting and not the susspension. (No engineering degree, but I do have a couple of years of physics classes in my past...)


My thinking was that the purpose of sway bars was to go along for the ride when everything went up and down together, but increase the rate to the outside when things were out of balance...

That being said I totally agree that live axles are not even close to the hot setup to win at an autocross meet! Finding a setup that works with the live axle would take some experimentation - a front setup would have to be a lot thicker than what is used on the back of most vehicles.

A 4x4 is a different animal alltogether, drive axle or not; there are some expensive toys out there to disconnect the sway bars... you WANT the flex!

 

Thanks for the info John. I assume that you kept the solid front axle on your 64?

John

Don't worry about that degree thing, it ain't worth a *****.

I got one and lost it when I opened a resort in St. Thomas the virgin island.......most have been the Cruzan Rum at $2.50 a bottle. They gave it away with a 6 pack of Coke. Having said that, I see things alot clearer now.....gotta go....its my R&C noon break

 

I'm keeping the straight axle; I've already converted it to power-disk brakes. All the rage these days is to convert them to IFS, I figure I'm part of the dare-to-be-different crowd! All I drive it for is to get grocerys (no, really ) and to get back and forth to work on rainy days - I ride a motorcycle most of the time. Any high-speed hyjinx I may do in it will be 1/4 mile at a time.

My Grand Wagonner (with 8" of lift and 33"s) came from the factory with a live front axle and sway bar; I know it makes a big difference on the Jeep as it leans pretty bad on the road when I have the bar disconnected to go playing in the dirt, but that monster is 2 1/2 feet taller and 2500 lbs heavier than the pickup! The Jeep's frame is almost exactly the same width as my 64, and I've tossed around the idea of trying to convert one like it to work on the F100, but I'm afraid it would be overkill on the lighter truck and axle. I'm not really looking for something to try and make the thing handle a high-speed sweeper, I just want to put a little of the body lean in check. I also haven't thought of a way to mount the bar ends to the axle that would look very clean...

I didn't sweat the degree back then - I was going for one in general engineering, but as a 19 year old kid taking 17 hours of classes and working 40 hours a week I burned out after about two years... I allways said I'd go back, I just didn't think it would be 22 years later! I'm trying for Telecomm/management this time around with a year or so left, so I think I'll make it this time!

 

I agree with keeping the solid front axle. I did a volare front clip on my 50 ford coupe even though it had an early ifs. I've got a 460 in it. I like the 429/460, so I'm transplanting a 460 into the 64 F-100. The other iron in the fire is a 31 model A slant windshield carbrolet with a bone stock 406 with tripower. Love the blue oval stuff!! I purchased a 427 sohc engine about 15 years ago and had to sale it after my 401k did a nose dive.

 

A solid front sway bar was on my first unibody, but was found on a Chivy Blazer fullsize 4x4 with leaf front end. The ends had to be turned around and new spring plates drilled, but they fit great and WOW, what a difference in cornering, especially under load. I never got to try a set of Crown Victoria HD rear sway bars, as I sold the truck at a car show to get a later ford. The solid front axle does transfer the lifting moment of the sway bars. It opposes sway by uses the leverage of the leaning body to lift against the weighted side, like a fulcrum or a prybar.
It must attach to the body at 2 points and to the wheels on each side.
3 things that affect the design and effectiveness of the sway bar:
1 - The distance of frame mounts apart; furthest apart is best,
2 - the closer the end links are to the wheels, wider bar is best
and 3 - the longer the"U" shape of the sway bar,
the better it controls sway. Shorter gets worse.
Here's the bad news, the better the sway bar, the harder the ride,
as it fights the springs and shocks from doing their job, that's why a factory designed bar is best for all around use, or you will be experimenting for a while to get the best ride, antisway combo.... it's hard to not to want a track truck and a "daily driver".

 

There is a 4th factor that lets you fine-tune the bar; the length of the links that connect the bar end to the axle (or A-arm, or whatever) itself. Longer links allow more flex and lessen the effect of the bar, shorter ones increase the effect.