In the “Ride and Handling Discussion” thread, Fatfenders wrote:<O</O

“I thought this thread would end with a good idea of how to select components. “

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Since calculating the size, material, etc of sway bars is a bit beyond my personal expertise, I did some research on my setup in order to contribute something toward the kind of guidelines that Fenders’ and George were talking about.

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My 56 has a Fatman Mustang II IFS. It is what they call a Stage I kit. It has the stock stamped A-arms and rod struts to the frame. It was installed by the previous owner 10 years ago.

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My truck rides very flat in turns and handles really well. The sway bar is perfect for my truck’s weight. Not too stiff, not too soft. Surprisingly little roll in a turn.
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My truck weighs 3500 pounds, with 2200 of it on the IFS.

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The sway bar is 1.20 dia with levers that are 12.0 long. I assume it also came from Fatman, but I haven't found a part number for it yet. I'll try to get that on Monday.

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Maybe if we just compile data from the setups that each of us have, we can dial into some helpful sway bar rules of thumb?

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Just a thought…

 

Can you have too much sway bar? Nah, as long as its balanced with the rear.

 

Thanks RJ,

That's exactly what I would like to see tucked into the back of the IFS sections. The data flies from 50 directions around here and is a little hard to capture. But yes, it would be nice to be able to say, for this particular IFS and a smallblock, this one or this one has worked for others. We'll never have a chart or anything like that. We'll add a disclaimer so everyone understands the infinite variables and nobody thinks they get a guarantee. But somebodies positive experience sure beats a wild guess if you don't know what you are doing. And I include myself in that group right now.

So this is as good a place as any. If you have a swaybar and it's working well. Tell us what you got. Definitely need the bar size. At a minimum we'd need IFS style, weight if you got it, otherwise engine and trans combo.

I;ll dig throught the mega thread to see if anyone already submitted the info. I seem to recall discussion of a straight axle bar. We'll get the size from him if he didn't post it.

 

You'll also need to know the spring rate of the primary springs. If you know all that and the roll center, I can give you the formula for calculating the needed swaybar rate for your setup.

 

All - I talked to the Tech guy (Darryl) at Fatman's today. I described the sway bar on my MII setup and he said that it WAS NOT a Fatman sway bar. Theirs are all 7/8 dia. He said it most probably was from a later model F350. Those bars ran 1 1/8 - 1 1/4 dia. That is apparently as close as I can get on this.

 

So be it then. The info you provided is still quite useful. Simply providing a range of acceptable alternatives gives somebody a starting point. We are modifying trucks in a near infinite number of possible combos. We can't provide an exact answer that is perfect for everyone. Though I suspect we should be able to nail them down fairly specific over time.

To my knowledger. that's a pretty big bar. Certainly Not by AXs COMP standards, but by typical F100 aftermarket IFS standards it seems to be. What's it handle and ride like in your subjective opinion? Compare it to a common car or truck. I'm just curious. My goal is a 70s car. Hoping for it to handle almost as good as a Nova/Volare/90's F150. I think I'm gonna have a little bit of that short wheelbase ride chop on certain roads. I just want to be able to stick a corner at the posted limit, and brake hard without somebody looking at me and saying "what the hell makes it do that man?" Almost there I think.

 

I'm interested in hearing how it rides as well. FF you're right that's not big by our stds. Our Miata has a 1.25" HOLLOW bar on the front.
Your new shocks will help with the brake nose diving, but a sway bar doesn't affect it.

 

All - 1.2 inch diameter (F-350?) Sway Bar on a 56 Effie:

The truck rolls thru a corner VERY FLAT. As I said, I was very surprised at how it corners. It has very little body roll (in the front), but my overall setup isn't balanced yet. I have found that if I hit a corner fairly hard, the rear end will start to come around. The truck wants to oversteer. I will be adding a rear bar to balance things better and for the towing I expect to do someday. I'm also currently running Gabriel Hi-Jacker air shocks in the rear for load-hauling. Not a great riding shock, even at low pressure. With some weight (200-300#), the system settles in much better.

As to the road worthiness (ride), it's really pretty nice, for a truck. I wouldn't say it's on par with a late model large sedan, but it's a whole lot better than a small car and certainly better than the stock truck. It actually reminds me of the ride I remember from a 1967 Comet (the larger one) and is considerably better than a 1969 Ford 1 ton van that I had. It is not as mushy as a 70's full-size Ford sedan.

Speed bumps and road dips are problematic only because of my low ride height. The "bump" from them isn't shocking, though. I think the PO put the right springs in it. The front shocks are tired, and the rubber bushings are starting to get loose. I plan to change to graphite-impregnated urethane bushings next year when I go to an air ride suspension. So, basically, I tend to think that the little stuff that's not perfect will be corrected with the changes I have in mind. I'm looking forward to a very nice ride for those cross-country trips (maybe to visit a bunch of youse guys).

As to the short wheel-base "road chop", I get that locally where the freeway concrete slabs mismatch slightly. At just the wrong speed, that regular spacing of them is an E-ticket ride. But the Honda next to me has the same problem

But, as to the sway bar, it has less body roll than the stock Triumph TR-4's I had years ago and I feel this bar works for my truck's weight very well.

Does that help some? Is that subjective enough?

 

As indicated previously, sway bar diameter has a significant influence but is not the only consideration. Lever arm was mentioned and that will contribute. Spring rate certainly has an influence and even attachment point will influence as the further out the lower arm, the more effective. Of course, the individual considerations of engine/trans weight and in its position in the frame can influence sway bar effectiveness as well. I would think that the amount of lowering will somewhat influence the bar choice. For a given front end such as the Volare, spring rate and attachment points are the same so now its a match of a bar to engine/trans and amount of lowering and the desired amount of control.

Please forgive me for complicating this further. I do agree that some real world examples will certainly help us all to make a better choice. As well, I believe that a sway bar on a stock front axle, will help tremendously and a further bar on the rear would be required only to really tune it in.

Regards, John

 

Hey folks -

How about some more "real world examples"? The idea here is simply to collect some bar sizes, lengths and front end weights as a rough guide for people.

If you have a sway bar on your effie, please measure it, enter the info, and give us your impression of how in rides.

Thanks