I have a question here for everyone about sway bars. I have a 200 cubic inch I6 in my 66 mustang and was wondering what the stock size is - is it 3/8"? And with the smaller engine and weight, would I notice a big difference in upgrading to an 1" or a 1 1/8"? I plan on doing a rear sway bar which all seem to be 3/4". Thanks for any advice.

 

.....

 

Why wouldn't you add sway bars in the rear? Too stiff?

 

i think its only useful to add rear sway bars if youre doing heavy cornering, like track cars and autocross.

 

From what I have learned here...Beefing up the front sway bar creates an under-steer condition that some people like. If you put a rear sway bar in, you can create a neutral to over-steering condition which freeks some people out. I like a loose feeling car and the rear bar has really helped my drag launches. If you are road course guy, the rear sway bar might may you too loose and cause a spin out, but that is above what I do.

In my '69, I run a 1 1/8" in the front and 7/8" in the rear (stock I believe is 3/4" front and nothing in the rear). This along with subframe connectors, traction bars, and bad ars M/T tires allow me to corner pretty dang well. Compared to what it was, the car is very neutral which is more loose that it used to be. I regularly take 50mph corners at 80 and have never untracked.

 

cowboy is obviously the sway bar knowledgable poster here.

Back in the mid seventies I drove a stick shift, 200, 66 Mustang about 150,000 miles and for it's time was a great ride. At rebuild time I did some porting, a bigger carb, cam and headers with dual exhaust. I had to open the hood more than once to prove that it was not a V8.

Anyway, stay with the stock front sway bar and add one to the rear. Stiffening the rear sway bar will give you a near neutral handling car.

Almost ALL production cars except for the most exotic are put on the street by the mfg's with an intentional under steer condition. This makes most drivers back off before they get themselves into trouble.

Too many people think that you have to stiffen the front when you stiffen the rear. If you do this you STILL have an understeering car, but it doesn't have as much body sway. Don't worry about body sway. Get the car neutral or slightly over steering.

I highly recommend a book that's been on the shelves for probably 30 years. It is still very valid and has been reprinted over the years. It is called "How to make your Car Handle." You can probably get it on Amazon for $15. If you want to enjoy a fun handling car it will be the best money you ever spent.

Enjoy,

 

I am in no way the expert. Norm and Daze are by far the guys to hit on this stuff. I am just regurgitating what I have learned from what those guys have told me and what I have seen working on my car.

 

Wow lots of good advice guys. I didn't think to mention though I plan to use my car just for everyday driving, I'm not going to be racing it or taking it on road courses. Will this affect what I should do? Just adding the rear sway bar sounds like the easiest and least expensive measure to at least start with. I do have a disc brake swap I'm going to be doing for the car.

 

.....

 

This reminds me that I need to replace my front sway bar on my 67.