When I rebuilt my car 10 years ago, I had all stock new front end parts replaced and aligned. I have not run a front sway bar for quite a few years now. I just put on a new 1" sway bar. Is a front end alignment/check a good suggestion or is it not neccessary?

 

Wow, you ran it without any sway bar? That had to be an interesting ride.

If you haven't aligned the car in several years, get it done. Realistically, it should be done every year or ~8k miles, or if you hit any curbs. I don't think the sway bar will alter anything significantly, but you should still get it checked out. Lots of alignment shops won't charge you to check it if it doesn't need to be aligned.

 

The sway bar (anti-roll bar) WILL NOT change any of the alignment angles. The alignment is done with the vehicle in a 'static' (stationary, level, curb weight). The sway bar will help keep the car level during cornering- think of the sway bar as a horizontal torsion bar that is used during turns.

This probably goes beyond the scope of this thread, but running the sway bar can alter the amount of camber during turns. This is not something to be worried about for normal driving.

 

No you read it correctly. I would race the car years ago and a lot of drag cars do not run front sway bars. Saves weight and every ounce counts when drag racing. As long as your going strait your fine, but yes it can be real scary in the curves.
I don't race the car anymore, so the key is now safety on the street.
I was thinking a front end alignment was'nt needed, but I wanted to hear opinions on the subject. Thanks.

 

Yeah, You don't need to get an alignment just because you added a sway bar. However if it hasn't been alignend in 10 years it couldn't hurt to have it checked. I think some shops will still check it for free.