As measured from the end link surface, one side of my sway bar is bent about 1/8". This happened when driving the car to the alignment shop before I modified the end links and sway bar mount. The sway bar was hitting the chassis on hard bumps.

My gut says yes: Is this enough to worry about?

Also: For those of you that have significantly lowered cars, what sway bar setup do you have? Details are good end ( link sleeve length, brand, and fitment etc).

I feel like notching the frame rail is not a good option, does any company make a better fit sway bar then mustangs plus? I have the grab a track bar.

Also, I purposely took the car for a spin without the sway bar. It didn't seem dangerous at town speeds as long as I'm not an idiot. It's probably ok to drive it around town <45mph without a sway bar right?

 

The sway bar will effect suspension balance, it alters the couple percentage (the bias of roll difference between the front and rear). Sway bars are a fine tuning aide that control whether the car under or over steers. They do it by controlling how much each end of the car can roll.

Handling won't be good on a Classic without a front roll bar. Being slightly bent like you described isn't really an issue in all likelihood, but it shouldn't be conacting the frame rail. Do you have pics? It could be installed wrong (which will be an issue since the sway bar won't work correctly).

 

@67: I am well aware of what it does and how it works. It is installed properly I am not a noob haha I do 24hrs of lemons racing as well. It hits the frame rail because my car sits so low. 1.5" arm drop plus 1 coil cut. I built spacers for where the sway bar mounts to chassis, in order to give the sway bar more clearance. In order to keep geometry correct I also shortened the sleeves of the end links. You don't think 1/8" difference side to side is enough to justify buying a new one?

I would kinda like to buy a different front sway bar, but since my car sits lower than 90% of mustangs out there I really want solid information on fitment etc. The reason I wouldn't mind a different design is because the center of the sway bar sits very low, fix one problem create another...

I am interested in the hollow type sway bars due to their straight design, but again I am looking for feedback from those with lowered cars and their setups (specifically 69/70's if possible...)

 

It won't matter, you won't feel it. Just make sure when you put it back on that you don't tighten it down and put the 'tweak' in it. In other words, use a shim or a washer on one side so when you tighten it up you don't put the bar in a bind. Even if you did it wouldn't be a big deal, it would preload one side a bit, not enough to worry about.

 

@racer: ok its good to know that I can do that.

I came across this sway bar
http://www.cal-mustang.com/1-ADJUSTA...3592C3255.aspx

That looks like it would solve my issue. See how outboard from the chassis mount it has a steep step to avoid hitting the chassis? My grab a trak one makes that height change much more gradual, causing interference with the outer edge of the frame rail.

 

Out of curiosity, have you tried flipping it and mounting it UNDER the LCA? We used to do that to fit big G-20 van swaybars on camaro subframes. Same principle might work here, but not sure about the clearances on the mustang.

The kit listed with all parts shown included is a good deal at $229 and you get the rear bar too? I'd be real tempted to use that as it might be easier than fabbing up some new swaybar mounts. time is money and all that.

 

I think I had that idea before, but since the bar is off the car I will explore that option soon. If I remember correctly the issue was end link geometry. I found it interesting how little the car's body rolls after all the mods I just finished WITHOUT the sway bar on.

 

i dont use a sway bar on mine and it drives fine. I wouldnt auto cross with it, but for street and freeway driving, it feels normal.But when i did have one, a 1" shelby type worked fine as low as it is.