So since i have been reading all the great re-views on Tri 5er's who have installed a sway bar on the front of there car, i figured it was time to install one on my 57. I really figured out i needed one after i whent over Donner Summit on my way to Don's house in Sacramento to give him a hand with firing up his new 350 in his 57. Or should i say drink all his beer!!
So i started to research all the sway bars out there, and i just couldnt see spending 150 to 225 dollars bye the time I had it shipped to my door step. Nothing against the companies out there that make the kits, i know they have R&D time, material, and employees, but i just wasnt going to spend that kind of cash for something i could fabb myself, plus i am a firm beleiver in "its a what you make, not what you buy" I guess that comes from my 20 years of rock crawling background. Anybody can go out and bye bolt on stuff for there new Jeep Rubicon and take it to the trails, but my satisfaction is saying, "I fabbed and designed that myself"
So since mother nature decided to ruin my 3 day weeknd bye raining for the next 5 days and not being able to enjoy the car show in Quincy, i decided if i couldnt drive and enjoy my new found love, i would spend the weeknd working on her.
So Friday morning i whent down to the Reno Pick-N-Pull, and spent 2 hours crawling underneath every mid and full size Chevy car they had measuring and trying to find to correct sway bar for the 57. As it turns out, the frame width in the front of a 57 is 33"s from center to center. Ofcourse every car they had was between 25 and 31"s wide. I did go look at a couple of Ford Lincoln's, and imagine that, there frame width was exactly 33"s wide. But there sway bar had a weird hoop in it down bye the lower A arm, and i was afraid it would hit the bottom of the frame, but more importantley, you couldnt pay me enough money in the world to install a Ford product on my :bowtier: :sign0020:
So i decided i would split the differnce on the width of the sway bar were it actually bolted to the frame, and just fabb my own mounting brackets on the inside of the frame rail to bolt the sway bar too. So i ended up grabbing a sway bar off of a 89 Camero, it was 29"s wide, and would work perfect with my own mounting brackets. I did look at a sway bar on a 90 Camero that was a RS model, but the sway bar itself was atleast 2"s thick, and i thought it would be to big and make my 57 ride like a dump truck, the one i grabbed is a 1" & 1/8th thick. The RS edition might be good for the guys running the B.B.'s
So not counting my time looking for the propper sway bar, I maybe have 12 hours in fabbing the brackets and mounting the sway bar under my 57, and even better, i only paid 30 bucks for the sway bar, and 20 bucks for the new bushing kit from Napa that im still waiting for.
So since i installed the sway bar, i havent been able to drive the car because its pouring rain, but i could put on hand on the fender and make the car bounce up and down like it had hydraulics in it before the install:sign0020: but know it takes both hands and half of my body to make the suspencion move up and down. Once the rain goes away and the roads dry up, i will take her for a little rip on the Hwy and see how she does.
So the next project, replace all the worn out leif spring bushings and shackles with the new set i have sitting on my work bench, and remove the rear shock's from the trunk body and mount them on the frame like they should be before they rip out the other side!!
Passneger side sway bar mount to the frame. I used 1/4" thick metal, so i dont see any of the brackets or tabs bending anytime soon.
Drivers side sway bar mount.
mounting bracket for the sway bar to the lower A arm.
Sway bar finshed and installed. The bend in the center of the sway bar matches the contour of the car pretty good, It almost makes it look like it came from the factory installed.
So i started to research all the sway bars out there, and i just couldnt see spending 150 to 225 dollars bye the time I had it shipped to my door step. Nothing against the companies out there that make the kits, i know they have R&D time, material, and employees, but i just wasnt going to spend that kind of cash for something i could fabb myself, plus i am a firm beleiver in "its a what you make, not what you buy" I guess that comes from my 20 years of rock crawling background. Anybody can go out and bye bolt on stuff for there new Jeep Rubicon and take it to the trails, but my satisfaction is saying, "I fabbed and designed that myself"
So since mother nature decided to ruin my 3 day weeknd bye raining for the next 5 days and not being able to enjoy the car show in Quincy, i decided if i couldnt drive and enjoy my new found love, i would spend the weeknd working on her.
So Friday morning i whent down to the Reno Pick-N-Pull, and spent 2 hours crawling underneath every mid and full size Chevy car they had measuring and trying to find to correct sway bar for the 57. As it turns out, the frame width in the front of a 57 is 33"s from center to center. Ofcourse every car they had was between 25 and 31"s wide. I did go look at a couple of Ford Lincoln's, and imagine that, there frame width was exactly 33"s wide. But there sway bar had a weird hoop in it down bye the lower A arm, and i was afraid it would hit the bottom of the frame, but more importantley, you couldnt pay me enough money in the world to install a Ford product on my :bowtier: :sign0020:
So i decided i would split the differnce on the width of the sway bar were it actually bolted to the frame, and just fabb my own mounting brackets on the inside of the frame rail to bolt the sway bar too. So i ended up grabbing a sway bar off of a 89 Camero, it was 29"s wide, and would work perfect with my own mounting brackets. I did look at a sway bar on a 90 Camero that was a RS model, but the sway bar itself was atleast 2"s thick, and i thought it would be to big and make my 57 ride like a dump truck, the one i grabbed is a 1" & 1/8th thick. The RS edition might be good for the guys running the B.B.'s
So not counting my time looking for the propper sway bar, I maybe have 12 hours in fabbing the brackets and mounting the sway bar under my 57, and even better, i only paid 30 bucks for the sway bar, and 20 bucks for the new bushing kit from Napa that im still waiting for.
So since i installed the sway bar, i havent been able to drive the car because its pouring rain, but i could put on hand on the fender and make the car bounce up and down like it had hydraulics in it before the install:sign0020: but know it takes both hands and half of my body to make the suspencion move up and down. Once the rain goes away and the roads dry up, i will take her for a little rip on the Hwy and see how she does.
So the next project, replace all the worn out leif spring bushings and shackles with the new set i have sitting on my work bench, and remove the rear shock's from the trunk body and mount them on the frame like they should be before they rip out the other side!!
Passneger side sway bar mount to the frame. I used 1/4" thick metal, so i dont see any of the brackets or tabs bending anytime soon.
Drivers side sway bar mount.
mounting bracket for the sway bar to the lower A arm.
Sway bar finshed and installed. The bend in the center of the sway bar matches the contour of the car pretty good, It almost makes it look like it came from the factory installed.