Racers? Front Anti Swaybar Replacement For Stepdowns ?

rambos_ride
rambos_ride Senior Contributor
edited November -1 in Street Rods
I loaded my Hudson on the trailer today to try it out and while admiring my work :D I noticed the stock front anti swaybar is pretty wimpy.

sway1.gif
Has anyone out there found a beefier (bigger diameter) anti swaybar from a later model or aftermarket source that will work with OEM Hudson stuff?

Did the old Hudson Racers ever do anything with theirs?

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Funny you mentioned that today. I am still puting my car together since getting it out of the paint shop a couple of weeks ago (chrome, etc.) but have been driving it quite a bit, any excuse I can find.



    As I was going through my garage sorting through the stuff to put back on, one of the things I found was a curb feeler. I cleaned it up and stuck it on. I think it looks cool, but because the car is lowered, the curb feeler is only about 6 inches from the ground.



    I drove it to breakfast today, and had my wife, sister-in-law and her husband in the car and as I was making a low speed left hand turn the curb feeler scraped the ground. Scared the crap out of me at first.



    The two things I thought of first were new shocks and a heavier anti-sway bar. Well actually, the first thing was to "adjust" my curb feeler. But the need for more stiffness is very apparent.



    Hopefully, someone who has already crossed and improved this situation will share their info with us.



    Terry
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    The front sway bar that Fatman sends with their clip, is lighter than what was in the original Hudson. I believe the sway bar must be loaded to be effective, as I remember, according to Fatmans instructions.

    Barry
  • rambos_ride
    rambos_ride Senior Contributor
    barry wrote:
    The front sway bar that Fatman sends with their clip, is lighter than what was in the original Hudson. I believe the sway bar must be loaded to be effective, as I remember, according to Fatmans instructions.
    Barry

    The Fatman is an MII (*mustang 2 for anyone who doesn't know..) based front end. I would bet you could buy and larger diameter sway bar for that front end.

    The style of antisway bar on front of the Hudson doesn't appear to be a torsion type that takes a preload - if there is a preload it is just the suspension that would do it.
  • 7XPacemaker
    7XPacemaker Senior Contributor
    The AMC sway bars off of the smaller cars will work. AMC made 3 different sizes, but the V8 spirits, Concords, Gremlins, and Hornets would be what you wanted to look for. I have one on my coupe and it made a HUGE difference!
  • rambos_ride
    rambos_ride Senior Contributor
    7XPacemaker wrote:
    The AMC sway bars off of the smaller cars will work. AMC made 3 different sizes, but the V8 spirits, Concords, Gremlins, and Hornets would be what you wanted to look for. I have one on my coupe and it made a HUGE difference!

    Excellent! Do you have any ideas what years those might have been produced?

    Thanks for sharing the info!
  • 7XPacemaker
    7XPacemaker Senior Contributor
    rambos_ride wrote: »
    Excellent! Do you have any ideas what years those might have been produced?



    AMC Hornet V8 1970-1977

    AMC Concord V8 1978-1983

    AMC Gremlin V8 1970-1978

    AMC Spirit V8 & GT, AMX Models 1979-1983



    Hope this helps.......
  • rambos_ride
    rambos_ride Senior Contributor
    7XPacemaker wrote:
    rambos_ride wrote:
    Excellent! Do you have any ideas what years those might have been produced?

    AMC Hornet V8 1970-1977
    AMC Concord V8 1978-1983
    AMC Gremlin V8 1970-1978
    AMC Spirit V8 & GT, AMX Models 1979-1983

    Hope this helps.......

    What size did you put on your car? Used, new, aftermarket?

    So far I've found this link on an aftermarket one... but their picture doesn't appear to be correct (then again it looks like they use the same picture for all cars:))

    http://www.sfxperformance.com/parts/ADD866.htm

    179.00 for 1-1/8" diameter kit

    The orginal stock swaybar...3/4" diameter (on a good day!)

    My educated guess is this would make a substantial difference on handling! :D
  • 7XPacemaker
    7XPacemaker Senior Contributor
    I will have to measure mine when I get home tonight. We did this mod more than ten years ago... It was a used one out of a junkyard. It has a slightly different bend in the middle of the sway bar, but it did not interfere with anything. mine may have been 7/8 or 1"........
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    I had a 52 Wasp coupe. I used a 1990 Jeep Commanche pickup front swaybar on it. 1 1/8 diameter. Had to heat and bend the ends outward about an inch or so. Worked great



    Dany Spring
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