I have read some of the other posts about the rear sway bar and for a long time I figured that it was not necessary. Then last night I got a hold of the recent mustang mag and there is a article a drop block and a rear sway bar. It looks like a sweet set up.

The funny thing is I just ordered my drop block yesterday before I got the mag. (I did already have a set of blocks from the AutoZone but they did not fit, to big)

According to the article the rear bar helps the handling a bunch. From what I have read on the net it is not needed. Which is it? Does anyone here run the rear bar? I won't be racing the car and I have not really driven it hard yet, but I do want it to handle as well as I can.

So far I have the following:
620 drop coils
New perches with poly
1" sway bar with poly
Monte Carlo bar
2" drop block (on the way)
4.5 leaf spring with stock eye/no drop (the need for a 2" drop block)
Monroe shocks all the way around (new 2 years ago)
Plan on also getting the export brace.

Will the rear bar make a difference? I see that a lot of suspension kits offer them.

Just not sure. Any thoughts, recommendations, suggestions?

Thank you very much everyone.

Richard

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I won't be racing the car and I have not really driven it hard yet, but I do want it to handle as well as I can

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The rear bar will make it FEEL stiffer and more secure in the turns, as it keeps the rear level in turns. Some say that too big of a rear bar can make the car feel more secure, but actually make the car pull slightly less g's on the slalom.

I liked the way my car felt with it ON. I removed all the 'handling' stuff before I heard anybody talk about how the car actually worked better without it.

With polyurethane bushings everywhere there is a bushing... lower control arms, rear shackles, shocks, front spring eyes, etc. 600lb springs up front, stiff ones in the rear, lowered an inch, monte carlo bar, export brace, 1" front bar, rear bar, stiff shocks and all.... The car had a STIFF ride, but felt like you couldn't hardly throw it out of a turn! It was FAR stiffer and more secure handling in the turns! The difference between the before and after was IMMENSE!

The only think I would do differently if starting over would be to add the Negative Wedge kit for better camber control and go with a progressive rate front spring as those 600lb units make you feel like you're riding around in a cement truck! Oh yea, make sure to add subframe connectors and install all new, QUALITY parts in the front end, if you haven't already.

Good Luck!

Oh, future plans are for 8" wide tires in the back to.

A rear sway bar is mainly a roll stiffness tuning device. Increasing the
rear bar stiffness lessens understeer (or increases oversteer). Roll
stiffness is a function of the front and rear sway bars, the front camber
curve, the rear roll center, front and rear spring rates, the leverage
ratios, tire sizes and compounds, suspension alignment, weight distribution,
etc. Altering any one of those parameters can affect the roll stiffness so
it's not possible to say for certain if a rear bar will help or hinder your
particular car. Many rear sway bars are set up to be adjustable to fine
tune the roll stiffness ratio.

My '66 Mustang is set up similar to yours with the big exception that I use
a set of Global West upper control arms to correct the camber curve. The
single most important thing you can do for early Mustang suspension is
correct the camber curve. The static camber setting is independent of
the camber gain (the plot of the camber change as the suspension is cycled
through its range of travel). As a tire is subjected to cornering loads,
it will deform. The stock early Mustang camber curve is positive which
means that, as the suspension is loaded in a curve, the wheel (and tire along
with it) actually tucks under in the same direction as the tire deformation,
furter reducing the tire contact patch. That is bad. What you want is
exactly the opposite. You want is a negative camber gain where the wheel
camber change travels in an arc that just counters the tire's deformation.
That way the contact patch on the ground is maximized. The camber curve
correction makes a big impact on the amount of rear bar needed. I run no
rear bar on my '66 and it's quite neutral. The Global West catalog has
specfic recommendations on tire sizes, spring rates, shocks, and sway bars
for the early Mustangs. They are a function of model year (65-66, 67-68,
69-70, 71-73), engine weight, and intended use (street to full race). Their
recommendations fit pretty well with my experience.

The Shelby front arm drop is an attempt to address the camber curve but is
insufficient. The 1" Shelby drop only generates neutral camber. To get any
negative camber, you need to relocate the upper A arm at least 1.75". Then
you have to get an upper ball joint wedge spacer that rotates the balljoint
so it's back in the center of its travel to prevent the ball joint from
binding during suspension travel. The Pro Motorsports kit does this. The
Global West tubular upper control arm addresses that and further improves
things with a change to the control arm length. Implemented properly, the
camber correction (via Shelby control arm mod, Pro Motorpsort negative wedge
spacers, Global West control arms, etc) will also increase tire life,
especially if you corner hard.

Tire sizes and compounds also make a huge difference. I've driven the same
car with two different brands of tires. No changes to the tire sizes or
suspension and both sets of tires were Z rated. One set of tires made the
car loose (tended to oversteer). The other set was near neutral. The first
set of tires just didn't have enough total grip to accelerate and turn at
the same time. BTW, you want at least V rated tires. H rated tires will
squirm up the response.

I'd skip the rear bar until the camber curve is corrected. Once you've
fixed that, I'd bet you don't need the rear bar. I've driven a '66 Mustang
that had the same springs and shocks as my car but had a 3/4" rear bar
versus and no camber correction. My car was much better balanced.

> Plan on also getting the export brace.

Do that and also install weld-in subframe connectors. Really important on
those old flexible unibodies. BTW, you can go too large on sway bars.
If the mounting structure is not strong enough, a bar stiffness increase
can result in the unibody flexing instead of the desired effect.

Noticed that your from Amelia, Ohio. I should be heading back there in a
couple of weeks to put the Pantera back together.

Thanks very much for the info. The wedges are on my list when I do the steering and disc breaks but all in due time.

I think for now I will stick with the 2" drop in the back. Already have the new leafs so it should be pretty nice now. The export brace will come soon to.

i think that i will end up getting a bar and trying it just to see. i wll get some traction bars to.

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By reading Dan's VERY complete and informative posts (all of his are) I'm afraid he has forgotten more than most will ever know

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"When it comes to suspension, deflection is a pretty important term. And it?s one that can plague many bushing types. It occurs when the bushing material distorts under loads generated during cornering, accelerating, and braking. The greater these loads are, the more conventional bushings tend to deflect.

This bushing deflection allows the alignment settings to change as the car is driven. Constant changes in alignment setting cause the suspension to steer the car independently of the input from the steering wheel. What?s the answer? Simple.

Use a bushing that refuses to deflect under load. The Global West "Delalum" bushings shown here are a good example. Yes, they work on anything from a street car to a road racer. And more than a few drag racers use them, too."

I've read that the del-a-lum shackle and bushing kit from Global West does wonders. According to Global West, using the del-a-lum set up elimiates the need for a rear sway bar all together.

[This message has been edited by '68Coupe (edited 04-18-2006).]

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Originally posted by '68Coupe:
the del-a-lum shackle and bushing kit from Global West does wonders. According to Global West, using the del-a-lum set up elimiates the need for a rear sway bar all together.

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Richard,
This is what I was referring to in my email.

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[b]Originally posted by '68Coupe:
I've read that the del-a-lum shackle and bushing kit from Global West does wonders. According to Global West, using the del-a-lum set up elimiates the need for a rear sway bar all together.

[B]

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Just so I understand ( I am a slow learner ) you are talking about a bushing/shackle kit that I would use on my leaf springs right? Would there be much of a difference if I have recently (maybe 500 miles ago, if that) put brand new grab-a-track 4.5 leafs with the poly bushings on?

Richard.

Where can I see this kit? Anyone got a link?

Thanks very much

EDIT: i found the info on the global west site...thanks anyways

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Originally posted by Daniel Jones:
[B]> The Global West catalog has
specfic recommendations on tire sizes, spring rates, shocks, and sway bars
for the early Mustangs. They are a function of model year (65-66, 67-68,
69-70, 71-73), engine weight, and intended use (street to full race). Their
recommendations fit pretty well with my experience./B]

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- 1968 coupe, vinyl top
- 289ci
- Hooker full length headers
- Factory A/C
- Edelbrock 1403 carb
- Edelbrock intake
- Griffin radiator (stock replacement)
- Ignitor II
- Koni classics front and rear

[This message has been edited by '68Coupe (edited 04-21-2006).]