VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1955-1957 SWAY BAR INSTALLATION?

I recently purchesed a sway bar for my 55 chevy, the instructions I received are very vague. I don't know where to begin. Can someone out there give me some detailed instructions? Is the car sitting on the tires or is it jacked up off the ground? Does it mount to the lower or upper control arm? Does it bolt through the frame on either side or does it bolt to the front cross member? Any help would be greatly appricated.

they typically bolt to the frame horns in rubber bushings, then a link is inserted between the sway bar and the lower a-arm. mike

Thanks for the info Mike, Do you know if the weight of the tire is supposed to be off the the ground or does it make any difference? It seems to me if the A-arm is in the full down position that when the car is lowered back to the ground that there would be alot of pressure on the sway bar?

The leverage on a sway bar is from one "A" arm to the other. There is no relation to weight on the car or up in the air. When you strike a "pothole" with one wheel, the sway bar transmits some of the force to the other wheel to counteract the force on the wheel that has hit the "pothole".

dick55,

there shouldn't be much "pressure" on the anti-sway bar as you lower the car, since both control arms are moving in the same direction..."pressure" is applied when one control arm or side is moving in a different direction than the other, as when the body is trying to roll or sway...if you go over a speed bump with both wheels simultaneously, the bar ends simply move up or down together...if you put a thick enough bar in with hard bushings, you will have defeated the independent front suspension and locked them together like a solid axle...


epi

The sway bar is mounted to the front frame horns on the lower side.Bar curves back on ends.Depending as to who it was made by the brackets are bolted to the lower controll arms and require a different number of bolts. mine has 2 bolts, originals had 4.The frame brackes must be mounted in the correct place so the links point straight down to the A frame brackets..)links are between end holes in bar and a frame brackets.When lining thing up I would have suspension at its normal riding heigth - not for the rubber bushings but for getting everything in the right location...
You will find cornering is improved with the sway bar.

Thanks to you all, I'm being careful because I don't want to drill any holes needlessly. Would anyone have any pictures of the installation by any chance? I think I have it pretty well in my mind, but as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. My E-mail address is rreis69060@aol.com if any one has any pictures. Thanks again to all. Dick.

There are more than one brand of sway bars available for a 1955.The instructions from YOUR brand would be necessary as they use different brackets and bars of different shapes.

Chevrolet sold a sway bar installation kit in 1955-57 and at one time a person was reproducing it.From what I heard they are no longer available from him.

I just purchased a sway bar that Is a Gene Smith quality reproduction of the originals. The Installation photography and Instructions are by Ben Anderson. HME Swedecraft Restorations. 1604 La Mirada Dr, #107 San Marcos, California 92069 Phone number 619-471-1451. Hope this helps.

Sounds like Gene still has them. :) :)

Yes, The sway bars are still being made by Gene Smith. I purchased the front sway bar for about 200 dollars and It Is a very good copy of the original ones that could be purchased from the dealers way back when.

Is this sway bar considered 'original' for VCCA judging?

Are there any big advantages to installing one?

Thanks

The sway bar was a dealer option when you bought the car, Or If you decided to add It at a later time. The Gene Smith sway bar Is a correct reproduction of the original. No points are deducted for having the sway bar on your car. The front sway bar helps, In keeping the car from leaning when you go around a corner and helps In the control of your car.

At one time Classic chevy World sold Genes sway bars.The Feb 1989 issue of their magazine had an article about installing the bar.From the pictures it looks like the factory bar but one word of caution,They begin with "parts preperation"-"The bar itself should be stripped of all silver paint.Prime the bar with lacquer primer.The bar should be painted with chassis black.This is the only part that needs to be painted but you may want to clear the fasteners and brackets".....

The bar would be condsidered "stock" for any judging.Most judges wouldn't even notice it and some wouldn't know that it is "correct".As with any "uncommon" part or accessory there is always a chance of recieving a deduction due to a judges ignorance.
The sway bar was part of the police package and could be purchased it kit form thru the parts dept...it would be considered "rare"

Chevrolet discovered in 1955 that the car,with its new suspension, cornered very well without the bar (didn't lean excessivly).By not installing it on each car they probably saved $5.00 per car.With selling over 4 million 800 thousand cars from 1955-57 that added up to millons of dollars of extra profit.

From 1958-64 the sway bar was standard on all 8 cyl. cars,station wagons ,convertibles and Impala series cars (with some exceptions)..The soft sprung models without it really leaned in cornering....but they saved (made) even more money.

The 1955-56 cars did well without it.In 1957 the suspension was softened up and they tended to lean more in cornering.I installed the kit on my new 1957 and the improvement was obivous.Installed an after market on my present 1957 Nomad ,which seemed to lean even more, and the improvement was even greater....when just going down a straight road there is no change.