Thread: Sway bars for M II?

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I must probably put a sway bar on the MII suspension I've bought from Fat Man Fabr.
Since the car is a high boy style 34 Roadster, I want a sway bar mounted at the rear of the suspension.

I've been told Fat Man sway bars are mounted at the front of the suspension (or do they have sway bars for rear suspension mounting, as well?)

I've seen several aftermarket sway bars for MII suspensions. Do you know if they are intended for front- or rear mounting?

"I want a sway bar mounted at the rear of the suspension"

Why do you feel you must mount it at the rear of the front suspension?

Well, since the car is a high boy style Ford '34, the front mounted steering rack is very visible. I don't want even one more "thing" in front of the suspension.

Yes yes I know.
I should have bought a Heidt's Super Ride. They have the rear mounted rack and a hidden sway bar too.

But that is a matter of price. The stage III Fat Man kit i bought has very high finsh and it has the pro stock coilover towers. And it costs several hundred $ less. So I decided to stick with the front mounted steering rack (which by the way have a very nice finish too).

every car i've tried to put the sway bar at the rear, the oil pan was in the way. if you have room it dont make no dif. where its at. if you have room you can hook it to the top a-frames.

"Form ever follows function"

Louis Henri Sullivan
Master Architect
1856 - 1924

What the talented Mr. Sullivan was saying is that first, you should make the mechanics of the design function as they should, then make it handsome to look at if you can.

I'm constantly amazed at the lengths to which builders of cars will go to make an impression on others who don't necessarily give a tinker's damn about the car or the builder. This thing about being "in the posies" with a car is a case in point.

I read of a fellow who had the front of his car so low that the oil drain plug was ripped from the pan by an underground tank fill cover as he was driving into a gas station to fill up. Now, I've never seen a cover that would stick up more than an inch above the surface of the pavement in a gas station, so apparently this hapless moron had an inch or less of clearance to the ground. My conclusion is that he was so taken with the stance of the car and making an impression on other people about how low he was able to make it sit that he sacrificed function in the process. Stupid, just stupid.

I recall another example of a fellow who thought the piston rods of his front shocks detracted from the aesthetics of the car, so he mounted the shocks so as to hide the rods down inside the shock body. Well, anyone with half a brain can conclude that he rendered the shocks inoperable in doing so. Stupid, just stupid.

Staleg, my unsolicited suggestion would be to ignore what you perceive as a detraction from the beauty of the car and install the sway bar to the front so as to have it function properly and contribute to the overall handling of the car so that it will be a pleasure to drive.

But then, that's just my opinion, what do I know?

some things you just cant make pretty on a car and the sway bar is one of them, but then in that case I look to see how neat or if someone has come up with a new way to mount it, but still function the way its supposed to. If its neat and keeps the car from turning over in a curve, then it don't have to be pretty. that's a safety item, and if someone don't like it, that's his problem.

I agree 100% to both of you guys.

But IF there are a sway bar who will do the job properly mounted at the rear of the suspension, I will choose that one.

By the way. To make the weight ratio on the car as good as possible I've moved the firewall a little backwards. I've also customized it a little with a larger "hump" in the middle to accept the rear mounted distributor on the CSB engine. A test with the engine hanging in the "cherrypicker" betwen the framralis, showed it will be possible to move the engine 1 to 1 1/2 inch further back than the "stock position" for CSB in 34 chassis.

I addition to that I'm planning to mount the front suspension 1/2 to 1 inch further towards the front of the car to encrease the wheelbase (better stability & better weight ratio too).

Both these changes will of course also make better room between the oilpan and the front crossmember & suspension.

But as we all agree on: The swaybar's function decide.

Originally posted by staleg
I agree 100% to both of you guys.

But IF there are a sway bar who will do the job properly mounted at the rear of the suspension, I will choose that one.

By the way. To make the weight ratio on the car as good as possible I've moved the firewall a little backwards. I've also customized it a little with a larger "hump" in the middle to accept the rear mounted distributor on the CSB engine. A test with the engine hanging in the "cherrypicker" betwen the framralis, showed it will be possible to move the engine 1 to 1 1/2 inch further back than the "stock position" for CSB in 34 chassis.

I addition to that I'm planning to mount the front suspension 1/2 to 1 inch further towards the front of the car to encrease the wheelbase (better stability & better weight ratio too).

Both these changes will of course also make better room between the oilpan and the front crossmember & suspension.

But as we all agree on: The swaybar's function decide.

you can buy a sway bar with replaceable arms also. need to look at that.
http://www.stockcarproducts.com/ftsusp.htm

Thank you!

I guess I'm just wait and see how the front suspension will bee positioned compared to the engine. Then I can decide what kind of sway bar I want to use.

I've been working on the roadster body for almost five years and it starts to look pretty good.

But I'm very eager to start with the chassis now. All the main components are bought and are just lying there, waiting to bee assembled.

No reason to not mount the stabilizer on the rear. You will have to fabricate some different mounts on the A-Arms or axle, whichever type of suspension you are using but that isn't a great big challenge. Take a look at the bar Pro Z has on the back of his Camaro, interesting approach in it's installation. Nothing like a bit of ingenuity to make things work that weren't designed to work in that manner.

Well I guess it will bee some thinking around this.

I'm planning to have a sway bar in front of the rear axle as well. And the rear axle is a IRS Jaguar axle....

Originally posted by staleg
Well I guess it will bee some thinking around this.

I'm planning to have a sway bar in front of the rear axle as well. And the rear axle is a IRS Jaguar axle....

That will work, there is nothing wrong with putting it in the rear on the front either, except I think you will have to compromise something to do it and then its not worth it. on round track cars we've tried them all over and to the rear never worked.