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pictures of swaybars

3K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  bsa_bob2 
#1 ·
I am having -------not ------good luck with this project, lets try this. Has anybody got an address where i can see------ various swaybar pictures, so i can decide which will work the best with modification?? Any thing at all is better than what i got thanks :confused: bob s
 
#2 ·
sway bars

I was also looking for a sway bar to mount on my custom cobra and had very little luck. Whet and purchased a length of 4140 chrom molly bar from McMaster Carr and a hydraulic pipe bender from HF. Practicesd on thinwall pipe until I go it right then the solid bar. Drilled and tapped the ends for heim ends and mounted it up. Works great the bar+bender was cheaper than a new sway bar.
 
#3 ·
cobra sway bar

ON The retired Director of Ford racing's, cobra, Winner of the 2009 optima street challenge ( neat Utube videos, 3 first and one second.) Years aago we made the rear sway bar to fit in the trunk and used stop collars and heim ends that could slide back and forth seperately , each side of the sway bar could be adjusted to get it to handle for different tracks.
 
#4 ·
duke460bb said:
I was also looking for a sway bar to mount on my custom cobra and had very little luck. Whet and purchased a length of 4140 chrom molly bar from McMaster Carr and a hydraulic pipe bender from HF. Practicesd on thinwall pipe until I go it right then the solid bar. Drilled and tapped the ends for heim ends and mounted it up. Works gr
eat the bar+bender was cheaper than a new sway bar.


Now finally i think we are in my ball park. the question i have is, you used an hf bender------- hf stands for what? mcmaster and Carr, i've heard of on line. Heres the biggest question.....i have and then when you share with me the answer, i think i'm in business. When you bent your ends up, How did you get close 90s,as opposed to an elecrical pipe conduit bender> this type bends big sweeps and i need tighter 90s. on each end . Other than this i am getting things together monday and trying this. please relay to me what your 90s ended up being---------- thanks duke460--- this is what i needed to hear

ps ---i have a 3/4" conduit bender. In My trial a and errors session ....i couldn't produce smaller 90s, An "hf" bender is generally used for what.
 
#5 ·
HF and Mc Master Carr

Harbor Freight is a chain of tool stores that sells mostly stuff from China. but most things you find today are made there and a lot of the old US companies are moving manufacturing or sourcing parts over seas, and now only some things are partially assembled in the USA. Mc Master and Carr is an old company that has a catalog about 4 or 5 inches thick.You can find Lots and Lots and Lots of things. Every large company that I have worked for has a Mc Master and Carr catalog in the engineering and designer's book case and one in the maintenance shop. Both companies have web sites.... with a conduit or the HF pipe bender you will not get a tight radius bend. you would need a big press and dies to get a tight bend. Some spring shops could hot bend then heat treat afterwards.
 
#6 ·
thank you for the reply .harbor freight .of course. been buying[ tools i don't use much] for years.As far as the bends i was , not thinking about my torches, but that is a good idea tim.I have some more great information to work with now thanks for chimeing in. bob s
 
#8 ·
The main problem being with my car is---its all done and the t/pipes and shocks [removeable.] And not much of a way to weld without taking the wheels, the skirts etc.So i seekth the right, but easiest way at this point, should my ideas not work, i will have to get into greater detail, then i don't have a kar to drive the rest of the summer.And I have a son who may or may not get married soon.So I have to have the merc ready or the 32 coupe ready for that possibility! but thanks bob s.
 
#9 ·
I built my own rear anti roll bar out of 1 1/4 dia 4130 tube. The arms are 4130 1/8 in flat stock welded. I used rod ends to make the adjusters. It is very short and very stiff for the pro street narrow rear end. The main tube is easily replaceable with thicker or thinner wall should it be necessary. Not so far. I actually did some structral analysis both manual and computer on it before I built it. This seems to have proven out as it works very well.

If you have a Must 2 front end there are at least 3 different ones available from Heidts, Jim weimer, Fat Man and others. My experience with them is that they are far too stiff for a light weight car. Mine weighs about 2850 rolling 52% on the front end. You can also check Chassis Shop, Chassis eng, Art Morrison, A.R.T. even Speedway.

The HF small tube bender is about $185 and will bend up to 7/8 I think. My son has one and it is a POS frankly but it will bend tube. a 7/8 4130 or 4140 bar will be a challenge however I think. As noted this pluss the tube or bar is pretty close to a wash if there is an aftermarket bar you can use.

I have a latout for my new front bar but it will be a custom all the way. again with replacable tube.

For a rear bar you can mount it on the frame or the rear end housing as I did. Makes no difference....except for purists. haha
 
#10 ·
bsa_bob said:
The main problem being with my car is---its all done and the t/pipes and shocks [removeable.] And not much of a way to weld without taking the wheels, the skirts etc.So i seekth the right, but easiest way at this point, should my ideas not work, i will have to get into greater detail, then i don't have a kar to drive the rest of the summer.And I have a son who may or may not get married soon.So I have to have the merc ready or the 32 coupe ready for that possibility! but thanks bob s.
Guy, if removing the wheels/fender skirts, or removing tailpipes, etc. out of the way is a problem then you might want to reconsider the need for sway bars altogether- at least for now- or pass it off to a shop to deal w/it. Not trying to be unkind here, but geez.
 
#11 ·
Well Guy as you say.You are correct about me not wanting to take off simple things like the the skirts and such.If you only knew how many skirts. tailpipes, shocks [examples]i had done in the last 60 years or so,And how many operations i have had in order to stay in this hobby that i love, btw 37 surgeries and never been in a car accident,And 18 completed kustom kars for myself and 5 award winners for others well actually 3 of those were winners.
Can't win them all. I 'm getting tired, but refuse to give this sport up as long as can hang on to a tool.That s not counting 12 bikes that i restored or customized too.
I'm trying to go easier as i don't move well in the mornings any more.
So you see i'm not a newbyso to speak, and sometimes i'd just rather get help from you fellas, and some here are really good at this explaining things that i seem to have forgotten that i did years ago !hth have a great day my friend :D bob s

And if i knew a good shop who was , as deatailed about these things as i have been over the years, believe me .....they would get the job.But you know the old saying
"If you want it done right, do it yourself" thanks for the reply anyway cobalt

Last but not least i am always interested in what "YOU" have to say too.
 
#12 ·
bentwings said:
I built my own rear anti roll bar out of 1 1/4 dia 4130 tube. The arms are 4130 1/8 in flat stock welded. I used rod ends to make the adjusters. It is very short and very stiff for the pro street narrow rear end. The main tube is easily replaceable with thicker or thinner wall should it be necessary. Not so far. I actually did some structral analysis both manual and computer on it before I built it. This seems to have proven out as it works very well.

If you have a Must 2 front end there are at least 3 different ones available from Heidts, Jim weimer, Fat Man and others. My experience with them is that they are far too stiff for a light weight car. Mine weighs about 2850 rolling 52% on the front end. You can also check Chassis Shop, Chassis eng, Art Morrison, A.R.T. even Speedway.

The HF small tube bender is about $185 and will bend up to 7/8 I think. My son has one and it is a POS frankly but it will bend tube. a 7/8 4130 or 4140 bar will be a challenge however I think. As noted this pluss the tube or bar is pretty close to a wash if there is an aftermarket bar you can use.

I have a latout for my new front bar but it will be a custom all the way. again with replacable tube.

For a rear bar you can mount it on the frame or the rear end housing as I did. Makes no difference....except for purists. haha
Hi bentwings!Am i right in the belief that i can use thicker wall pipe tube instead of a solid one inch bar?And chrome moly------- is this the same as the pipe or tube being tempered?? , i did all my racing back in the day, I started building cars so i could see where my money was going when racing, that and i was having a bit of time putting rear gears and cluches, and my wife not seeing any improvement in the car, and the weekends being gone , so quick. thanks for the input i have been receiving from you, bob s :thumbup:
 
#13 ·
I really don't want to get into a lengthy engineering discussion over tube vs bar for torsion systems. 4130 tube is resonable price as is bar stock, 4140 a bit more and 4150 even more and 4340 even more yet. All can be heat treated to quite high yield levels. The diameter is the critical factor. Even a 1/16 th increase in dia is very noticable as is the same for wall thickness. Length makes a difference too.

For street use make the main tube/bar straight so it is easily replaceable with easy to make ends. If you really want to heat treat it fine but be aware that it can easily double the cost of the whole system as there usually is a minimum charge for the process.

I like to make them this way so I can just pop in another tube of different wall thickness. Even a little makes a difference. If the tube is too weak it just takes a permanent set. Toss it and install a new one a bit thicker wall. Make adjustable length arms.

Race car guys have bars custom made .005" different dia some even tighter than this. Exotic materials and all. We don't need this at all. You just want to stiffen the roll going around a corner and help handling. Otherwise the bar is just dead weight. Keep the system simple so you can adjust it to your liking.
 
#14 ·
Your resume is certainly impressive, and I can understand your reluctance to get back under a car after having operations, etc.

I'm still curious why looking at a simple install like I linked to above that could even conceivably be bolted in place if welding was an issue brings a response that indicates it would be too hard, yet you embrace a project that would have you buying and I have to suppose transporting, setting up and using equipment that is heavy and unwieldy for fabbing up a roll bar(s) from scratch- a process that is fraught w/complications, the least of which will render an attempt useless, and the cost higher every attempt. Roll bars that will STILL need to be attached to the vehicle in some manner.

I guess what I'm getting at, is if bolting/welding a prefabbed bar is outside your current abilities, why would you want to make your own bar that will be just as hard to install?

No response is needed. Whatever you do, good luck. :thumbup:
 
#17 ·
Here are some pics showing how I attached my bars. The bars are from Stock Car Products. The arms have been drilled to allow for tuning. The closer the attachment point to the bar, the stiffer the bar will feel. The further away, the softer it will feel. It's all about leverage.
I do not have a very good picture of the front bar attachment but you can see the arm, the bar and the bearing mount.
The rear pics are a bit more descriptive.
Hope this helps and gives you some ideas.
 

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