On Ebay, I recently won a 1 1/8" front sway bar from an '80 Z28. Hopefully this will be a nice upgrade.

The question is: I need for this car to be safe for daily driving. However, I would also like for it to be effective at the strip. What size REAR sway bar can I go to. Right now I have no rear sway bar at all.

1. Is the stock F41 rear bar 7/8" or 15/16"?

2. How big of a rear bar can I go to for strip purposes...without compromising safety on the street? I THINK the front bar always needs to be bigger than the rear, but I just don't know.

BTW, I do know that disconnecting the front bar helps greatly with those launches at the strip. I've tried it and it made a big difference. However, I'm just trying to get this car back to a safe, better-than-factory daily driver without compromising those fun weekends at the track.

Thanks! smile.gif

Originally posted by 70_FathomBlueMalibu:

1. Is the stock F41 rear bar 7/8" or 15/16"? It's 7/8", thats whats on the rear of my Chevelle and a 1 1/4" front sway bar. I think it handles pretty good for a 30+ year old car, I also have polygraphite bushings and stock replacement springs. It's not a G machine but it's good enough for me. I think a 7/8" would work fine for you but I would not go any bigger than a 1" rear bar, it's just not necassary.

Thanks Brandon. I upgraded to the PST polygraphite Super Front End kit this past summer myself. I've yet to get it aligned and without the front sway bar on there, I can't really tell much. I put my shims back in, just the way they came out...but my toe is a little off and it gives it a pretty uncomfortable feeling going around the neighborhood for test drives.

When the Ebay front bar arrives and is installed, I'll reset the toe and be off for an alignment.

Hmmm. If 1" would be the max, I may have to forget the HRpartsNstuff anti-roll bar kit for the back. I think their bar is a bit bigger than that.

Any more comments or experiences?

I can tell you from my experience with the polygraphite bushings is that once you get your front sway bar installed and have the front end aligned so you can drive it safely and properly is you will notice the suspension feels tighter and firmer than the rubber bushings. I also notice that I have a better feel for the road because you can feel it in how the Chevelle rides and what type of road your on (if that makes sense). I'm pretty happy with the polygraphite bushings but if I had to do over again I think I would have gone with the rubber bushings instead. My Chevelle is a cruiser and I would like to have a smoother ride than I do, I'm not disatisfied with the graphite bushings I mean I can go around back country roads at 40-50mph and not have any major body roll or squeal the tires. So I guess in the end you have to give a little to get a little, you might give up a smoother ride but your Chevelle will handle and react better with the graphite bushings.

I agree about the front bushings. I went from rubber to poly and the ride is harsher or firmer depending on your point of view. Poly in the back improved the ride.

As for the bar. Yes, smaller in the rear. 7/8 or 1" will work great.

This will be the 3rd vehicle that I've had experience with on the PST polygraphite bushings. My '66 has the Super Front End kit, however, I didn't put many miles on her at all before something came up and I had to park her.

My brother went with the same kit on his '75 Chevy Scottsdale pickup. Never rode in it much after that tho. So my '70 will be my first day in and day out experiences with them. I never noticed anything bad with the little experience I had before. It really did firm up the ride in my '66, but I liked it.

Anyway, I guess I'll be shopping for a 7/8" or 1" bar. Preferrably the 1" version.

Pat, did you ever get those Jeg's bars installed? If so, how was the fit, quality, useability, etc.?