jeez, how stiff do you guys want your suspension? Mine's all stock w/3/4" front sway bar...handles way better than a buddy's mustang. Just a hint of oversteer at times, but nothing the right foot cant compensate for
Ended up with the 7/8" bar from PST (couldn't find a vendor for Addco). Very nice/hefty piece. Came with 2 options of bushings. I'm happy. I think a set of KYB Gas-a-Justs will complement it nicely.
i didn't read everything but a guy that used to work for adeco or whatever has a shop in florida called sanner performance and he made me a nice 1" bar that works great. It took him awhile because he had to get the demensions but he has them now.
Yeah, I'm not sure why I want a 1" bar. Just trying to get you guys to help me decide. I would like to do some road racing in the future with this car. As for now I go crazy on on ramps and off ramps on the freeways around here in So Cal. There are a few good canyons too. I definately don't need any understeer on the car. Although I am going to go with the Global West tubular a-arms on the car in the near future. So for now I think the Addco bar's would be the way to go. I'm going to go with KYB's too. Okay now how about lowered springs for the Maverick. Who makes them and where can I get them? Thanks Guys
WOW this post came back, I guess I'll throw in my two cents this time around. The granada front sway bar will fit the maverick but, it will not work as good as a properly fitting sway bar will. This is because the force from the lower control arm is not being transfered directly to the bar some of the force is being absorbed by the sway bar end links. For a demo take a pencil make it perpendicular to your finger and push something, now take that same something and try to push it with a slight angle. You will notice that the pencil will push the something but, also wants to travel out ward. That is the same thing happening with the granada sway bar on the maverick. The size of the sway bar is only part of the equation the other is corbon content in the spring steel or type of spring steel and it level of heat treatment. A 7/8" bar could out perform the 1" bar depending on the spring steel and it's heat treatment.
That is quite right. Some lever effectivness is lost if the link is not lined up. I did this type of change on my Lincoln and built a pair of offset links to keep the relationship correct. They have to be built stiff with no deflection This enabled me to use a heavy Mustang bar on the Mark 7. I would think, without seeing the Granada situation, that proper links can also be made to correct for angle problems. If anyone wants to do links, I will tell how to do same if interested. There are two ways to do it but if the offset is much more than 2-1/2 " then the one method would be preferred.
I just swapped my 15/16" Granada bar on about 15 minutes ago, and it went great. I can see where the extra end-length can cause a problem, but going from a stock 7/10" (1970 6cyl) sway bar to the 15/16" made enough of a difference that i'm happy. I would be interested in seeing how to make the links that you are talking about, K. Merring. The offset looks to be about 1" per side. Couldn't be that difficult, but like anything i'm sure there's a right and a wrong way. May be extra work, but i'm willing to put forth the extra effort considering that i paid $20 for the bar and AutoKrafters wants $200 for a slightly smaller bar (that's $180 dollars in the bank, ladies and gentlemen).
Ok, the way for you to do this is use 5/16" grade 8 bolts of length needed for the assembly. Using at least 1/4" flat stock of the width/length needed to get the offset, weld an assembly togather that gives the required offset and total length. Small square tubing could be used to pass the bolts thru and weld the heads fast to the flat stock. The idea is to build the offset bolt placement, with stock material and get the required stiffness and strength. Another way to do this requires a Lathe, a Torch and threading dies. Using 3/8" Key stock of suitable length, machine the ends back about 2" for threading to 5/16 " size and far enought to accept all the bushings and washers plus double nuts, then heat and bend in the offset required. The machined ends will have a shoulder to set the bushing washer on. The Key stock metal is very stiff in short lengths and makes a better looking job. It is found at a Sears or other well stocked hardware store. When figureing the part assembly make very sure that there will be no interference with other suspension parts. The offset will tend to stay in a peticular orientation and be self aligning.
I dunno. I have a 1-1/8th bar, 620lb Eibach Springs, poly bushings and KYB Gas-Adjusts in my 69 Mustang and that's about perfect for me. 7/8ths sounds a little wimpy, although type of steel used makes a big difference. A sway bar is basically a torsion spring anyway, so rate is more important than diameter. I have a V-8 air-conditioned 77 model, what diameter bar do I already have?
