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sway bars for a 65 b #1175949
02/10/12 01:56 PM
02/10/12 01:56 PM
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Andrewh Offline OP
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Any one recommend one in particular?

I see them from a few places.
adeco
pst
firm feel
summit
4 seconds flat
hotchkis

prices are from the 160's to 300 bucks.
firm feel and hotchkis are the highest.
4 seconds flat in the middle.
the rest are around 170ish.

are the higher end kits worth the extra money?
is it fitment or some other reason they are more?

not racing or anything, just want to stop the horrible body roll when I turn a corner normally.

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: Andrewh] #1175950
02/10/12 02:14 PM
02/10/12 02:14 PM
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On The Boat, On The Lake, Wa. ...
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For what you want the Addco will be fine. They worked great on my '71 Sebring.


Tom

"Everyone should believe in something; I believe I'll go fishing."

-Henry David Thoreau

Men and fish are alike. They both get into trouble when they open their mouths

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Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: Andrewh] #1175951
02/10/12 02:27 PM
02/10/12 02:27 PM
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AndyF Offline
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I use Firm Feel stuff for my cars. They are Mopar guys so their stuff fits and works.

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: AndyF] #1175952
02/10/12 02:34 PM
02/10/12 02:34 PM
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Andrewh Offline OP
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Addco doesn't seem to mount without the factory tabs.
I don't have a factory sway bar.

I see firm feel says without, so if that is the only choice, then fine.

I know you like their stuff AndyF, just making sure it is worth double one of the others.

again, not racing or hot rodding, just don't want the body roll I have now.

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: Andrewh] #1175953
02/10/12 03:30 PM
02/10/12 03:30 PM
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Phila. Pa.
Mattax Offline
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You'll probably have to do your own comparison, but we can clue you in what to look for.

Look at the method for attaching to the frame, look at the method of attaching to the control arms. For non-tabbed swaybars, it seems everyone has a different strategy. Some are better than others, that's for sure. If you can't get pictures of the specific bar,mounts, and links for your car, skip it.

Bar diameter for your use doesn't need to be real big. OTH Beefy end links, bolts etc are a big plus.
If you're very lucky, you may be able to find installed pictures. See if the end links are at any crazy angles when car is sitting on the ground - that's bad.

All my comments below are general on the type of product they carry. Hence the modifiers liek 'unlikely' or typical.

Addeco makes their own, is big operation, and been around a long time. Typically they don't put a lot of time and energy into the engineering or the fitment, especially with addressing control arms without factory tabs.
Pst is or was a Kanter Auto operation as best I could tell. They may have had some products made for themselves but to the best of my knowledge don't have they're own manufacturing. Things could have changed but early on it was unclear how much design, testing and mock up they do on their own.
Firm feel makes their own stuff. Test stuff on their own cars and mockup rigs and anything that they resell from other manufacturers they're up front about.
Summit - well, you know, it could be a labled addco or other, it could be something they had tweaked to their specs or repackaged in a way they thought better, cheaper, or ?
4 seconds flat - - I can't comment, I never looked his bars.
Hotchkis - new to the mopar offerings but they've been around a long time. They seem to put a good effort into design and development. Like Firm feel, expect their stuff has been thought out and pretty well tried out on real cars and mockups before public sales. They've got a bigger and more blingy marketing than FF, but don't let that sway you one way or the other. The guys at FF have lots of track time and wheel to wheel race experience under their belts.

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: Mattax] #1175954
02/10/12 04:28 PM
02/10/12 04:28 PM
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thanks for the tips.

I had interesting calls with each of the customer services'.

Firm feel says they mount via the lower shock bolt.

pst says buy them first then talk to our tech support to figure out how to mount them. Unfortunate because I have had good experiences with them in the past. now not so sure how they are.

Hotchkis says, no such bar. Summit mislabled the 66 and up bar.
I am sure I could make it work, but why bother when they are the same price as firm feel, and I would have to buy and weld on mouting tabs.

Adecco didn't answer, might try them back later.

4 seconds flat is still looking up the answer. may or may not hear back I guess.

so looks like firm feel is the way to go any way.

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: Andrewh] #1175955
02/10/12 04:49 PM
02/10/12 04:49 PM
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Pikes Peak Country
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Quote:

thanks for the tips.

Firm feel says they mount via the lower shock bolt.





I'd bet this is how most of them will hook up. Most generic bars I've seen from Summit, Addco, PST, Hellwig, lets just say almost anyone but Hotchkis, use this method. If you have sway bar tabs, you can use those by angling the end links, but the lower shock mounting method is effective and somewhat solid. If it really bugs you, you can purchase sway bar mounting tabs to weld to your control arm. They are similar to, but not exactly like stock.

The bar mounting position to the K frame may vary some though. I've seen some that use nice brackets that bolt up solidly. Other use a flat, cantilvered tab that looks prone to bending. Again, this can be remedied with an add on bracket. It isn't too difficult to bend a piece a .25 steel strap into an L bracket to beef up the mounting point, if necessary.

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: TC@HP2] #1175956
02/10/12 08:02 PM
02/10/12 08:02 PM
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Irving, TX
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If the bar he uses has a weak mounting system, I'll reinforce it properly.

If I don't get a decent offer on the hot rod with all the go fast stuff on it, I'll swap my rear sway bar onto Andy's car.
He can't use the front bar because the car has tabbed control arms.
They used to be his tabbed control arms. They're attached to what used to be his K frame too.


We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind.
- Stu Harmon
Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: Andrewh] #1175957
02/10/12 11:17 PM
02/10/12 11:17 PM
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4 seconds flat doesn't make bars so he is buying and reselling someone else's bar. No idea which bar he is selling.

Hellwig might have a bar for the early B body cars, I can't remember if they do or not.

OEM bars on those cars attached to the strut rod but I don't think anyone sells that configuration. The FFI stuff should bolt on and work for you. I'm not a huge fan of the bolt on tab, but it really is about the only solution that a vendor can sell and expect the average Joe to install in their driveway.

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: AndyF] #1175958
02/10/12 11:29 PM
02/10/12 11:29 PM
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Quote:

I use Firm Feel stuff for my cars. They are Mopar guys so their stuff fits and works.


this is what i did. 1 1/8" front bar. easy to install and made a huge difference in handling.

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: AndyF] #1175959
02/10/12 11:35 PM
02/10/12 11:35 PM
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I was just looking @ Hellwig's site. They show a front bar for 64-69 "B" , same part #55903, rear bar #6909. The Addco bars are good, but the mounting hardware leaves much to be desired IMHO. HTH, Steve

Last edited by Busfixer; 02/10/12 11:37 PM.
Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: Andrewh] #1175960
02/11/12 01:16 AM
02/11/12 01:16 AM
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tennessee
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I got one for my 63 B from Just Supension in 07 for 99.00 plus shipping. The end links mounted with angle brackets through lower shock bolts. Works great for the street,bar is kinda heavy.

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: AndyF] #1175961
02/11/12 03:23 AM
02/11/12 03:23 AM
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Here are the first three generations of B-body bars. This is a picture from my B-body book. I didn't have a 4th gen bar on hand when I took the picture.

The early B-body bar is at the bottom. It is a fairly complicated structure with the strut mounted end links and the spindle mount bar.

7065210-B-bars.jpg (76 downloads)
Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: AndyF] #1175962
02/11/12 09:51 PM
02/11/12 09:51 PM
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If Hellwig offers a bar I would talk to them. I used their bars frt and rear on my A-body...great pieces with great customer support!! Dave is a member over at FABO and was great at answering any questions I had!!

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: Dcuda69] #1175963
02/12/12 10:48 AM
02/12/12 10:48 AM
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Hellwig lists one, but can't find it for sale anywhere. guess I will give them a call on monday.

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: AndyF] #1175964
02/12/12 07:36 PM
02/12/12 07:36 PM

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FYI, Although the 62-5 B body K frames are different than 66-70, the upper and lower control arms are interchangeable, and a 66-70 factory B body front sway bar is a bolt in swap to 62-5 B's if you have the tabbed lower control arms. My brother's 62 Polara 500 has a 66 Charger front sway bar and lower control arms. Only had to drill the mounting holes in the K-frame; everything else just bolted right up.

In light of the above, I would assume that an aftermarket bar for a 66-70 would also fit 62-65.

Re: sway bars for a 65 b #1175965
02/13/12 12:34 PM
02/13/12 12:34 PM
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And for a 65 B-Body with a 66 K-Member I can use a 66-up Sway Bar, right?


Hamburg/Germany

69 Chrysler 300
446cui Dual Quad
12.64 @ 110.7

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: Den300] #1175966
02/13/12 01:06 PM
02/13/12 01:06 PM
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Andrewh Offline OP
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Hellwig makes one, and I found it finally.
there are 2 sizes, but they don't seem to sell the bigger bar anymore.
for me that is not an issue. still a 1 and 1/8th bar.
Their bar comes with hardware to mount like firm feels at the shock, or at the original location.

It appears most bars I see show mouting for 62-69. even firm feels.
It makes me wonder how much difference there really is between all the bars out there, other than how they mount up.

Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: Andrewh] #1175967
02/13/12 10:46 PM
02/13/12 10:46 PM
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I think it's based on the odd mounting pattern of the 62-65 front bar. The K-frame will need to be drilled for the new bar. No biggie.

If you come over this weekend you can drag the 65 K-frame into the shop and compare it to the hot rod.


We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind.
- Stu Harmon
Re: sway bars for a 65 b [Re: Andrewh] #1175968
02/13/12 11:28 PM
02/13/12 11:28 PM
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If you are handy with the tools then most anything can be bolted to most anything. But there are a lot of people who don't have tools so the mfg has to try and be clear about what will "bolt on". The early B-body can be fitted with a B2 bar without too much effort, but it isn't a bolt on. So the mfgs aren't going to advertise it as a bolt on because they don't want a bunch of peeved folks calling the tech line asking where the bolt holes are.

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