Hey - I'm thinking about adding the firm feel rear sway to my GTX. Anyone run them or have a better idea?

http://www.firmfeel.com/swaybars_b.htm

About 5 years ago I bought a 72 Demon 6yl 4bbl it had Adco aftermarket sway bars front and back.In general driving it felt a little bouncy but in a curve it felt like a sports car.

Does the Adco bar mount above the axle like the firm feel does?

The Hellwig bar is a much beefier unit, but like all the rear bars on the market, be prepared for a little fab, the Helwig mounts to the axle,below it, and yes it'll work with a DANA 60,.....the firm feel bar isn't bad either,...the ADDCO is junk, looks pretty but fit is horrible, not even worth trying to make it work

I have the firm feel rear sway bar on my 67 coronet.. Made alot of difference before and after...

I had the adco? bar that mounted to the axle tubes and had the funky mount to the frame.. Sold it and bought the firm feel unit..

After looking at the firm feel unit why would anyone want to use any other???

I'd go with the FirmFeel setup if it was my car.

I used the Firm Feel front sway bar setup on my 69 rr vert and I am very happy with the installation and the improvement in ride and handling

Thanks for all the feedback, looks like its the Firm Feel bar I should go with. Next question is should I swap the front bar to a Firm Feel as well or will I be ok with the stock 40 year old unit?

Hello Ken,

I installed the Hellwig bar on my car in 2000. It was the BEST upgrade I did regarding handling. With the factory front bar, poly suspension, KYB shocks and 255x50x16's on all four corners, my '70 GTX lifts the inside rear wheel on an autocross course. I STRONGLY recommend the Hellwig bar.


Good luck,

I also installed a Hellwig on the back of my 69 B'cuda. Nice piece(adjustable,dogbone links,etc) Great customer service!!!! Will be putting their front one on this spring

From a previous post I made...

****The 70-72 B-body, E-body, and 73-76 A-body front sway bars are very similar and share the same issues with aftermarket sway bars.

These later cars have a sway bar that passes through the K-frame that is unique. The inner bushings are bolted to a U-channeled bar on each side of the K-member

The Addco front sway bars have a poor K-frame attachment hardware. They replace the U-channeled bars with flat stock. They also have a lower control arm bracket that goes off the shock bolt with a skimpy simple piece of angle iron. A very weak setup.

The Firm Feel, Hotchkis and Hellwig front sway bars have nice thick adapter brackets to mount the sway bar to the frame. Hotchkis has a super beefy cast aluminum poly bushing housing. Hotchkis and Hellwig sway bars are hollow which save at least 5 pounds over a solid 1 1/8" sway bar from what I have weighed. I think you can order the Firm Feel front sway bars in hollow design.

On the lower control arm end, Frim Feel and Hellwig have nice sturdy hardware that bolts to the lower control arm and you drill a properly placed and supported hole to mount the study end link bracket. Hotchkis actually repros the factory lower control arm bracket in a little thicker metal. It would pass for stock for 90% of the people looking at it. You have to stare and focus on it, to notice. But, you do have to weld it on. If you have factory sway bar lower control arms, all brands will bolt in.


****The rear sway bar is different also....

The new Hellwig and Hotchkis rear bars have dog bone style end links. The traditional donut washer style bushings are very sensitive to where you place the frame bracket. If the bracket is of just a little the sway bar will have preload in it while the car is at rest.

The dog bone style end links have freedom of fore and aft movement and will not bind in those directions. Also that design allows for adjustable rear sway bar stiffness. The three holes in the Helwig and Hotchkis rear sway bars offer three stiffness settings.

The only bummer on those two rear bar designs is that they are axle mounted and bolt under the axle housing. That has addition unsprung weight and sometimes makes it a pain to use jackstands under you axle tubes. But weight is reduced on those rear bars because they are hollow design.

The Firm Feel rear sway bar is frame mounted like the original E-body rear sway bars were. The install is a little more involved but the finished result is very clean. They don't have the unsprung weight, but they don't offer an adjustment feature.

The Addco rear bar is axle mounts and has old style end donut end links. It's tricky to get the frame mount drilled in the right location so as not to bind up the end links. This is tough to do because the frame is at a 45 degree angle to the ground at that place.

I think that covers the major difference in the major sway bar offerings on the market now.

I don't know about you, but I've never driven a muscle-era Mopar that wasn't a push [Edited by Moparts - Family Friendly Site - Keep it clean] with stock suspension. Every one of them has wanted to go straight when you lean on 'em in a corner. B/RB powered cars are even worse.

Once you throw some heavier springs, GOOD shocks (not KYB crap), and a little frame stiffening things will probably change.

I've got the big bar from the front of a 69 RR on the hot rod. I added the big rear bar from Just Suspension (Addco style) and it evened out the handling a bit. Some good springs and shocks are still needed.

As for the RR lifting the inside rear tire in an autocross, it sounds like you've got some stiffening to do up front. That's a LOT of lift in the rear. The body is squishing something down pretty hard. That something has to be the outer front corner. I hope that chassis has been stiffened.

Well, I vote for the rear sway bar too!! I have a C body boat....'67 Chrysler 300. I've totally rebuilt and upgraded the suspension over a period of almost 3 years. Each change brought marked handling improvements and the ride has not deteriorated (in fact it has probably improved).
To summarize, the car has a completly rebuilt suspension and steering system with:
New rear springs from ESPO
1.16" torsion bars from Just Suspension
1 1/8" front sway from Firm Feel
Tubular upper control arms (Just Suspension w/custom alignment)
Firm Feel stage 2 p/s box
New steering coupler, column support bearings
Boxed lower control arms
KYB shocks

The last changes I hemmed and hawwed about for quite a while but then decided to bite the bullet and go for "broke".

I had subframe connectors installed
7/8" rear sway from Firm Feel
Bilstein shocks sourced from FF

I will tell you this, the rear sway and Bilstein shocks made a tremendous difference. With the rear sway there is less body lean (to be expected) more precise steering (less steering input or corrections to keep intended path)
Better braking. Most of this is just from the rear sway I'm sure.

The Bilstein shocks alow the car to handle properly but still provide a remarkably smooth ride. With the KYB's the car would bottom on speed bumps and sudden road changes (crossing intersections at moderate speed). GO for IT!! You will NOT regret it!!!

Which of the rear bars require the least amount of hacking or drilling to the car itself?

had the Addco on a 74 Challenger. Although the bar hung below where you could see it from behind the handling was amazing. Especially when you compare it to NO sway bar. I'll add one to my 73 Duster when its time to do the rear install. Might try the Firmfeel if it's tucked up in there.