Firm Feel vs Hellwig Sway Bars

Hi,

I have a 1972 Plymouth B-body and am looking at upgrading the front sway bar and adding a rear sway bar. No auto crossing, just looking to improve the overall handling.

I'm comparing Firm Feel to Hellwig and was curious what members used on their cars. Here are links to what I'm looking at:

Front:

Firm Feel (SBFB83) - http://www.firmfeel.com/b_body_mopar_front_sway_bar.html

Hellwig (5904) - https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hel-5904/overview/

Rear:

Firm Feel (SBRB2) - http://www.firmfeel.com/b_body_mopar_rear_sway_bar.html

Hellwig (6911) - https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hel-6911/reviews/

Thank you,

Mike.

FF is a dedicated MOPAR handling company... Hellwig will make anything for any brand.

I have FF... and FF will custom-make handling parts (sway bars, TBs, etc) upon request in different sizes.

1. It doesn't matter, they are non essential, off the track, just suspension items made out of steel.
2. effective rate and cost is the only thing you need to consider.
3. This the most important point, the rear bar mainly corrects for an incorrect front bar.
4. Do yourself a favor, decide on a front bar, install it, road test it, then decide how wrong you were in your front bar choice, and correct that front bar's effects with a rear bar.
5. You will then have two wrong bars that might work out OK.
6. There are hundreds of variables at play in picking a correct SB
7. And last but not least, "Everything effects everything else" on a car by Neil Roberts "Think fast"

I don't have a '72 B body but I have used Hellwig bars on other A body and B body cars. I like the Hellwig kits since I think the mounting brackets are a little nicer. But really it just comes down to which works best for you and without having both in front of you I don't know how you would decide.

Thanks for the input so far.

Mike.

No, it does not.

Well, I guess I got to research/dig up some quotes/references/books/experts/etc to refute that.
Stay tuned.

Most cars are set up with a ratio of roll stiffness from front to back. You can get there several ways. If the front bar is too big then adding some rear bar could act roughly the same as reducing the front bar. But it is complicated and there are secondary effects. Most people on this forum (Q&A) are never going to push a car hard enough thru a corner to know the difference. It is irrelevant to this thread.

If you guys want to argue sway bar ratios then you should take it over to the cornering forum where it potentially could be a decent discussion.

For a typical street driver JCC is correct. It doesn't really matter which vendor you buy from and a rear bar isn't usually needed. A small rear bar could help out if you have a huge front bar but most street cars do not need a rear bar. A rear bar is usually a tuning aid on a production type car but most people in the Q&A section are going to be using street tires and driving on the street and they are not going to be crawling under the car to tune the rear suspension for the drive to work.

Not the Hellwig, but I had an Addco rear on my challenger for years and hated it a little more everytime I looked at my car from the rear and saw that bar hanging under the differential. I'm not going to get into the technical handling arguement above, but in my opinion if you want or feel you need a rear bar get the Firm Feel that mounts like the factory ones, but also get the matched front bar. I installed the Firm Feel pieces on my challenger last winter. The fit and finish is great, sales guy was helpful and friendly, and yes the car handles better in my opinion than when the Addcos were on it.