Rear Axle: sway bars

[dave hethrington]

Does anyone have a recomendation for sway bars on a 53 commander? Mustang 2 and ford 9"

[rockne10]

I installed the heavy duty Studebaker sway bars I got from Dave T-bow.

[StudeRich]

Many people have been able to find a Factory Long Wheelbase Sedan (Y Body) Rear Stabilizer Bar to put on a Coupe or Hardtop (C or K Body)

For the Front, the better one is the Frame Mounted 1963 to 1966.

Then there are custom made after market heavier 1 Inch ones from Studebaker Vendors at:

https://studebakervendors.com

[Mike Van Veghten]

If you feel like making your own frame and control arm brackets (front)...
The GM, Camaro/Firebird (1970's), Monte Carlo (1970's), Chevelle (1970's). Possibly more will fit, but I know that the four mounting bar (listed) points fit a Stude chassis well.

I put a 1-1/4" dia. bar on my 59 Lark. I removed it before I sold the car. It's now hanging from my 54 Conestoga. I need to build and attach the control arm brackets. The frame brackets attach to existing Stude holes.

All of the above "anti-sway" bars are very similar at the mounting points. After you construct the brackets and mount them, most all of the mentioned bars will fit.
You can find them in sizes from 5/8" dia. to 1-1/2" dia.

Best to use a Studebaker, Heavy duty rear anti-sway bar. I know that two sizes used to be manufactured, not sure if they still are. They fit high above the driveshaft, a very good location.
If you want Stude stock mount bar for the front, there isn't much choice. They are all small in diameter.

BEWARE of FAKE anti-sway bars. Sorry, have to say it. Even...sold under the Studebaker banner. I know this for fact.
MANY anti-sway bars are formed from soft (non-spring) material (cost less for material and to form the shape).
If you set a bar on concrete, one end up, and lightly hold it in place with a finger, "good" material will RING, when tapped with a hammer. DO NOT USE material will present more of a "thud" sound when tapped with a hammer.
"Do not use" material, will only lighten your wallet, and weigh down your car..! Won't do much in keeping the...gold fish in the bowl (if you remember the old TV commercial)..!

Mike

P.s. - The "search" engine may still contain posts with drawings to help you build the frame brackets.

[5brown1]

Bob Johnstones site has sway bar information.

[Bullet]

Related question since Mike brought the front sway bar. Can you use just a rear sway bar with the stock front sway bar? I have a 64 Cruiser and am going to add the rear sway bar as I have heard it helps a lot in driving. Should I or do I have to upgrade the front one s well?

thanks in dance.

Mark

[JoeHall]

Does anyone have a recomendation for sway bars on a 53 commander? Mustang 2 and ford 9"

If I understand correctly, you are running a Mustang 2 front end, grafted onto the Stude frame. If so, you probably need to look at Mustang anti-sway bars. Nothing ever made by Studebaker, that I am aware of, will fit a Mustang front suspension.

[Hallabutt]

Mark,

Something is better then nothing. I added a rear sway bar from a 1956 President to my stock restored Speedster, more then forty years ago. It did exactly what I hoped it would. The long WB cars have a tendency to hop sideways under hard cornering. The addition of the SB made for a much more stable handling car. I honestly never considered anything for the front because I didn't feel that there was a particular problem. I guess that the same advantage would be gained on a short WB car but I never got around to trying.

Forty plus years ago I don't remember after market SB's being available. Besides there were plenty of 1955-57 President sedan donor cars from which to choose.

[bezhawk]

Just make sure the front anti sway bar is stiffer than the rear bar. Otherwise you will have bad things happen handling wise especially in wet conditions.

[JoeHall]

Related question since Mike brought the front sway bar. Can you use just a rear sway bar with the stock front sway bar? I have a 64 Cruiser and am going to add the rear sway bar as I have heard it helps a lot in driving. Should I or do I have to upgrade the front one s well?

thanks in dance.

Mark

I have mounted rear SBs on three Hawks, two of which I still own (62GT and the 56J). I installed the first on the 62GT in late 1980s when I was doing a lotta towing with it (i.e. towed a 56J for 1700 miles from Nebraska to SoCal, with a tow bar). I modified a late 1970s MOPAR SB for that application and it works great until now. Prior, when towing, the 62GT's rear end wallowed like it was on BBs. With the SB, the wallowing all but disappeared.

I installed Dave T's rear SBs on my current 56J, and another 56J about 8-10 years ago. The result on all three cars (other than towing which I no longer do), is most noticeable in sweepers, i.e. on and off ramps, and clover leafs on the interstate. The car heels over less, so I don't find myself tilting as far over in the seat. I have not installed a rear SB on the 63GT and do not intend to, since it does not make enough difference to justify.

As for front SBs, I always install a 63 and later V8 bar on every Stude, including 56J. It is a great improvement, and hard to imagine doing much better. It is a simple bolt on, and best of all for you is that your car already has one!

[t walgamuth]

I have a fat man cross member and mustang 2 dimension-ed suspension components on ,my CE. We have a 1" d bar in front and none in the rear. A sway bar on back can be too big but probably not too small. I'd try a 3/4 or 1" on front, then I'd probably try it with none on back and then go to about 1/2" if I still wanted something there. Too big a bar on back will cause the rear to break loose before the front at the limit of adhesion.

Anti sway bars probably will not increase your cornering ability much but they will make the car respond to steering in put more quickly and will reduce leaning in corners. They will not make the ride softer.....probably a bit rougher.

[Dwight FitzSimons]

Didn't Studebaker increase the diameter of their front anti-roll bar somewhere around 1956? (Or have I lost a few more brain cells?)

As an aside, my brother once stacked two stock Studebaker front anti-roll bars to increase stiffness. He reported that there was a very noticeable reduction in roll on his 1957 Packard in corners.
-Dwight

[JoeHall]

Didn't Studebaker increase the diameter of their front anti-roll bar somewhere around 1956? (Or have I lost a few more brain cells?)

As an aside, my brother once stacked two stock Studebaker front anti-roll bars to increase stiffness. He reported that there was a very noticeable reduction in roll on his 1957 Packard in corners.
-Dwight

I believe in 57 they went from 5/8" OD to 3/4". Probably the most pathetic example of a front SB is the OEM one on 56J. It is 5/8", and mounted exactly like the ones on some six cylinder Larks. Needless to say it is absolutely useless. The single best improvement on a 56J's suspension is to replace the OEM with one from a 63 and later Stude V8. It is a bolt on.

[Daan]

So where have people sourced sway bars? I was hoping there would be Swap Meets, but that seems unlikely right now...
I already have a front bar but really want a rear one, and since I’ve never actually seen a 55-57 President where I live, I might need help locating one...

[bensherb]

I've used the rear bar from a Lincoln MkIV on the rear of a few cars I had 9" rear ends in. I think it's 5/8" or 11/16". The axle brackets just bolt to the Lincoln, I used 2" square tube about 3" long for the end mounts. I used a 1 1/8" bar in front, but you could probably get away with a 1"bar. You'll need to look at aftermarket stuff for the Mustang/Pinto front suspension though.