Rear Sway bar mounting points

[mattcat23]

I was wondering if anyone here could help settle a debate between two guys who aren't suspension experts (I am one of those guys).

We have rear wheel drive cars with solid rear axles that attach to the car with upper and lower control arms and coil springs. They did not come from the factory with rear sway bars at all. My friend asserts that the best mounting points for a bar would be to bolt it solidly to the two lower control arms. I think the better option would be to attach the center of the bar to the axle housing with bushings, and attach the ends of the bar to the frame or other solid mounting point with end links.

Any opinions?

[Whiteline]

Hi,

The best way to mount the bar on the rear of a solid axle is as you stated, mounting it by bushings to the axle and then run your end links to the chassis this will work spot on.

Cheers, Dave

[mattcat23]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Could you elaborate briefly as to why mounting the swaybar to the control arms is not a good idea?

My friend insists that when it is done the way you suggest that it introduces another pivot point for the axle, and puts undue stress on the control arms, which doesn't necessarily make sense to me....

[Whiteline]

Hi,

When you refer to the control arms i take it you are refering to the trailing arms. What sort of vehicles are we talking about?, are you refering to mounting the bar solid to the trailing arms and using a different form of chassis pivot point? more info would be appreciated as i am trying to understand your friends mounting setup.

Cheers, Dave

[mattcat23]

Our cars are Chevy Caprice station wagons from 1991-96. The sedan version of this car (also the Impala SS) did come with a rear sway bar, and it was in fact bolted to the trailing arms, with no connection to the frame at all. The wagon is slightly wider than the sedan in the rear, enough so that the sway bar that is made for the sedan does not fit on the wagon. Therefore, we have had to turn to larger aftermarket bars made specifically for the wagon, which attach in the same manner as the sedan bars, or improvise, by finding a bar of the right dimension that mounts in the way I described.

Thanks,

Matt

[Whiteline]

Hi Matt,

Ultimatley the effectiveness of the bars are the same.doesn't matter if one has more pivot points than the other ultimatley what ever design you go for you can decrease roll rate regardless and that's what your trying to achieve. i prefer to mount the bars off the axle housing as from my experience they seem to give better ground clearence. Just my thoughts.

Cheers, Dave