47-55.1 Rear Sway Bar?

[TX3100Guy]

I'm nearing completion of my 1953 Chevy pickup. I haven't yet installed the bed wood and as always I'm having a bit of "while I'm at it" before I button up the bed.

The thought that I have is that since I'm retaining the leaf springs (front and rear) and the truck already had a front sway bar, maybe I should install a rear sway bar too. Keep in mind that 1) I've used a set of lowering leaf springs on both front and rear, and 2) I have a Hallibrand quick change differential.

I've found a rear sway bar (1") on Summit that comes with all the end links and bushing required. I also see that LMC has one, but its unclear if the rear sway bar includes the end links.

Any thoughts or advice is welcome.

[nvrdone]

you are thinking the same thing I am. I have a rear bar from my grand cherokee left over from when I upgraded to srt8 bars. I figure its worth a try.

[jweb]

I used the Welder Series sway bar. It's mounted through my frame so it's out of the way and hardly noticeable. This was a great option for me since I have a Ford Explorer rear end which is offset.

https://welderseries.company.site/Sw...Bar-p200927215

[_Ogre]

I have both front and rear anti-sway bars on my 58. It's like driving a gocart. Not quite, but I don't think I could drive a stock truck again without rolling it on freeway ramps. Which by the way, I have done before

[TX3100Guy]

I ordered a rear sway bar from Summit. It was advertised as fitting the 47-54.1 Chevy truck that had been lowered. However, when it showed up I tried to get it to fit both above and below the axle with zero luck. Finally, I had to send it back.

My issue is that 1) I have lowered leaf springs (although these didn't seem to be the issue), 2) I have a Hallibrand quick change rear differential and the sway bar did not fit properly given the size of the diff itself. As a result, I'm bit lost on what to do next. I'd really like to get a rear sway bar installed before I begin to install the bed wood, since its easier to work without the wood installed.

Any advice on alternatives or how to go about getting the appropriate measurements to find an off-the-shelf sway bar that fits properly will be greatly appreciated.

[Stepside Jim]

I run front and rear sway bars on my 57, I believe a 1 inch in the rear. My front is 1 1/4 inch, it handles great so I understand how you would want a rear one.

I had the issue where the up and over part of the sway bar didn't have space do to lowering the truck, the bed floor was too close to the differential. I looked at every conventional way to mount it. As I usually do, I stopped thinking within the box and relied on theory and how a sway bar mounting makes the sway bar work.

My pics will explain from this point. Your exhaust pipes will probably get in the way of most sway bars but I can't tell by the pics.

Anyway, I thought I'd throw something different out there.

[Rickysnickers]

Stepside Jim, what front and rear bars are you using? Meaning, what vehicles did they originally come from or were they aftermarket?

[Hcb3200]

@
TX3100Guy

I will be loading up my Truck and heading to texas to work on it in YOUR garage.
That is a seriously clean shop you got there and bright and a lift.


That project is looking good.

[_Ogre]

mounting options are varied, stepside's swaybar is mounted on the frame in front of the axle with links going to the spring hanger. my rear swaybar is mounted under the axle with links going to the frame. front or back, top or bottom it doesn't mater where the swaybar goes. mine came attached to the 86 trans am axle and didn't fit between the springs, so i heated the bend and brought the ends in a couple inches. it works fine.

[dsraven]

some venicles put the sway bar behind the axle with the arms pointing backwards and links upwards to the frame. some have a sway bar that is narrow to fit between the frame rails and some are wider and make the U bend outside the frame rails-which may not work depending on how much room you have with tires there. you could use a system like stepside jim has and possibly try a front swaybar, with less dip in the middle, on the rear. use a little caution on the size when choosing, and remember what vehicle it came from, because too much stabilizer bar for the vehicle weight can end up making the inside tire lift off the road surface, so less traction and possibly wheel spin on the rear. lots of factors to consider since all kinds of things contribute to the equation. frame stifness, spring pliability, how much the leaf springs flatten to steer the rear axle as the springs on the inside of the corner will be arced and the ones on the outside of the corner will flatten out-which means the rear axle is actually not square in the frame anymore, center of gravity height, weight bias front to rear, etc etc. just saying if you get a sway bar from a certain vehicle, like, say, a camaro, there could be several options of sway bar diameter so if you find the one you chose is too stiff or not stiff enough you could have options without having to rethink the whole process again.
since you have a quick change gear you may wanna consider the "through the frame" style stabilizer bar which would leave room to work behind the axle. you can use heim joint style rod ends easily adjust the lever height/angle. they have no forgiveness like a poly or rubber bushing has though. a frame mounted bar would also work except the exhaust may be in the way as stepside has pointed out. I tried a few options on a 57 frame with 4 link and an explorer axle. I ended up with a bar from a ford ranger, fabbed some mounts on the axle and faced it forwards to link up to the frame. you could do the same in reverse of that and mount the bar to the frame with links down to the axle, depending on what else is in the way.

[dsraven]

not a very good pic but if you zoom in you can see the large muffler clamp style brackets on the frame to mount the bar pivots and the bar ends face forward to link up to the frame. disregard the acute shock angle, frame cross member bracing near trans, etc lol. a work in progress at that point.
just throwing out some ideas that you can mull over

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by Stepside Jim

I run front and rear sway bars on my 57, I believe a 1 inch in the rear. My front is 1 1/4 inch, it handles great so I understand how you would want a rear one.

I had the issue where the up and over part of the sway bar didn't have space do to lowering the truck, the bed floor was too close to the differential. I looked at every conventional way to mount it. As I usually do, I stopped thinking within the box and relied on theory and how a sway bar mounting makes the sway bar work.

My pics will explain from this point. Your exhaust pipes will probably get in the way of most sway bars but I can't tell by the pics.

Anyway, I thought I'd throw something different out there.

Do you recall what make and model vehicle that sway bar came off of? Many thanks.

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by Hcb3200

@
TX3100Guy

I will be loading up my Truck and heading to texas to work on it in YOUR garage.
That is a seriously clean shop you got there and bright and a lift.


That project is looking good.

That's funny and you are not the first guy to tell me that. I'm lucky to have a temp controlled shop with a four post and two post lift. The 1953 Chevy has been hogging the four post for the past eighteen months, but hopefully I will get it started soon and be able to take it on and off that lift.

[Stepside Jim]

My truck has a 1980 Camaro Z28 front clip so it came with the 1 1/4" front sway bar. I did go to polyurethane sway bar to frame saddle bushings. I had to use upgraded saddles to support the new style bushings of which didn't have the same bolt spacing to the frame so after some fabrication, it's all fitted and works great.

Now the rear was a universal kit said to fit the 57 rear. It may be the same as TX3100Guy already tried. As soon as I saw the lack of space for the bar to fit my mind goes into fabrication mode, got my most comfortable creeper, (didn't have a lift at that time), sway bar in one hand and tape measure in the other, I had to made all the mounting points.

I was fortunate to tackle this before painting so my options were wide open for welding if needed.