I haven't driven my 68 in a while due to mechanical "upgrades" that are still in progress, but today I was thinking about how she handled when she was drivable over the summer. I think I may need a larger sway bar. The one that I have on it now I believe is that same factory installed one from 1968. When turning at speeds ranging between 55-65 mph on the highway, she always seemed link she wanted to swing off the road. I had all the 35 year old rubber frame bushings replaced with brand new polyeurothane's, but if memory serves me correctly, this did help a lot but it didn't completly solve the problem. What size sway bar do you guys use? I was considering a 1/2 inch think one (if I can find it). What do you guys recommend?

[ 09-04-2003, 12:36 PM: Message edited by: garfield ]

Garfield,

I can't remember what you've done to the rest of the front suspension but what are the control arm bushings like, the springs, shocks, etc? They all make a difference, especially at that speed.
I'm installing a 1" bar which is more than enough for a daily driver, with Hotchkis springs and poly bushings, solid mounts.

1" thick is good if you have stiffer than stock springs.
David

I've changed out all the control arm bushins with brand new polyeurothene's. The tie rods and ball joints were also replaced with brand new ones as well. I changed out the springs with newer stronger ones, but in the process I managed to make a terrible mistake. The coil prings I put in were both brand new, but they were very stiff and were too long. "They made the car sit up too high in the front". So I had one of my buddies cut the springs down to where they made the car level. Only problem was that he used a torch to cut the springs ( and I stupidly stood there there and let him graemlins/sad.gif ) Once back in the car, everything seemed fine until I took a look at them a few weeks ago and saw that they are all buckled up and are starting to collapse. :eek: They are gonna have to be replaced. (Lesson Learned: NEVER USE A TORCH TO CUT SPRINGS, FIND SOMEONE WITH A BANDSAW AND DO IT THAT WAY :( ). Anyway, this is also when I decided to take a look at the width of the sway bar and decided to start looking for a stronger one. A 1" sounds very good... Thanks!!!

I have a 1.25" Hellwig swaybar from P-S-T and love it. I am sure a 1" would be fine, best price I have found is $109 for an Addco 1" swaybar from rickscamaros.com
I use Eibach 1.5" lowering springs up front and love the way my car sits.
http://www.nextmill.net/69camaro/pics_071003/07100002_med.JPG

I have Hotchkis springs and 1 1/8 Hotchkis hollow sawy bar in the front, poly bushings and solid sub frame bushings. The sub frame bushings made all the diffeance in the world. The springs and sway bar work very well togehter and drivability is very good. I have not done anything to the rear and have el-cheapo front shocks, it corners very well and ride quality is not bad at all.

Don't know what the deal is with the bar being hollow, I got an excellent deal on it from hotchkis on e-bay. It fits excellent.

Roughly, a 1 1/8" hollow bar will have the same torsional stiffness as a 1" solid bar. This assumes that the materials have similar mechanical proporties.

The benefit is that the 1 1/8" hollow bar is 1/2 the weight of a 1" solid.

It also means that a 1 1/8" solid bar is equivalent to running two 1" solid bars.

David has some great swaybar info on his website.

A 4" angle grinder with a slitting blade makes cutting springs quick work. Or for roughly the same money as a Hotchkis front spring setup you can use the Landrum adjusters and make the ride height whatever you want. There's info on Davids website and on mine about the adjusters.

You can cut springs with a torch if you don't heat any other part of the spring and you cool the cut area with water right away after cutting. You just have to be a little careful.

Below is a little theory I have, I might be correct, might not:
Cutting a coil spring shifts the load around in an way that the coil was not designed for. If the spring is pretty weak (soft) it stands a greater chance of bending. If it is a stiffer spring, it can better resist bending from the improper loads.

By improper, I mean the load is off-center, to one side.
David

[ 09-05-2003, 12:52 PM: Message edited by: davidpozzi ]