> I'm ready to tackle adding a sway bar to improve cornering. I asked Ken
> Gilanders his opinion. He said, "The front ones work but most are too
> small.
> Addco makes some that are not bad in the street."
>
> What does "too small" mean, and anybody know who supplies the Addco brand
> swaybar?
>
> Terry Smith
> '59 TR3 (body off, rest refurbished and back on!)
I bought mine from http://www.swaybars.com/. Although Fred's JCWhitney tip
sounds even better pricewise. You can get the part number from this website
and then call JCW.
I'll bet Ken was talking about the diameter of the bar when he said most are
too small. A very popular suspension hop-up in many cars is too increase
the diameter of your factory sway bar for better handling. Racers like the
heavier bars.
If you do get the Addco bar, here is a copy of an old post I saved that
gives a few install tips. It's actually pretty straightforward and easy
once you get the kit and have a look at it:
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Ethier" <pethier@isd.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2003 2:26 PM
>One thing I noted is that my kit came with a backing plate for the bushing
mounts and it doesn't look like you have these installed. Did you elect not
to use them for a particular reason?
A really good reason: They don't fit. Brian's solution was to leave them
off. That's probably OK.
I took a more-cautious approach. I sawed the plate on one side so that the
holes would line up when the plate was placed inside the car bracket. The
outside mount needed to have the tabs bent to follow the contour of the
outside of the car bracket. The backing plate needed to be bent to follow
the contour of the inside of the car bracket. This makes the holes in the
backing plate too far apart, so just elongated them with a rat-tail file to
bring them closer together.
> Here are the digital snaps I took earlier this year on the ADDCO
> Anti-Sway Bar on my TR4.
Actually, in June of 2002, when Brian kindly shot them to show me what was
what.
> After a year or more... there is no
> sign of stress or fatigue on the supports. The stress in the bar
> is along the bar and the support brackets don't seem to take any
> abuse.
They certainly do take forces. The good news seems to be that they are up
to it. The car handles much better, and the inside rear wheel no longer
spins at the slightest hint of power application in a corner.
> http://users.net1plus.com/sanborn/TR_Images/TR4_Sway_Bar-1.jpg
>
> http://users.net1plus.com/sanborn/TR_Images/TR4_Sway_Bar-2.jpg
>
>
> Hope this will give you a little more confidence about drilling
> into those supports.
It sure did for me. Thanks, Brian!
BTW, one other problem I had with the ADDCO kit was that two of the bolts
were too long. I tossed them in my bolt collection and purchased shorter
ones. Just make sure the hardware store is open when you lay out the
project, and you will see if you have the same situation.
One of our local members brought his ADDCO kit to my house and had the same
two issues with his kit. He cut his plates the same as mine and I gave him
a pair of bolts I overbought for the project. I believe his car went
together OK also.
Phil Ethier West Side Saint Paul Minnesota USA
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