What to do about my rear swaybar issue?

[Bossman429]

OK, so my GTS handles terribly, I mean, it holds the road just fine, but the body roll is unbearable.
So I decided to put it up on the rack, and see what I have to deal with before I decide on a course of action. The car sways as if the swaybar links are completely gone, more on this later.

So I lifted the car up to get a baseline of what size bars I have to work with, and they sized up as follows.

The front swaybar is a 1 1/16 incher, which is a pretty good size to stay with in my opinion. The endlinks seemed to be in good shape, although a LITTLE big oblonged from general wear I would presume.

Now I make my way to the rear to measure my rear swaybar, nothing there.
I know there is supposed to be a small (1/2 inch?) swaybar built into the rear axle assembly, but I have nothing. All I have is two holes in the end of my axle assembly where an internal swaybar USED to be.

So my question is as follows:
What should I do about my rear swaybar issue? I want to do some suspension work with some of my tax return, but have to keep the budget under or around $250.

I was seriously considering a 1 inch rear swaybar from polybushings.com. Should I step up to a 1 1/8 incher to account for the missing internal swaybar? I'm not sure exactly what course of action to take in this situation, but I need to do something, because this thing handles terribly, and is really the cars only downfall.

I was going to get with Johnny from pb.com, but figured I'd get a pool of opinions before I go and make order decisions. If I'm lucky, maybe Johnny will respond here anyway, he seems to hang out in this section a lot for some reason.

Heres what I'm considering going with so far:
Rear swaybar, size to be determined
Rear track arm bushings
Front swaybar bushings
Rear axle to frame bushings (maybe)

So, opinions welcomed, discuss!

[GLHNSLHT2]

I'd go grab an axle assembly from the J-yard and install it then see.

[Bossman429]

That's much easier said than done around here.

[supercrackerbox]

If you have access to a welder, the cheap way would be to box in your axle. The factory bar is just welded in there anyway. Just go slowly so as not to warp the axle. Might as well do the panhard rod while you're at it.

[cordes]

I have also heard of guys just clamping a piece of metal to the rear axle. They say it works pretty well if you don't have acess to a welder.

[JDAWG]

grab a rear axle from a shelby with the solid rear axle

[Bossman429]

Well, as luck would have it, we had an 83 Dodge 600/Aries in the shop today, so I could take a look at what my rear end SHOULD look like.
From the looks of things I could either:
A. get a piece of 1 inch steel rod, and weld it into the axle in place of the missing swaybar. The Aries today had a 1 inch hollow bar, figure a solid steel rod would have to be better in there than a hollow pipe.
B. Box the axle, since I plan on getting it done to the panhard bar soon anyways
C. Box the axle AND weld in the rod in place of the missing swaybar.

I like the last option the best, but I don't think both things are really needed, I guess a little more strength never hurt anybody. Since I have to have someone weld it, I could knock out two birds with one stone, or 3 birds with the panhard bar being boxed as well!

[cordes]

I would not go for the 1" solid rod idea. Just too much weight. box the axle and panhard rod and be done with it.

[Bossman429]

I would not go for the 1" solid rod idea. Just too much weight. box the axle and panhard rod and be done with it.

When you box an axle, do you box the entire length of it like the panhard bar? Should I just box it in sections, or weld an entire length of steel to it?

[capev86]

the cs/shelby daytona spec axle w/ the solid sway bar, hd springs, poly bushings and CS Racing adjustable panhard bar should tighten up your tail end. as for the 1-1/16" front bar....it sucks. the es cars had a 1-1/8 front bar and the cs/shelby cars had a 1-1/4" sucker - "phat" enough for a truck!

[cordes]

When you box an axle, do you box the entire length of it like the panhard bar? Should I just box it in sections, or weld an entire length of steel to it?

Most of them that I have seen run a lenght of metal down the whole thing, and then put a weld a coulpe inches long every 6in or so.

[GLHX]

wont boxing in the axle create oversteer. atleast with the swaybar you can decide.

[iTurbo]

Not all rear axles have the bar in them. Some have none, some have a hollow bar, some have a solid bar.

I would replace the rear axle from an '89 car that has a bar in it already, and go from there.

[Johnny]

Hey, I am going to speak up.
Fastest and easiest is add one of my bars.
But if you are going to add the rear axle to frame
bushings and want to spend the money on a new
rear axle from a Z, might as well try that first before
adding a rear PolyBushings bar. I did and it wasn't
enough bar for me (for my wagon) so I also added
a rear 1" bar and now is just right. But then I also
added a 1-1/4" front bar.
Only rear I ever boxed in was an L body. Worked to
improve handling. Do not clamp if you do this, weld it.
Clamping might be okay for a test run to see if this idea
works for you, but if you decide you want to keep the
boxed in axle idea, weld it. You do not want the clamps
coming loose or shifting at the wrong moment.

Johnny
PolyBushings.com

[TurboSedan]

what my rear end SHOULD look like.

your GTS never came with a bar from the factory. my guess is the Chrysler cars were meant to have a "softer" ride than the equivalent Dodge/Shelby car (ie '89 Lancer Shelby).

-----------------------------------
Joshua Mitchell
'91 Cutlass Supreme sedan - 3.1 Intercooled Turbo/HM-282 5-speed - 227whp/325wtq
'90 ASC/McLaren Grand Prix STE Turbo - 3.1 Intercooled Turbo/HM-4T60HD

[R/T]

your GTS never came with a bar from the factory. my guess is the Chrysler cars were meant to have a "softer" ride than the equivalent Dodge/Shelby car (ie '89 Lancer Shelby).

My 89 GTS has it inner bar in the rear axle.

One end is cracked and it rattles like hell....

[Chris Faulk]

Well this is going to be a long post so grab a drink and get comfortable.

I'm surprised to see people still thinking of the bar inside of the rear axle as a sway-bar. This bar serves to strengthen the rear axle....it is not supposed to be thought of as a sway bar. A typical sway bar attaches to the chassis AND to the suspension or body in some way so as to prevent the body from lifting/flexing off of the chassis. How can the bar inside of the axle do this if it has no physical connection to the body of the car?

Now as an exception my '87 GLHS had a true rear sway bar added in.

Bossman429 - The 1" sway bar from Spiva would do wonders for your car. I've added a rear sway bar to every car I've owned and it was truly worth the money. From your list of pieces I'd say only replace what looks to be bad. Check the rubber very closely and if it looks good then save the money for other pieces like a set of performance springs which would give you a whole new car altogether.

Boxing in the rear axle is a good idea. If you have the time/parts/skills then I'd say do it. If you box in the axle...then skip on the solid bar inside as that would be overkill to do both. You can do both though...no harm in overkill! If you're going to keep the OE panhard bar then also I'd box that in. That pathetic whimpy thing will bend if you fart on it! I've also done this mod on every turboDodge I've owned. A solid bar with heimed ends is VERY nice to have, but has always been out of my price range.

If you want details about how I've boxed in my pieces just ask and I'll give more details in a separate post.

BTW, I've got a front sway bar from an R/T I will sell you for cheap if you are interested.

[Bossman429]

Ahhh, that wasn't too long of a post.
Well, according to the service manual it's an "intergral tubular stabilizer bar"
That is of minimal importance though.
I'm going to get a rear 1" bar from Johnny soon enough, and I think that will help things out a lot.
I have the steel to box the rear axle, but just have to get around to welding it in.

I boxed the track arm, but ended up warping (twisted) it in the process, so the bushings now have to flex a lot to get the bolts through.
Is there any way to un-warp, or bend it back so I can get pb bushings?
I was thinking about just getting another junk bar, and trying again, we welded too long on this one a flexed it.
Carquest sells a new one for $55 too, but I don't want to cut out new bushings, would be a waste of money.

Is that a 1 1/8" R/T bar? or did they run 1 1/4?

[iTurbo]

The front bar on my Spirit R/T is 1 1/16". I don't think it will fit on an '89 car with stamped control arms.

When I welded/reinforced the track bar on my Shelby Lancer, it warped as well. Was a real PITA to reinstall it. Turned out it wasn't such a bad thing though. Since I lowered the car with Eibach springs, the rear axle was sitting too far towards the passenger side. This is because of the design of the rear axle, when it's lowered it moves towards the passenger side. With the warped/shorter track bar, my rear axle is now centered again.

[Chris Faulk]

The front bar on my Spirit R/T is 1 1/16". I don't think it will fit on an '89 car with stamped control arms.

When I welded/reinforced the track bar on my Shelby Lancer, it warped as well. Was a real PITA to reinstall it. Turned out it wasn't such a bad thing though. Since I lowered the car with Eibach springs, the rear axle was sitting too far towards the passenger side. This is because of the design of the rear axle, when it's lowered it moves towards the passenger side. With the warped/shorter track bar, my rear axle is now centered again.

1 1/8th and yes it'll fit. You'll have to get the proper bushings though.

Your panhard bar warped because you welded too much in one spot. I've done several and haven't warped one yet.

An adjustable panhard bar is your best choice like I said, but mine is still straight and I have no rubbing.