90 LeBaron convertible rear sway bar fits 94 Dodge Shadow?

[AngelesRunner]

Addco's catalog lists a number 357 rear antisway bar for an 82 to 92 Shadow and also for 81 to 92 Imperial, small 5th Ave, New Yorker FWD and 82 to 94 LeBaron.

I asked Addco by e-mail but no reply yet so I was wondering if anyone knew about sway bars for a 94 Dodge Shadow America 2.2L A413 3sp Auto and A/C?

The 94 Shadow has a front bar but no rear bar. Was no rear bar just because it was a bottom of the line, low-price car? I was wondering if I can add the rear bar from a 90 LeBaron convertible junker as I a strip it of its' other good usable parts?

[Vigo]

If it's an aftermarket rear sway bar than yes, you can swap it over. If you are talking about swapping the entire axle assembly, i dont think it will work between those two cars.

These cars have a 'torsion beam' rear suspension that basically has a torsion bar inside the U-channel of the axle. It is welded to the plates at either end and twists when one wheel is higher or lower than the other. That gives you your anti-sway effect. Some cars have thicker torsion bars in them than others, but the easiest way to swap the torsion bar is to swap the whole rear axle. A lot of times that is possible, but some cars eventually got different axles than others. You can tell them apart most easily by looking at the big bushing where the trailing arms bolt to the body. There is a round bushing and an oval bushing, and if the cars have different shape bushings the axles will not swap without changing your wheelbase and causing funny looks and tire rubbing.

Some people have removed the brakes and ground the welds off the torsion bar to swap just the bar and not the whole axle. However in the end this may be more time and effort than it's worth compared to buying an Addco and bolting it on.

If you're looking for performance, Polybushings.com sells rear sway bars that are thicker than the Addco: http://polybushings.com/pages/swaybarkrr.html

[AngelesRunner]

So if there is a round bar inside of the U channel rear axle then the car has a built-in rear sway bar. If it does then it doesn't do very much. Bad under steer with 15" aluminum wheels and 205/65R15 tires at 44 psi front and 40 psi rear. Adding an after market bar would in effect be adding a 2nd rear bar then.

The Polybushings web site says to increase over steer front bar softer and rear bar stiffer. Would it be okay to leave the front bar but with better bushings and just add a rear bar?

It also says rear springs stiffer and front springs softer so that might shoot down my idea so swap the struts and springs from the V6 LeBaron onto the Shadow. The V6 LeBaron springs have a higher spring rate than the springs now on the I4 Shadow. I did Autozone parts shopping computer comparison for a lot of the higher performance Chryslers to see what was compatible.

I would like to use Auto Salvage Yard parts off of other Chryslers whenever possible because they are way way cheaper than after market parts. Trouble with that idea here is that there is not much Chrysler selection.

For the 1994 Dodge Shadow what would be an add-on bar size appropriate for a daily driver and not a track car. My standard of comparison is that I owned a 1967 Corvair Monza which was a cornering fool. In the end it decided to jump sideways in a rain storm and wrap itself around a light pole. I still miss it 36 years later.

[Vigo]

Yes, you definitely need to stiffen up the rear before making the front any LESS stiff! I would get the stiffest rear springs you can find and leave the front alone unless you buy a set of something like Eibachs. I would get the 1" polybushings bar and try it and nothing else at first (except if you wanted to do front swaybar bushings id say go for it). If that's not enough you can do springs and shocks in the back.

As for rear springs, anything off a shelby, a daytona c/s, etc is going to be the stiffest rear springs from the factory. parts store cargo coils would end up pretty stiff if you isolated the progressive coils, otherwise they are barely stiffer than stock. I have heard of someone using front springs off an 80s 3rd gen f-body on the rear of k-car. There are probably lots of other junkyard options, you'd just have to eyeball a lot of things, maybe get some measurements.

[AngelesRunner]

Wife came home and I went to check. There is a fairly large bar inside of the U channel rear axle.

Yeah. I was only listing what the Polybushings web-site said. I was thinking about making the back stiffer with an add-on sway bar and leaving the front end alone.

If I were to use the stiffer V6 LeBaron springs and struts package on the Shadow then the back end would have to be even stiffer still.

So your recommendation is bushings on the front and a 1 inch add-on bar with bushings at the rear? Any Shadow owners done something like this before?

What is an 80s 3rd gen f-body? I can look around our local auto salvage yard with a tape measure.

Don't Eibachs also lower the car?

[RoadWarrior222]

Camaro or Firebird from ~82 to ~93, the squared up one after the "Smokey and Bandit" style one. Though they rounded it off more later in the run. Doh, yes, guess it's just easiest to call them "Knight Rider" style.

Some of those things weighed as much as a fully optioned Grand Town and Country minivan, so hardly surprising they had to have some stiff springs to be in the least bit sporty.

Damn there were so many special editions and sticker packages that I can't make out what might have had even stiffer ones. A Z package one most likely...

Just noticed they had an available aero package to bring cD to .29... innnteresting... now I wanna do an mpg F body with a HO quad four in it .....

Edit: Actually an electric F-body could be interesting....

[Vigo]

So your recommendation is bushings on the front and a 1 inch add-on bar with bushings at the rear? Any Shadow owners done something like this before?

Yes, i think front swaybar bushings and a rear sway bar from Polybushings.com would be a good way to start.

I assume you are talking about the bushings that come with the swaybar when you say "addon bar with bushings"? I would definitely not swap out the rear trailing arm bushings at first if that is what you meant..

I think there is a good chance that just the front bushings and the rear sway bar itself will get you where you want. Unless you plan to use it for any kind of racing, most people would probably be happy with just the rear sway bar and no further mods in the rear.(as long as your springs and shocks are in good shape to begin with).

[turbovanman²]

Camaro or Firebird from ~82 to ~93, the squared up one after the "Smokey and Bandit" style one. Though they rounded it off more later in the run. Doh, yes, guess it's just easiest to call them "Knight Rider" style.

Some of those things weighed as much as a fully optioned Grand Town and Country minivan, so hardly surprising they had to have some stiff springs to be in the least bit sporty.

Damn there were so many special editions and sticker packages that I can't make out what might have had even stiffer ones. A Z package one most likely...

Just noticed they had an available aero package to bring cD to .29... innnteresting... now I wanna do an mpg F body with a HO quad four in it .....

Edit: Actually an electric F-body could be interesting....

Seriously, quit sniffing gas.

[RoadWarrior222]

Seriously, quit sniffing gas.

Yah, I did, looked through kijiji and found that 90% of the people with F bodies think they own Corvettes.