Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

by SonOfTheGrim Mon May 01, 2017 6:44 pm

I was told it would be better to start a new topic so searching would be easier.

I am looking for the lengths of the rear sway bar. I am also pondering what all I need to know to adapt other sway bars to the car.

A local guy has a 2010 camaro rear sway bar for $25 that I'd love to use. It's 23mm and has all the linkage included but it's only about 2ft wide. There are also 2005 gto sway bars on eBay for $40-50.

What do you all think?

by clanceman427 Mon May 01, 2017 7:41 pm

I believe the 94-96 impala SS rear sway bar is a good match. Plus the mounting brackets are available you just need to drill your rear control arms

by SonOfTheGrim Mon May 01, 2017 7:59 pm

Yeah that's always an option but ss stuff is expensive. I am actually laying under my car right now looking around and experimenting with a piece of tubing and I'm not even understanding how the factory sway bar is supposed to fit under here. Seems that everything from shocks to diff is in the way even with the dip bent into the bar. I know the Impala bar goes out the back and around the diff but I thought the stock bar for our cars were straighter and bolted to the inside wall of the trailing arms.

by clanceman427 Mon May 01, 2017 8:27 pm

Nope they mount to the underside of the control arms. That's why the impala SS swap works, same mounting style and width

by fasrnur Mon May 01, 2017 8:32 pm

I have the Impala SS bar on mine. It works great. I do have an extra "stock" rear sway bar I'd let you have for nothing SonofTheGrimm if you paid for the shipping. It probably wouldn't cost all that much to ship as the one I got was just shrink wrapped and a U.P.S. sticker put on it.

by Damon23 Mon May 01, 2017 8:41 pm

Mine is off a 96 9C1 cop car and I paid 120 shipped from Florida to Georgia. Mine mounts to the side of the LCA and you have to insert the bracket inside the LCA then bolts underneath.

by fasrnur Mon May 01, 2017 10:08 pm

Yours mounts to the side of the LCA's Damon? I guess I didn't realize they mounted that way. Mine mount to the bottom of the LCA's. You learn something new every day. Very Happy

by Limey SE Mon May 01, 2017 11:14 pm

Damon23 wrote:Mine is off a 96 9C1 cop car and I paid 120 shipped from Florida to Georgia. Mine mounts to the side of the LCA and you have to insert the bracket inside the LCA then bolts underneath.

I have to 9C1 one also and It doesnt bolt on the side it bolts to the Bottom

by SonOfTheGrim Mon May 01, 2017 11:20 pm

Now I'm looking around and can't find brackets for the ss bar to mount. How does one reinforce the lower control arms and still mount the bar to the bottom? Weld nuts to the inside of the boxing plate? Use shim tubing and bolts long enough to go all the way through the control arm?

by Limey SE Mon May 01, 2017 11:39 pm

SonOfTheGrim wrote:Now I'm looking around and can't find brackets for the ss bar to mount. How does one reinforce the lower control arms and still mount the bar to the bottom? Weld nuts to the inside of the boxing plate? Use shim tubing and bolts long enough to go all the way through the control arm?

Did your car have Sway Bar originally if not you need to drill the holes for the Inner Mount brackets

http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/chevrolet/impala/10280926/1996-year/ss-trim/5-7l-v8-gas-engine/rear-suspension-cat/rear-suspension-scat/?part_name=mounting-bracket

Number 8 in this Picture

Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation. 9bc28d7cd28bbac5c384614e7ed61b88

Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation. 9bc28d7cd28bbac5c384614e7ed61b88

by fasrnur Mon May 01, 2017 11:41 pm

This might be easier. I too thought about doing it the way you were talking about sir.

https://www.opgi.com/chevelle/1977/chassis-suspension/suspension-components/PP22010/

by Limey SE Mon May 01, 2017 11:47 pm

fasrnur wrote:This might be easier. I too thought about doing it the way you were talking about sir.

https://www.opgi.com/chevelle/1977/chassis-suspension/suspension-components/PP22010/

WOW AND WOW Thats quite a Mark up with OPG ..............GM parts direct are only $9,95 a side OPG is $26 a side

by fasrnur Tue May 02, 2017 12:10 am

That it would be. Didn't know that GM still had them. Again, learn something new every day. lol

by bigredlaguna Tue May 02, 2017 12:42 am

There is also bracing inside of the arms on factory applications to prevent collapsing the sides and make the arm stronger so it can handle the extra forces of the sway bar. If you are good at fabrication, or know someone who is, it isn't that big of a job to make your own brackets and reinforcements of the arms.

by Damon23 Tue May 02, 2017 6:31 am

fasrnur wrote:Yours mounts to the side of the LCA's Damon? I guess I didn't realize they mounted that way. Mine mount to the bottom of the LCA's. You learn something new every day.

Whoops, the brackets mount inside the LCA which you bolt they the sides. Bar mounts to the bottom.

by Hawk03 Tue May 02, 2017 8:51 am

Below is a thread that shows the measurement for the control arm holes to line up with the bracket.

https://www.g3gm.com/t5020-rear-stabilizer-bar

by SonOfTheGrim Tue May 02, 2017 11:47 am

I'm going to try my hand at making the brackets and reinforcements. I'm cheap so I love saving a dollar on doing it myself.

The side mounting bars is what I was originally thinking of too but apparently that is G2 A bodies which also have the shocks mounted on the back of the axle and some other changes. They would require quite a drop to work with our axle setup.

by SonOfTheGrim Tue May 02, 2017 7:23 pm

So a member here brought my attention to an ss rear bar for a very reasonable price so my new sway bar is on the way. Thanks bro.

It seems to me that those short bolt in brackets for the lca wouldn't be nearly as rigid as the weld in inserts available for the G2s. I think I'm gonna make some inserts and use bolts long enough to go through the entire lca, with reinforcing sleeves of course.

by SonOfTheGrim Tue May 09, 2017 5:35 am

In my searching I came across a 1991 9C1 rear end with posi and 3.42:1 gears!!! Picked it up for less than $200! It doesn't have disc brakes but everything is complete and looks good. Just thought I'd mention it to ask if there is anything glaring that I need to know before dropping this rear end into my car. Any major changes besides the obvious 5x5 bolt pattern? I think the lower control arm mounting holes are different too right?
Not completely sure about the 3.42 gears in a 3 speed car but anything is better than my 2.56 open rear end. I think it will go well with my new sway bar and its an excuse to pull the control arms for modification.

by Damon23 Tue May 09, 2017 6:25 am

interested in that as well. I thought the only difference in the control arms was the bushings.

by Hawk03 Tue May 09, 2017 11:10 am

Nice score!

I purchased new Impala rear lower control arms and they seem to fit without any issues. I installed the U bracket for the sway bar and didn't use the hardware that came with this kit.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370919374120?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

by thatfnthing Tue May 09, 2017 11:47 am

SonOfTheGrim wrote:In my searching I came across a 1991 9C1 rear end with posi and 3.42:1 gears!!! Picked it up for less than $200! It doesn't have disc brakes but everything is complete and looks good. Just thought I'd mention it to ask if there is anything glaring that I need to know before dropping this rear end into my car. Any major changes besides the obvious 5x5 bolt pattern? I think the lower control arm mounting holes are different too right?
Not completely sure about the 3.42 gears in a 3 speed car but anything is better than my 2.56 open rear end. I think it will go well with my new sway bar and its an excuse to pull the control arms for modification.

There's going to be a hole in one side of the housing for the ABS sensor that reads the reluctor ring on the pinion gear shaft. If the sensor is missing, get one from a boneyard to use as a plug.

Since the 3.42 gears were designed to be teamed with an OD trans, the RPMs will be a little on the high side at speed (60 mph) with a 3-speed.

by SonOfTheGrim Wed May 10, 2017 1:06 am

The axle has the sensor in place so no worries there. And so if I am using my control arms I shouldn't have to modify anything? Upper or lower?

by Hs1973 Wed May 10, 2017 10:17 am

If you find that it is to much hasle swapping the rear, you could always put the posi from the new rear in your original rear. As long as they both are the 8,5 10 bolt it should be ok. I just put a used posi from a trans am in my old rear. And i worked fine with no problems and no noise. It was a delight driving with no rearend noise, also i it woke it up Being a 3:23 instead of the old 2:76 at first i was a little unhappy that it was not a 3:42, but after seeing how much higher the Rpm is at highway speed now. Im happy it was a 3:23 cause it is plenty more Rpm as of now.

Anyways i bought a install kit from summit with timken bearings and did alot of Reading on the interweb on how to do, and it was not that difficult at all, just time consumeing. Only issue i had was the crushsleve that would not crush. So i had to take it appart and use another sleve. But then it worked fine. I took my rear backing plates of complete with brakes and pipes so i did not have to mess with brakes and bleeding at all. You can use your original axels and dont have the boltpattern problem either. Also have the joy of a complete fresh rear with new seals and bearings is Nice. Just a thought regards henrik

by bigredlaguna Wed May 10, 2017 4:05 pm

This is about as easy of a bolt in job as it gets. Use your original arms and bushings, or use the newer arms, and replace the bushings.

by Sponsored content

Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.

Re: Rear sway bar measurements and adaptation.