Y2Camaro.com

Sway Bar Installation

This project details the replacement of the front swaybar and the addition of a rear swaybar. A new 1-1/8" front sway bar from Addco will replace the factory 11/16" bar, and a new Addco 7/8" rear swaybar will be added. The car is a convertible, so it doesn't ride or handle as nicely as a coupe. The plan is to take some of the lean out of cornering and to hopefully stiffen things up a bit. We'll start with the front sway bar.

This picture shows the size difference between the old and new front bar. The old one looks like a toothpick compared to the new one. The new one is significantly heavier also.

Start by lifting the front of the car and removing the front wheels. Remove the end links from the lower A-arms, and the sway bar bushings. The old sway bar will slide out fairly easily. The easy part is done. Now start sliding the new bar in. The hard part is just beginning.

It will require a lot of twisting and turning to feed the bar in. I had to remove the power steering pump bracket and the pulleys on the harmonic balancer.

I also had to loosen the lower ball joint and lower the A-arm about an inch for the end of the bar to clear. Use a jack to support the lower A-arm.

Install the new end links (these have polyurethane bushings) but don't tighten them down until the car is back on the ground.

Now it's on to the rear sway bar.

Loosely mount the rear sway bar to the rear end.

Use the end links to determine the mounting location for the end link bracket. The sway bar should be horizontal and the end link should be vertical.

Mark the location of the holes for mounting the end link bracket.

Once the holes are drilled, feed the U-bolt into one of the holes. I put a bolt on one end to keep it from accidently falling into the frame rail.

With the U-bolt in place assemble the end links as shown.

Tighten everything down, and that's pretty much it! After only a very short time driving after this upgrade it was immediately apparent how much better the car handled.