donfitzgerald

Hello All,


I am thinking about adding a sway bar to my cutlass. I see OPGI sell two sizes a 1" and 7/8". Is big always better? I am not racing but I would like to tighten up the rear end for less sway in normal driving.
Thank you in advance for your advice.


Don

70cutty

I would try to find them elsewhere if possible OPGI is expensive. I run Hotchkis on my Cutlass and it improved handling dramatically. it's 1 3/8 front and 1 5/16 rear.
I think 1" would be ideal for normal driving.

CutlassDad

By tighten up, I'm assuming that you mean adding a rear sway bar.
Keep in mind that if you add a rear bar, the front sway bar must be increased also. With bars front and rear, the front end has to be more stiff (larger diameter) than the rear.
And no, bigger is not always better.
Many of the rules can be bent when it's dry, but be very careful in the rain.

70cutty

Living in Modesto CA, rain is his last concern.

joe_padavano

The A-body cars are understeering pigs from the factory. The larger the rear bar, the more neutral the handling. Herb Adams ran 1.5" rear bars on these cars. You will definitely need to box the lower control arms for any bar.

donfitzgerald

OK, thanks for all the advice so far. I should have been a little more clear on what sway bar I was thinking of adding, it is the rear. My car currently has 1" sway bar on the front none on rear. I do plan to box the rear lower control arms and install new rear bushings. Should I expect good stable performance if I add a 7/8" sway bar in the rear or should I consider a 1"? I understand from the above post that I should not go larger than 1" because of the size of the my current front sway bar.
Thanks


Don

70cutty

For normal driving I think 1" over none would be a big improvement.

TripDeuces

I ran 1 3/8 front and rear and couldn't be happier. Handled like it was on rails.

70cutty

Trip, who makes 1 3/8 rear??

TripDeuces

H-O Racing back in the day.
Several companies now are making 1 1/2 inch front bars but they are they splined variety. I'm leaning toward replacing my front one with a splined one.

don71

Thumbs up...It will probably feel like a whole different car. Something you'll notice real quick when handling. Boxed control arms are important here as mentioned.

joe_padavano

I was talking about a 1.5" in the rear. I've managed to score a couple of 1 3/8" and 1.5" used rear bars over the years. As Trip noted, HO used to sell the 1 3/8 and Herb Adams sold the 1.5. Even 1" is aftermarket. The largest factory rear bar is the 7/8" for the 64-72 cars. Use the largest you can reasonably find.