Jim Morrison says "Let it roll, baby, roll."
Hey, guys. Thanks for the input.
Right now, my front end is completely worn out. The twenty year old shocks are not doing anything. The sway bar link bushings are worn out and the stock sway bar is flapping around and not doing anything. The ball joints are worn out and the front wheels are out of alignment, etc., etc.
And despite all of that, the car still tracks straight and is fun to drive. :o
There will be a dramatic difference in ride quality and steering and handling after replacing all the worn out parts and getting everything back to original base line stock. I'll wait to see how satisfied I am with everything then before I start changing anything else (stiffer sway bars, engine braces, etc). I may be happy with it as is and not need to do any further changes.
If I were to change everything all at once, I won't know what did what. It would be like Kenny said: "Just too many things were done at once to pinpoint which component made the most difference."
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Rollin' rollin' rollin', keep them dogies rollin', Raw Hide!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Luva65wagon
I just did both parts in my Ranchero, which was a 6'r gone V8 and is lacking the torque boxes your car has (and Kenny's lacks as well). I can say, in my case, it was substantial the difference it made. Yours may be less noticable
Hello, Roger.
I read that the six cylinder convertibles were the first to have torque boxes. Ford had to do something to make up for the loss of stiffness from getting rid of the roof. The hardtops also got torque boxes because the lack a ceiling cross piece that goes from center post to center post on the coupes and sedans. So, the torque boxes compensated a loss rather than being an addition. It was maybe a break-even as far as overall stiffness.
I did come across this bit of information: "A solid sway bar one inch in diameter and 37.5 inches long would weigh about 8 lbs."
See: http://www.stockcarscience.com/blog/index.php/swaybars
That means that a stock 11/16" sway bar would just weigh four pounds. The one inch sway bar would only mean a four pound increase and that would be insignificant.
My stock sway bar has been non-functional do to worn out end links. When I would take a tight U-turn my wife would freak out and say
"You're gonna roll the car over!! Ahhheeeiiggghhh!!!!" :WHATTHE:
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Maybe things will be a bit less dramatic once I get the suspension up to snuff. Well, at least the motion of the car will be less dramatic.
Have any of you guys installed a rear sway bar? Fits: 63-65 Ford Falcon, 63-65 Mercury Comet, 64-66 Ford Mustang
See: http://www.andysautosport.com/products/addco__914.html