Joined: Mon Mar 03 2008, 02:13PM
Location: wellington, new zealand
Posts: 81
Hi all, i am wanting to know if anyone has installed a firmfeel front swaybar. i have just installed my FF flat offset 1.12 Tbars, bilstein shocks, JS heavy duty strutrods, and am putting the 1 1/4 in sway bar on. it mounts different to factory, does not clamp onto the strut rods, looks like you drill a hole in the LCA and bolt the bracket to it? Can anyone confirm that this is how it is mounted, and does anyone have picks of thier FF swaybar installed?
Joined: Wed Oct 12 2005, 01:10AM
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 2690
Yes Sir I have done the upgrade...well worth every penny in my book!! I now need a beefy bar for the back end to keep the wagon nice and level in the corners....
Joined: Wed Oct 12 2005, 01:10AM
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 2690
With your car being so low I would mock up the placement first before you commit to drilling. I noticed that if i jacked the car up the mounting location changed, so i would thinkk the opposite direction would apply as well.
I wanted the "upright bushings" to be as straight as possible, so that dictated where I drilled my holes for the bracket.
Joined: Fri Dec 22 2006, 08:41PM
Location: Warrenton, Virginia
Posts: 1366
I've had my mechanic friend do a host of suspension and steering upgrades to my 67 300 'vert. It's all pretty much documented here already.
I do have FF's 1 1/8" front bar installed. FF's directions say to drill a hole for the bracket they provide to attach the end links to the lower control arms. I asked Dick Ross about this and he said they could be welded as well. He also said he didn't think there would be a noticeable difference in the LCA attachment for the sway bar vs the way the factory did it (attaching the front sway to the strut rods).
Here's a summary list of my upgrades....well worth the investment. The car handles and responds much better and has excellent hi speed stability....the ride is NOT deteriorated at all in my opinion..I actually think the ride has been improved!!
Just Suspension torsion bars, strut rods, tubular upper A arms, tie rod ends, ball joints and suspension bushings. Firm Feel Front and rear sway bars, lower control arm plates, stage 2 firmness steering box, pitman and idler arms, BILSTEIN shocks. Steer & Gear steering coupler, rebuilt power steering pump. ESPO Rear leaf spings
I have to say, I tried a couple of Steer & Gear firm feel boxes and was not happy with them....I finally made the decision to get a steering box from Firm Feel and I HAPPY with that one.
Joined: Wed Dec 21 2005, 07:34AM
Location: indiana
Posts: 791
Ditto on watching the mounting brackets - I installed my FF bar with the car on a lift. The little LCA brackets fall right on a curved portion of the metal, so when I tightened these bolts the brackets pigeon-toed a little. Still works fine, but had I recognized this I would've drilled the holes a little closer to the c-line of the frame to compensate.
Joined: Thu Mar 01 2007, 09:30PM
Location: Houston
Posts: 1735
Actually I looked at my bar and it is an addco which attaches to the strut rod. So now I am not upset unless of course it turns out the FF is a better bar.
Joined: Wed Dec 21 2005, 07:34AM
Location: indiana
Posts: 791
I�ve installed both an Addco and the FF. The FF is a significantly better package, in addition to being a larger diameter on the bar itself, the mounting hardware is tremendously better. I can�t really say that it�s 200+% better simply based on the price, however I can say from overall results that the next bar I buy will be a FF and NOT an Addco.
For the Addco I put on my 300L, I had serious grief installing the strutbar clasping hardware. The instructions were typewritten and had vague sketches, vague enough that some of the brackets could be interpreted as installing several different ways. The angle of spread on the swaybar does not match the angle of the strut rods so it�s not apparent which way the bottom �ear� on the brackets should point. Then when I tightened everything up, it changed again. I had that bar on-off about 3 times before I got it to work, and even then some of the holes in the clasping brackets had to be elongated.
Also, I now have a popping noise on certain turns that I didn�t have before. Perhaps I have a worn bushing somewhere else that the new stiffer bar is aggravating? Regardless, the control arm is a much better place to ground the swaybar compared to the strut bar (and will make the swaybar more effective). The strut rod is just an invitation for flex.
Months later I put a FF on my 68 Fury. Took � the time (and I was taking my time). No pops or noises from the bar (although my suspension is new also). Aside from a small hiccup on installing the brackets to the LCAs (mentioned above), this kit is exactly what a bolt-on part should be � bolt-on!