Did these cars come from the factory with some sort of clamp on the front sway bar to keep it centered under the car? Found some at Classic but can't figure out exactly how they would work. Classic PN# 14655.
They came with factory front sway bars. Sway bars are actually "anti-sway" bars. They limit the roll of the car during turning by connecting one side of the car with the other. The aftermarket sway bars are heavier and stiffer.
Sorry I read the post wrong... a clamp on the sway bar to keep it centered. Ughh. I thought it was a bit odd to wonder what a sway bar was... oh well. My somewhat limit experience is that they don't move very much side to side if at all. Two mounting brackets with bushings hold it pretty tight. Nowhere for it to go really. Maybe if you were a circle track racer and you only made left turns? I looked on mine, which is pretty much all original 69 and I didn't see those clamps.
They are not on my '68 and there are no holes in the frame to connect them next to the brackets and bushings. They also are not shown in the parts illustration book.
Thanks Jim. I think you found it. Now all I need is some sort of detail on how and where these things get mounted. The only way I can see these would work is if they just clamped onto the sway bar itself either inside or outside of the mount bushings just to limit any side to side travel. If it actually bolted to the frame it would be prone to slippage just like the mount bushings. That's how I see it anyway. Any type of clamp-on collar would accomplish the task. I'm going to have to think on this for a couple minutes. The tech at Classic has no idea. Ha, there's a surprise.
I have attached a page from the 69 assy manual (not sure if you can make it big enough to see) and it shows how my sway bar sleeve clamps were on my 69. The sleeve clamps go on the inside of the frame sway bar bracket and rubber bushings that mount the sway bar to the frame to keep it from moving side to side and the arms on the clamps where the bolts go should face downward. I have put red circles around the sleeve clamps in the attached PDF. The part number you referenced from classic is the correct part but there should be some rubber sleeves that sit inside those clamps. Suppose you could just make some out of some rubber.
Thanks Ordy, that's perfect. So you're saying the clamps were still on your 69? I know mine were gone when I got the car. Thy look pretty simple. I might just make my own now that I know where they go.
NP Robert, yes my sway bar still had the clamps on it but I didn't think anything about keeping them when I removed it from the subframe but then again I wasn't sure why they were on there.
You didn't happen to toss them in a parts bin that you still have? I did so much of that when I first bought my car. It has taken me years and lots of dough to repurchase everything that I tossed in the trash.
Sorry, I didn't keep them as I had no idea what they were for at the time and I actually thought the PO had put them on there since they just looked like regular clamps with rubber.
Was talking with one of the vendors up here who was selling anodized hose clamps suggested I try to find some clamps like they make for cable ends or something along the lines of exhaust clamps. Shouldn't be too hard to fab something up.
Interesting Robert, let us know what you go with. I have an aftermarket big Sway bar now and I am not sure if I still need to use something like that or not.
I also have a 1.1/8 after market bar. Here is something to think about and while I am not sure this is the case, but just the design of the new aftermarket sway bars is why I am thinking these clamps are not needed. If you look at the originals they pretty straight from the center out until you get to the bend where they turn back towards the rear of the car and if you look at the aftermarket ones they seem to have a slight bend right after where they mount up to the frame side which I am thinking keeps the car from moving side to side much in the bushings mounting it to the frame. I could be wrong but that's what it appears to be for me. What do you think?