I'm just curious, what swaybars where available on the turbo coupe (or on fox thunderbirds/cougars in general). I went to the parts store to order new bushings for a turbo coupe front swaybar I got at a junk yard and they had listings for at least half a dozen different diameter swaybars! I didn't measure it beforehand like a numb nuts but I just figured all turbo coupes had a standard size front swaybar. One thing I do know is that it sure is a lot beefier than my standard one. Anyways I was just wondering...didn't know if they had a different "handling package" on certain cars with certain options, etc.
The diameter of front Turbo Coupe swaybar, that I have, is 33 mm or 1 5/16". Can't recall what the rear is...
1 5/16" up front, the rear doesnt require bushings, they just bolt on
iver seen 3 bars for the front personally, a 1", 1 1/4", and 1 5/16", and ive seen 2 different ones in the rear, but i dont remember the sizes
yeah I have the rear one already on...its actually quite a bit bigger than the one my v8 car had originally but the front one is what I think will make a difference. The one I have is 1 5/16'' as well. I wonder why the parts store had so many listings for the front one (i think they might have even had one listed bigger than 1 5/16''). Oh well. On a side note, what are our options on aftermarket swaybars? I know ADDCO (i think thats the name) makes them but are they any better than say a TC with new bushings etc.?
This outta help (again):
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?t=1357
The swaybars off the donor '88 cougar I got from the junkyard are 1 5/16" front and .810" rear. They make a hell af a difference on my mostly stock '84 5.0 T-Bird.
Real improvement in corner carving !!!!! Cheap too, $10 bucks a piece and $17 for the new front bushings at NAPA
When I was looking at new '88 Birds, I found some with a thin front bar & no rear bar, some with a thicker front bar and a spindly little rear bar (on V8 models only), & the Sports with an even thicker front bar & a thicker rear bar (about the same size as the TC's had). The Sport also has blue urethane end-link bushings on the front.
generally, the bushings are a green, a crayon color green, and are poly for the turbo coupes and TC's, the sports use the same swaybars
Thread Resurrection!!
So I picked up a set of TC sway bars today but I'm a little confused... The front bar is definitely bigger, almost twice as much, but the rear is the same as the one I already had. The rear is somewhere between 3/4 and 7/8 ( I don't have a caliper to accurately check, thats just the closest I could do with a tape). The one I had originally was pulled from an 85/86 Sport. Is the TC bigger in some situations or did I just luck out on my first one?
I don't remember my rear sway bar from my other Bird to be any different from my Sport. The front sway bar on the Sport is bigger. It came with TC bars.
Use an open end wrench for sizing it. It will ball park the diameter pretty close.
My front bar is from my '88 TC, it's 1-5/16"..........also have a rear bar, not sure if it's the TC or the one from the Sport, but they are identical. Also have one from a '94+ Stang, it's the same diameter, but shaped slightly different.
Ok, well the 1-5/16" front is indeed what I have, no question there. What I'm trying to figure out, is considering the TC/Sport rear bar is already less than 1" thick, how small is the "little spindly pathetic" one I've heard about??
The small one is VERY small. My 86 had a small rear sway bar and the TC one was noticeably thicker when I swapped it on. I just went out and measured the one on my 85 and it is right around 9/16. The 86 sleeps outside and I don't feel like going out and crawling under it, lol.
85:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/Loaded87IROC/IMAG0065.jpg)
86:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/Loaded87IROC/IMAG0064.jpg)
Ohhhhhkay well that makes me feel better. The two that I have weigh in at a very tight 13/16" using the above mentioned wrench-test method. good lord 9/16"? that's barely a half inch, a whole 3/8 smaller than mine egads. Makes you wonder why they even bothered.
I wonder how that 85 that I pulled my original wound up with the big one. The front was not the thick bar so either it came with it, (and it appeared to have been there for a loooooong time) or they swapped it on. The car did not appear to have been upgraded in any way whatsoever so it must have had it. That seems a little odd but I guess it might have been specially ordered that way by the original owner? But then again, why the smaller front bar? oh well I guess I'll never know :)
Hey while we're somewhat on the subject, I ordered the Energy Suspension bushings for the front. Now those are supposed to be grease-able... Is that necessary? I'm wondering if the custom lower brackets that they come with are compatible with the stock upper brackets? What have you guys done?
I've got the stock 1&1/8" LX sway bar on the front and a Turbo Coupe bar of the back of my T-bird. It handles good and I can slid the tail out a little on corners if I want.
As to the greaseable bushings I don't think they are necessary. I have non greaseable poly bushings and they don't squeak. The bushings came with a small tube of grease that I applied to the inside of the bushing.
Yeah it's not squeaking I'm worried about, its just that those happened to be the poly's that AZ carried so I'm wondering if I can use them with my stock brackets even though technically I will probably have to cut off the grease fitting...?