rear stabiliser bar?

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Joined
Jul 14, 2010
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Location
Queensland, OZ
My Car
71 Mach 1
Hi guys ...

Now that I'm finally happy with the car again after taking it for a spin, it's time to spend some time on the little things...

It's almost winter here in Oz, so I've got the time!

I've lifted the car up where it will stay for several weeks now while I "fix" things underneath.

1) never had a diff breather tube ...now it has ...

2) looking to see why I have so many bolt holes in the rear of the frame rails and then it dawned on me ...my car has never had a rear stabiliser bar on it since buying it 9 years ago.

Now, I want you guys to give me the pros and cons of having (or not having) a rear stabiliser bar installed.

I vaguely remember reading somewhere years ago that people intentionally took them off due to some performance reason. This could just as well be an urban myth ... I trust Henry before I trust my cousin's aunty's hairdresser's mechanic...

Since Henry is not with us, I will go with the general consensus of this forum... a very close second!

give it to me straight...

 
There is a line of thought that a rear anti rollbar reduces traction in a hard turn on cars with leaf springs due to the dynamics of how it changes the contact patch of the tire. Essentially the simple version is that the body roll increases the load on the outside rear wheel, while a rollbar keeps the rearend flatter by transferring weight to the inside wheel, but ultimately reduces traction in a turn by doing so.

Well the theory has some truth to it. If you ever drive a car with a rear anti roll bar that is larger than the front, you can see this by the cars ability to be oversteered very easily to the point of getting it to swap ends dramatically.

BUT if your rear antiroll bar is smaller than your front anti rollbar, and if your front and rear spring rates aren't dramatically out of whack then adding an anti roll bar to the back will hold the rear end flatter and allow the inside tire to take more of a load in a turn. Your car may very well break loose a fraction sooner than without the rear sway bar if the suspension guys that tout the no rear sway bar set up are to be believed, but. . . I believe that if it does so, the loss in traction will be predictable, consistent, and far more controllable than without the anti roll bar.

I took mine off because I was chasing rattles and suspension noises.

In everyday street driving having the rear anti roll bar makes little difference. In aggressive driving on bumpy roads, having it will add some noise and harshness to the ride, but will help keep the rear of the car flatter and more predictable.

I will be putting mine back on at some point though I may get a better unit than I had before.

 
A rear bar and staggard heavy duty rear shocks came standard with the Mach1 "competition suspension" package. So if yours was a Mach1 it should have came with those.

In normal street driving, it definatly corners flatter around the on-ramps to the freeway

than my 69 Cougar XR7 ever did. My vote is yes, it improves handling. Does it handle like a modern performance sedan = nope, still has that old school feel.

 
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A rear bar and staggard heavy duty rear shocks came standard with the Mach1 "competition suspension" package. So if yours was a Mach1 it should have came with those.

In normal street driving, it definatly corners flatter around the on-ramps to the freeway

than my 69 Cougar XR7 ever did. My vote is yes, it improves handling. Does it handle like a modern performance sedan = nope, still has that old school feel.
Not all Mach 1s came with staggered shocks and/or a 'competition suspension' package. That information is based on experience... mine came with standard shock mounts and no rear sway bar. I'm still running the standard shock layout (after having spent all that time and hassle rebuilding my shock mount cross-member ;) ), but have a rear sway bar to install thanks to the Laurel Mountain Mustang Super Suspension Kit.

I fully expect flatter corners, but with a slight loss of traction because of weight transfer loss, as Jeff pointed out. Physics is physics, after all. I'm hoping a set of 295/50R-15s out back will give back some of that lost traction. :D :cool:

 
I hesitate to tell this story cause it makes me look bad in a couple of ways.

I was running Comp T/A's on my car at first with 295 50 15's in back and 4.11 gears. After adding headers, solid lifter cam and the closed chamber heads I took my older brother for a ride. Now he is a GM guy, who cut his teeth on a big block camaro (see I look bad already) We were coming around a tight long interstate exchange when he commented that the back end was hopping a bit. I shifted down into third and goosed it and we proceeded to a drift for the rest of the turn. (see I knew this story was a bad idea) It was always 100% controlled and the moment I eased up the car just settled right down. That was with the anti roll bar in place. I believe that had I done the same without it, it would have been a much more interesting ride with a potential for bad results. (AKA Don't try this at home) Moral of the story is get tires that grip better, don't show off (even if there is no traffic and a nicy grassy place to slide off into) and run an anti roll bar if you are gonna drive tail out, cause it does make handling more predictable.

BTW brother's comment afterwards was "It'll do." which those in the know realize is high praise

 
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Not all Mach 1s came with staggered shocks and/or a 'competition suspension' package. That information is based on experience... mine came with standard shock mounts and no rear sway bar.
Yer right, I remember now seeing somewhere that the Mach1s with 302 engines didn't have the comp suspension.

 
Not all Mach 1s came with staggered shocks and/or a 'competition suspension' package. That information is based on experience... mine came with standard shock mounts and no rear sway bar.
Yer right, I remember now seeing somewhere that the Mach1s with 302 engines didn't have the comp suspension.
Probably so. But mine's a 351C-2V "H" code... with no staggered shocks. I'm thinking it was more of an option with the 'lower performance-equipped' models.

 
All I can say is I'm sitting here looking at my deluxe Marti Report on my little old 73 351 2v that was originally ordered with as few options as you can possibly get except for power steering & disc brakes, and the report says "Mustang Mach 1, includes at no extra cost, competiton suspension NC". If a competition suspension was not standard on a 351 2v Mach 1, would it not list an additional charge for the option?
Interesting,, did your car come with a rear sway bar and/or staggerd shocks?

The 1972 price guide lists comp suspension as "standard on Mach1"

See link:

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-1972-accesory-suggested-retail-price-list

 
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I know the staggered shocks came standard on the 73 Q codes with front and rear sway bars. Tiny as they may be.

 
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I'm bummed that the holes in my frame rail for the rear sway-bar mounting points are too small and too close together to support the LMM unit that came in the Super Suspension Kit. Oh well - nothing a drill and stepper bit won't solve.

 
Mr.Bill, that's really interesting information. I'll have to look under my 73 and see what it has. I have a base Mach 1 with a 302, standard interior, no fold down seat, etc. It does have disc brakes, which I figured where standard. I don't have the car at my house yet. (I'm still paying for it) :angel:

I would have thought that the 351 cars might have had the competition suspension but I'm not sure about cars like mine. I guess I'll have to go find out and report back.

 
for the non-believers lol
Not a 'non-believer,' brother! I'm just sayin' my '71 H-code didn't come with competition suspension (stagger shocks and rear sway bar)... for whatever reason. I certainly can't see someone ordering a performance car, and saying, "No thanks," to a 'no extra cost option' like competition suspension. But, then again... there have been some awful strange things discovered in and on my car - so who am I to contend? ;) :D

It might be there's a difference in 'no cost options,' 'standard equipment,' and 'for only this much more' items between model years as well.

 
OK guys, I just got back from looking at my car.....no competition package. I did discover that it IS a factory air car. It seems that everytime I go look at it I see/find something new. I also looked inside the trunk for the first time today....no rust in the pans!

Anyway, I thought I'd share what I found out.

Chris

 
I suspect the same report on mine would look almost identical... with the exception of the competition suspension being absent.

'Dog dish' hubcaps would explain why I have rusty ol' chrome nuggets on mine. 'AM Radio' would explain why there were hand-cut holes in the doors and rear interior quarter trim panels and underlying sheet metal, with a hole in the center bezel where a radio once was. I can't imagine it sounding good with the 18-gauge speaker wire I found everywhere, either. LOL!

 
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