Rear Sway Bars!

[Smartin]

This states it's for a 71-87 Riviera, but our rear ends are identical.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1971-1978-Buick-Riviera-ADDCO-rear-sway-bar_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33592QQihZ017QQitem Z270012564484QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

[dewbers]

From what I know about the sway bar, which is very little... they were designed for performance. If I use my droptop as a cruiser. Nothing more. Does the sway bar add much for me? I am not racing it. Not doing much besides running around town to ball games, dinners, ice cream, cruise ins etc. The occasional highway cruise to the beach... Help me understand what this will do for me?
Thanks in advance...

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Steve,

First off are we all positive this "aftermarket" unit on e-bay will fit the 71-73 cars without doing some heavy modifications? He said it will but as we all know that line has been used before.

There use to be a thread (I think, either this board or another one) regarding the sway bars with photos. I would not make a buy unless you are 100% sure it fits. Reach out to Nick Rabi, on this board he installed a factory original sway bar. I would ask him to do a visual on the ebay site to ney it or yeah it.

Steve regarding your question, if your car is a cruiser, a sway bar will help especially getting off the expressway ramps you won't feel that usual body lean. It does help. Just like myself with towing it would help. But its not in the cards for me right now. Got my eyes on some '73 pieces that I want, so I need to consolidate funds for an e-bay battle.

[Smartin]

Disregard the picture on the auction, he even says this is not the correct photo of the one for sale.

I can't be sure these are correct unless they are tried out.

[Robroy]

I can't be sure these are correct unless they are tried out.
If I remember correct Kimson did a bit of a tweaking when installing his Sway bar...

[Smartin]

I don't think Kimson's bar was made for a 72 Centurion, though. If this auction is correct, then the bar SHOULD also fit our cars, as well.

[Robroy]

Remember him talking about police Caprice’s, maybe it came from such?

I thought the Sway bar was to improve the road handling and possible also to prevent the car from turning around its own axel at the start when racing at the track, am I correct thinking so? Or is there another reason for installing it?

[Smartin]

It stabilizes the car when cornering, so it doesn't "roll." It also helps to launch the car more evenly when at the track.

[centurion 455 ragtop]

I If this auction is correct, then the bar SHOULD also fit our cars, as well.

Give that man a cigar!!! The key word here is "IF" I would want it in writing that it WILL bolt in place. Being it's an aftermarket piece I would be carefull a buyer may have to do some extensive modifications to make it fit properly.

I would think the '78 rear frame and suspension is different from a 71-74 full size Buick. And his ad says one fits all?

[Smartin]

I don't blame you for being skeptical, Rick. I've bought bunches of aftermarket parts that are "supposed" to fit my application, only to find I have to make extensive mods.

Case in point - 455 headers!

[Robroy]

It stabilizes the car when cornering, so it doesn't "roll." It also helps to launch the car more evenly when at the track.
Thanks Adam!
Just as I thought..

[Robroy]

Speaking of Sway bars, many years ago I had a Caprice from 80’s. Since it was sold new here in Europe it was equipped with something called the F41-package. This included a rear sway bar, different ratio on the steering gear and stiffer coil springs among other things. The car behaved almost like any European car (from that time) when entering a curve at high speed.
At on occasion I drove a friends Caprice without the F41 since it was imported as used, and it felt like a total different car, big difference in the road handling as could be expected. I’ve red somewhere that the F41 package got popular in the states as it got to be an option on the Caprice’s there later on.
I know..I know.., I shouldn’t talk Chevy here on a Buick forum :spank: :spank: so over to the good stuff..:D

First time I drove my Centurion which is almost one year ago today, I was very impressed of how exact the steering was and how stable the car felt while driving at the highway. Even at higher speeds it goes straight as an arrow, almost like my Beamer.
Also the curve handling was for me better than expected considering the cars age and size. I got air shock at the rear which probably stiffs her up a bit, but anyway.
I’ve driven almost new rental cars while visiting the US that felt less stable than my Centurion. Ain’t bad for a 34 year old lady of that size :D , that’s for sure! :beers:

[The German]

... ... First time I drove my Centurion which is almost one year ago today, I was very impressed of how exact the steering was and how stable the car felt while driving at the highway. Even at higher speeds it goes straight as an arrow, almost like my Beamer.
Also the curve handling was for me better than expected considering the cars age and size. I got air shock at the rear which probably stiffs her up a bit, but anyway. ... ... Ain’t bad for a 34 year old lady of that size :D , that’s for sure! :beers:

Hey, Per, exact that was my impression when driving my car home from Rotterdam harbour a year ago !! The Dodge Monaco of 1969 I had during my 5-weeks drive from Dallas to Mexico City and back again made me anxious when driving faster than 60 mph on the highway ! So I was very pleased with the Centurions performance at the first day.
________
Rolf

[EEE]

The swaybar situation as far as I've learned by sticking my nose under a few cars at the yard. I first bought a late b-body (90's) cop Caprice bar at the yard, there are tons of those out there, and I paid like $25 for it. It ended up being about an inch too narrow, and I couldn't force stretch it to fit. I was considering heating it, but then the steel would lose its integrity. I believe it would have been the same deal for the 77-89 or what ever the earlier version b-body car is, I think I took a bar out from one and measured it, same width. I then found another bar under an early (71-76) b-body Chevy, can't remeber exactly which model or year, but I tried to fit it under a later car in the yard just to see if it would be too big, and it actually fit ok, which was a bit of a surprise. I don't really know why, that was just odd. The bar I ended up getting was from a 71-73 Caprice and it was of a different design, than the first one I found under an early car. The bar doesn't have that many turns in it, it goes pretty straight across and dips down under the pumpkin; the later bars have alot of s-turns. I apologize for the confusion, but that is how I ended up finding mine. I still have it, and I hope I can put it to use some day.

[EEE]

Here's the one that fit

[73 CONVERT RON]

so the one on your car or the one that is pictured in the last pic. is off a 71-71 caprice ...??? thanks ,ron

[EEE]

The one in the bottom picture is the one that came from the early 70's Caprice, which fit. The one in the first post is the one from a 90's Caprice, the one that was too narrow.

[EEE]

Just to re-visit this old thread with some new info. I found a bar under a full size conv. Pontiac from I believe was '74 today at the yard. The bar looked very similar to the one I had on the Centurion, so I bought it.

The interesting part is that the Pontiac bar is slightly thicker than the bar that originally had under the Centurion, which came from a Caprice I think it was. It's barely noticeable, and unfortunately I don't own one of those precise measuring tools with the pegs that slide. I wrapped a piece of paper around both, and it's about 4mm longer circumference on the Pontiac bar, what ever that means; someone who remembers pi and the rest of the formula will have to figure out. I'm guessing 1/8 inch thicker in tube width. The bars are the same dimensions when you place them on top of each other, but the Pontiac bar dips about 1.5cm lower than the Caprice bar in the middle, which means it might fit under the Wildcat... it could of course also be because how it was laying on the ground. We'll see, I'll give it a shot next time the cat is behind the house.

The black bar (the clean one in the pictures) that I had under my Centurion is for sale if anyone is interested. I screwed one of the screws in at a slight angle, but it still works when you screw it in straight. I'll post it for sale in the parts for sale section at v8buick.com. $75 + shipping (approx. $20-$30 I'm guessing). If you're interested, please respond in that thread.

http://v8buick.com/showthread.php?p=1327075#post1327075

[centurion 455 ragtop]

see the other threads, I will take it. Thanks

[Austrian455]

TA Performance also offers rear sway bars for the centurion. Has anyone tried those?
There shouldn´t be any problems with fitment if TA offers them.
You can find them on the catalog page 147.

[centurion 455 ragtop]

TA Performance also offers rear sway bars for the centurion. Has anyone tried those?
There shouldn´t be any problems with fitment if TA offers them.
You can find them on the catalog page 147.

TA does make great parts no doubt, but be careful of anything that is not a common sale item that states can fit. There have been parts I have bought both from TA and other venders for my GS, that "fit with no problem" where as I had to make modifications to make it fit.

Again, TA does make excellent parts and I do use them, my GS is on page 10 in their catalog, so I am not saying they don't fit, just saying do a little research first. I wasn't aware that they made a sway bar for the large cars, I will check that out after posting this to see if it is a straight bolt on piece or if there are modifications needed. As this would be good useful info for members out there. Thanks for posting the info:xyxthumbs:

Kimsom, it won't matter anyway I mailed away payment today for your sway bar:xyxthumbs:

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Found the part I think you mentioned. I cut and pasted the catalog section on page 149. I would have posted the photo, but I am now working off an Apple Computer and still trying to figure things out on it. Anyway it can be a bit misleading when you read the catalog assuming that it is for all years, but the actual part number # 472 is just for 1965-1970 Wildcat & LeSabre. The photo in the catalog looks similar except the bars bolt to the control arms directly from the sides like the A body cars (Skylark/GS). Plus the dimensions of the 65-70 full size cars to the 71-75 full size cars may be different as I know the rear ends are. So I would figure they would not be a bolt on item for the Centurions, you would have to "modify" it, to what extent I wouldn't know.



Rear Suspension

TA S161 `73-`77 Upper & Lower Control Arm
Bushing Kit (4 req’d) .... $36.00

TA S178 `73-`77 Upper & Lower Control Arm
Bushing Kit (4 req’d) .... $25.00

TA S161 `67-`70 Upper & Lower Control Arm Bushing Kit
(3 kits required for Riviera, all others require 4) ....$36.00

TA S111 `71-`96 Upper Control Arm Bushing Kit (2 kits req’d) .. $36.00
TA S116 `71-`96 Lower Control Arm Bushing Kit (2 kits req’d) .. $36.00

TA S472 `65-`70 Wildcat & LeSabre, 1” rear Sway Bar Kit ... $100.00

[Austrian455]

Rick, thanks for checking what I wrote.
I read this thread and remembered that I saw something in the TA catalog.
I opened my PDF file catalog, and saw the pic and overlooked that they are talking about the bushings because I was in a hurry.
Thanks for correcting this.

[EEE]

There are holes drilled on the inside of the Wildcat's control arms for a sway bar, so this would probably fit there then. Thanks for the heads up on that, I might get it at some point.

First I'll try the other bar I found that dipped a little lower to see if it would go in there. And I'm honestly not not against using a Ford bar or what ever if I could find something that would work. It would just take a lot of trial and error, since it's difficult to exactly measure this thing in all dimensions.

[EEE]

I would have posted the photo, but I am now working off an Apple Computer and still trying to figure things out on it.

Hold down "command (apple)" + "shift" + "4" and you get a little marker to pull around what ever you want to take the screen shot of. If you add "space" you take the whole screen in one go. Saves to desktop as a .png file, similar like a .jpg on newer operating systems, and .pdf on older.

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Thanks:xyxthumbs: Always had the regular PC but after a bad experience with a high end Dell that fried the mother board $$$$ and tech support that I cannot even understand their accents I took advise from 2 Apple owners I know. Took the plunge and have an old back up PC that I am using to transfer files over to the Apple. LOVE IT! Plus no virus protection is needed and no spam either:user: