What's the easiest way to start reducing body roll?

Inigma

Registered User
Hi. I'm in the process of replacing some bushings in the front, rear, and replacing all the shocks. I'm converting from the ARC to just the KYB's. It's a 91 SC.

What's the easiest way to reduce the body roll on this car? Fatter anti-sway bars and sway bar end link bushings?
 
That's the best place to start. Although springs will have a lot of effect, I like to think of each suspension component having one primary job.

Sway bars: control roll

Springs: control pitch

Shocks: resist springs

Exactly which sway bar is best for your application depends a lot on your car's weight and grip level. No sense going to 1-3/8 bars at each end if you're still on all-season 225/60-16s.
 
if your on factory wheels and tires upgrading to the 1 1/8" rear bar that would be fine and help a lot if you want to get serious get the 1 1/4" front and rear but there is no reason going over that the guys at Addco wont even suggest it unless its a track car cause its to big
 
Thanks for the replays. I'm on the stock wheels now. New wheels are on the want list, but I just got new tires, so it definitely won't be this winter. Maybe this upcoming summer. So I'll probably go with the 1 1/4" bars in preparation.

What's a decent size wheel to squeeze under there with out any rubbing or scrapping? I think 19" is kind of an odd size so I imagine tires would not be most cost effective. I also assume 20's are too big or might look so any ways. So that leaves me at 18's. Is that the common upgrade size on this forum?

I don't plan to lower the car at this point. I think stock height with a little bigger wheel to fill the wheel well would be fine for me.

What do you guys think?
 
Although I have 17s on my car, I'd probably choose 18x9 wheels with 265/40-18 or 275/40-18 tires if I were starting from scratch. There are good tires in each size, and they come close to the stock tire diameter.

Edit: I think a 1-1/4 rear bar is too big for most SCs. At one point I was running 275/40-17 Hoosier A6s and my 1-1/8 rear bar was sufficient. Street tires won't come close to generating the level of grip (and hence body roll) that those tires did.

IMG_0676.jpg
 
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Inigma:
As a quick suggestion for you -- should you do decide to upgrade your rear sway bar, consider putting your stock one up for sale on TCCOA (and/or here) once you have decided to keep the ADDCO.

90 and 91SCs had the thickest/solid factory-supplier rear swaybars (1.2" solid) so it would be an upgrade for lots of folks (esp non supercoupe tbird/cougar owners).
That would help defray the cost of buying an ADDCO bar.

http://www.tccoa.com/articles/mn12-techinfo/swaybar/swaybar.htm

Regards,
-g
 
Edit: I think a 1-1/4 rear bar is too big for most SCs. At one point I was running 275/40-17 Hoosier A6s and my 1-1/8 rear bar was sufficient. Street tires won't come close to generating the level of grip (and hence body roll) that those tires did.

From a quick google search, it looks like the 91 stock anti-sway bar is 1.2" in the front and the rear is 0.9". If I understand correctly, you are saying for after market wheels with street tires, My optimum set up would be just upgrading the rear anti-sway bar to the 1 1/8" and then front and rear anti sway bar end links?
 
Inigma:
As a quick suggestion for you -- should you do decide to upgrade your rear sway bar, consider putting your stock one up for sale on TCCOA (and/or here) once you have decided to keep the ADDCO.

90 and 91SCs had the thickest/solid factory-supplier rear swaybars (1.2" solid) so it would be an upgrade for lots of folks (esp non supercoupe tbird/cougar owners).
That would help defray the cost of buying an ADDCO bar.

http://www.tccoa.com/articles/mn12-techinfo/swaybar/swaybar.htm

Regards,
-g

Am I reading this chart wrong? I read it as the 91 SC has a smaller rear anti-sway bar than the earlier year SC's and even most of all the other Thunderbird rear anti-sway bars. So wouldn't it be a down grade or lateral move for most of not all thunderbirds?
 
S4Gunn is misreading the chart. No SC came with a 1.2" rear sway bar.

From a quick google search, it looks like the 91 stock anti-sway bar is 1.2" in the front and the rear is 0.9". If I understand correctly, you are saying for after market wheels with street tires, My optimum set up would be just upgrading the rear anti-sway bar to the 1 1/8" and then front and rear anti sway bar end links?

"Optimum" is a loaded word. I wish there were more objective data on the subject to provide better answers than "I think this will work," or "this felt pretty good on my car." But I think a 1.2" front and 1-1/8" rear combo would be a good starting point. If the car becomes too prone to oversteer, you could try an Addco 1-1/4 front, or a 1.10" factory rear bar. Or just start with the factory 1.10" rear bar, since it should be cheaper than the Addco.

Remember that it's all a balancing act, and SCs generally have enough torque to manufacture oversteer if that's what you need.
 
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Swapping to the factory 1.10" is a great idea! Depending on price shipped to my house I might go that route because my first SC was an 89 anniversary edition and I remember being happy with its amount of sway it gave. That was like 16-17 years ago and is the reason I have this one now. I wish I had been smart enough to keep and take care of that car.
 
I agree the 1 1/4" bar should be the more extreme the 1 3/8" was made because some people demanded it but although people still buy it they do get some returned cause its too much and harsh.
If you do decide to go with Addco directly ask for John Wright he's my cousin I'm not sure if there is any club discount but at least he knows we are still around
 
From a quick google search, it looks like the 91 stock anti-sway bar is 1.2" in the front and the rear is 0.9". If I understand correctly, you are saying for after market wheels with street tires, My optimum set up would be just upgrading the rear anti-sway bar to the 1 1/8" and then front and rear anti sway bar end links?

I think the rear sway bar is trivial to swap out in comparison to the front, which may be why it's so commonly done? If you intend to lower the car, you might want to do it all at once so you don't pay twice for the rear end links. Not sure there are too many 'upgrade options' for front links.
 
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