A SAFER SWAY BAR

If your 70 year old car has its original suspension and you drive your car at current or close to posted highway speeds, I’m sure you’ll recognize your cars handling shortcomings.

My 1955 Pontiac has been in my family since new and it was equipped with its original 5/8” sway bar. A 5/8” sway bar would have worked well back in ’55 when the highway speeds were 45 to 50 miles per hour. Because I drive my ‘55 to various car events including Pontiac Conventions, I’m often on the Interstates and feel the loss of stability at the higher speeds. A sway bar, also known as an anti-roll bar or stabilizer bar, helps prevent the vehicle from rolling over and keeps it level and in control while turning. Over the years, sway bars have increased in size for better handling. So, I decided for safety sake to look into replacing the sway bar with a new, thicker bar. After an exhaustive search, I found no one offered an upgraded thicker sway bar for the car. Luckily, after contacting the Addco company in Florida, I learned a thicker sway bar was offered years ago for the ‘55 Pontiac, but it was discontinued and taken out of their inventory. After speaking to their representative John, I coaxed him into making a bar for me and to once again offer the bar to the other Pontiac enthusiasts.

This new bar was increased in size from the original 5/8” to 1”. The new bar fit perfectly. I immediately found the car felt more stable especially at higher highway speeds, giving me more confidence in driving at higher speeds. Dollar for dollar, this is a great upgrade and if you or anyone should look under the car, everything looks stock.

Below is Tony Clemente of Silver Lake Auto in Belleville, NJ, his shop specializes in working on classic and vintage vehicles. Here he is showing the difference
between the stock 5/8” and the improved 1” powder coated sway bar. The bar comes complete with all the necessary parts, including the end links and bushings. Tony said, that most of the time aftermarket parts rarely fit without modifications, but this sway bar was truly a “no hassle” bolt on. He was impressed.

For ordering information you can call Addco at 800-621-8916 or johnw@addco.net The (new) catalog number is K2-613-ou