I just got hold of their single sway bar - took near a month for them to build and ship - but it looks good

Instructions seem clear enough - just thought I would enquire here of any past experiences with install that I should be aware of - any tips for a clean install and set up

Thanks

 

First tip-dont install it unless you have a full day, so you can overcome some of the short comings, as in, beef up some areas which you will see once you get started. I was in a hurry and was literally waiting to load up and head out of town to race while the UPS truck was in route, we got it installed in an hour, it made a world of difference, but I want to cut it back out and beed up the chasis mounts for the end links.

I'm not sure which rear end your running, but on my Ford 9" I needed to have longer brackets that weld to the rear end, as it was with everything fitted the torsion bar itself is up covering the lower 3rd member bolts on the rear end. Another thing i have to redo.

It's pretty easy, and with any common sense you will easily see what needs to be improved on, just make sure you have the time to do it and not in a rush like I was and have to do it twice...stupid.

 

IHI, did you have to order the longer brackets for the 9" specially? i had asked about the pros/cons of the anti roll bar vs airbags a while back and made up my mind on the wolfe piece, thats why i ask, i would hate to get it and not have all the correct parts.

 

There is no longer brackets that I'm aware of, these will be items I will fabricate myself once I cut it back out....in my case, all the attaching brackets were garbage. The ones for the rear end housing were short and that raised the bar up so I cannot remove my center section without cutting the bar off the car, the brackets that weld to the "rear frame rails" are nothing more than triangle gusseets with a hole in it (kind of like weld on shock tabs) These are the only 2 grips I have, but unforetunately these are the 2 essential things you have to have to install it LOL!! I street drive mine whenever possible, still will with the new mill, and although the tabs for the end links have held up thus far, I want to be sure they will hold up for the long haul, I plan to make/have bent some 11ga steel to slip over the "rear frame rail" and then cut some steel tubing and weld that to my new frame wrap I had bent up...giving me alot stronger piece to hook the end links onto.

In reality, you honestly cannot even compare the air bags to this anti roll bar...it is literally apples to oranges. The air bags are "better than nothing" and "help" over a basic stock suspension, but that is it, no matter how much psi you run in the pass bag. The anti roll bar completely STOPS ANY body roll-period, you will not have none, the car will now hit both tires the same and give you a nice level launch instead of wadding the chasis up like bags allow...which will give you more consistant 60's since your taking flex out of the equation.

I will stand behind the desgin concept and the functuality of this unit, just wished in my case the brackets would've been more accomodating so I did'nt have to make any myself.

 

any chance you can post some pics of that installed, i'd like to get an idea of what im getting into, thanks

 

It will be awhile, cars been sitting since I blew the motor 2yrs ago and I'm hoping to get it back into the garage to start the next transformation in the next couple of days, so it will be awhile...at least 2 weeks for sure since I will probably wait until I get the car in the air for the brake change over before snapping pictures. But I will take some pictures for future reference even if it's too late for this point in time, got alot of other junk I've wanted to do to it before dropping in the next monster mill

THIS is the only photo I have that has anything t do with the anti roll bar, and all it is is a distant shot you can see a tiny bit of it under the rear diff. Once I get to the point I can get some shots, I will.

 

I had the same problem with my wolfe/9" rear. i wound up cutting off the shock mount locating tabs and "eyeballing it". i swung the bar rearward ~1" so it now sits under the pumpkin so it is removable. it works great.

 

Thanks for all the tips - Now there is an idea DIGGLER to beat what may seem to be a potential problem with my Ford 9 inch

Does that mean you did not bother to use the shock mount tabs on the rear end brackets as a guide by resting them against the shock mounts

I am gonna investigate if I could fabricate it that way myself


will keep you posted

 

yup, i did without them. they located the bar so that it actually touched the bottom of the pumpkin. impossible to remove once the bar is welded in like that. i assumed it was because my moser rear is like the oldest f-body one on the planet. gotta be one of the first ones they did.... anyways, i figured the shock mounts were welded on the rearend funky but i guess not.

 

Can anyone tell me what they did about dropping the height of the rear of the car when installing the anti roll bar

Wolfe recommends using stock rear springs - I put them on with chassis engineering 3 way adjustable drag shocks

and the rear of the car is too high !!! ( I have a lexan glass hatch so there is hardly any weight behind there )

Have any of you cut rear springs to get ride height and do you think it will affect the roll bar anyways

 

i took out the thick rubber spring isolators. and im running stock '99 camaro ss springs in the rear.

 

I had to cut a coil and half off the stock springs after installing the moser 9" tube diameter changed the ride hieght

 

thanks - at least I know I have two credible options

 

I installed the comp eng. universal swaybar - I also mounted mine under pumpkin of my moser with links going to frame structure behind rear seats.. Looks pretty mean from rear.. made a huge difference in the way the car launches.
so far bested a 1.35 60ft with 28"x 10" hoosier. plan to improve on that soon.
I also cut the stock V6 springs about 1.5 coils.

 

and here i was about to ask ya

 

i just got one of these as well.
was wondering about when i go to install the tabs on the frame rail for the endlinks...
correct me if im wrong, endlinks are installed vertical, and sway bar is level to the ground...
-doug

 

You are correct

 

thanks, i just wanted to confirm before i go welding.
also i saw on the thunder racing web site there is a one bar and two bar, whats the difference?

 

The two bar just has another set of arms welded off the torsion tube for an additional set of end links to be installed (would have a total of 4 end links instead of the 2 that is standard). Unless your making 1000hp+ and trying to run 8.99 and faster on a stock suspension....KISS with the single set-up LOL!!

 

ok can do, i have the one bar set up, thanks for the clarifacation...
later

 

OKAY - Wolfe anti roll bar installed - pretty straight forward installation - and as far as results I am one happy camper!!!

The bar works - just plain works - wheels up straight launches at will - my first N/A pass the car went straight as an arrow right through

And I finally felt the familiar thump after launch as if you had just run over something on the track like a mini speed bump -

I am told you thats when you know you have had a wheels up launch

on my 1st nitrous pass using the 82/91 jets through a cheater system brought a 1.500 60 ft on a straight wheels up launch

The Bar helps on the launch and gives you so much confidence that you might very well believe that you will be straight right through the pass without expending any effort on the steering wheel

On the same nitrous pass though - I still had an issue near the 990 cones in the middle of the track when I started veering (torque steer is best decription) towards the middle cones and couldn't correct safely I thought

so I lifted off - the car got back into lane and then I laid in on the throttle again and got my 11.4

So you still have to drive the thing - but the launch issues are gone

So in summary, if your are having issues on launch - get the Bar and forget it

By the way, on the install - the bar as supplied to me for the Ford 9 inch housing when mounted does not interfere with the case of the third member to make removal difficult

There is reasonable clearance and access to the bolts for the third member case

Thanks for all the help

 

is your housing a moser? i am thinking its a moser issue where it puts the bar in the way of the pumpkin....

 

pics pics pics

 

heres my initial pics
pic1
pic2

my stuff is all from moser as far as i know, it came out of a 4th gen...

i dont have times yet b\c i have an insane drive line vibration @45mph+ after my rear end swap, i dont know what the cause is just yet, i used a new rear ujoint, old one was bad and not the right size for rear end, and as far as i know the drive shaft is ok(no vibration before), i did an alignment with the rear control arms and track arm being adjustable now, i like. last thing i can think of is the spool, but im going strait? ill post up 60ft improvment times when i get it fixed...

 

Yep - my rear is a MOSER 9 inch housing bolt in for the Third Gen body


I think WOLFE must have reconfigured the brackets to clear the third member by now - perhaps you had an earlier model

I did not have to modify the locating tabs either that rest against the lower rear shock mounts on the rear end housing

everything was installed as supplied in the kit

 

wouldn't happen to have any of where the tabs for the links were welded against the frame would u?

 

I got hold of a few pics of my car launching since installing the anti roll bar- but none of the installation itself

As soon as I can, I will post them up

(Pics resized - hope they can be uploaded

 

AWESOME THREAD!!! I can not wait till I get my new Comp Eng. bar on!!! Going the same route Tom (87_TA) did on his Camaro. My car generally 60s in the high 1.5, to low 1.6 range. Glad to hear how happy you guys are with the bars. Hmmmm... maybe 1.4s are in the future.

 

JesasaurusRex - not yet, i havent even welded them on yet, im having to make my own brakets... will be sure and post for you tho

 

thank you very much sir

 

i finally found my camera, heres some initial pics

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...9_529_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...9_533_full.jpg