Do I really need a rear bar on my SWB?

[Davz912/911]

About a month ago I bought a set of Weltmeister sway bars off Craigslist, a 19mm front and a 22mm rear. These were sold as a set. I thought the rear bar may be to much for my swb, but figured I could use it in trade for a 19mm, which I think would be more effective. So I need to weld in rear mounts and figured I would put the front bar in and run with it while I sourced the rear weld in mounts. This 19mm bar, set around the middle position, has totally transformed this car! Sweepers that at 60mph before were alittle hairy, are now done with confidence at 70+. Yesterday, on a drive up Hwy 9 from Saratoga to 35 (A fantastic road with hairpins) I had no problem keeping up with the knee scrapers using 2nd and 3rd gears. So, you canyon carvers out there, I ask ..does it get better...should I mount that rear bar..swap it for a 19?

Thanks,
Dave

[ttweed]

I would not use a Weltmeister rear bar on a SWB car. I tried it years ago, and the geometry of the mounting is wrong for the shorter trailing arms, due to the way the short, little Weltmeister droplink mounts to the spring plate eccentric bolt. They were designed for the LWB cars only, IMHO. The droplinks end up angled so acutely if you use anything but the stiffest settings that they do not transfer loads properly from side to side. I have stuck to stock rear sway bars on my SWB cars since, using the 18mm from the '74-77 models when an upgrade is required. Having only the front bar adjustable has worked fine for me in balancing the setup, although adjustability at both ends certainly allows a greater range of adjustment.

As far as whether you need a rear bar or not, that depends on your torsion bars and how you use the vehicle. Some people like the additional rear grip offered by a soft rear end, going so far as to disconnect the rear bar when autocrossing to prevent excessive oversteer. In a racing application, however, you may find the front inside wheel lifting off the ground very easily in hard turns if the rear roll stiffness is not adequate. That said, I have seen some very quick cars that lifted their front wheel 6-10" off the ground in every turn.

The weld-on rear ARB consoles are still available from the dealer for mounting the stock bars, but I would box them in and reinforce them with additional sheetmetal before mounting them, as they are a little weak compared to the Wevo bits. The Wevo RARB consoles are strong and wonderful for the LWB cars, but much harder to adapt and mount properly to the SWB tubs, so I would not recommend them over a reinforced, stock console for the early cars.

YMMV,
TT

[Davz912/911]

Tom,

Thanks for the advice...Sounds like while playing in 2nd and 3rd gear a rear
bar is not really needed, where as high speed 4th and 5th romps a rear bar is a plus. Have you or anyone else tried to fabricate a muffler clamp style rear console that would bring the bar closer to the torsion bar tubes, thus allowing full range of motion on the droplinks? I'm thinking of fabing one up just for the hell of it to see how the car responds.

As for lifting the inside wheel....oh yea. On one particular hard right, with a slight uphill, I take coming home from work every day, if I take it agressivley, I can hear the wheel hitting the ground! The expression of oncomming drivers is hilarious...their jaws are on the ground!

Thanks again, great advice
Dave

[tfiv]

I don't track my 67S, but I've done a few hill climbs etc. and was always frustrated by initial push, and the car's resulting tendency not to turn in. I recently installed an 18mm rear bar with otherwise stock suspension and it made a huge difference.

[Richard]

A 19MM front (thru the body) sway bar and an 18MM rear sway bar is a terrific setup for any early ('65-73) street car that wants almost race car performance without the hastles of the trick race car sway bars/bushings/bigger torsion bars. If you pick a front bushing that doesn't squeek; i.e., go with soft, not hard bushings, you'll be amazed at how flat your early 911 corners.

To answer your question...I'd run both front and rear sway bars because they work togther. (Too much front bar without a similar rear bar and you have understeer. Too much rear bar and you get oversteer.) You can play with torsion bars also...but if you have stock torsion bars try a 19MM front/18MM rear sway bar set up and I think you'll be amazed and how your old 911 handles.
R.