Swaybars & rear spring, axle setup '59 Tbird

[jopizz]

Yes, they are at an angle as they go under the axle.

John

[Guest]

Thanks, John for the second pic too. I think hopefully I have what I need now.

[Guest]

I just have one more question, John. Did the 59 t-bird come with a rear anti sway bar from the factory and if so do you have a picture of that? Thanks for all your help.

[jopizz]

No, it did not have a rear anti sway bar from the factory. Some of our members have added them though.

John

[YellowRose]

rear spring, axle set up on 59 thunderbird

There are just a few parts houses who have the heavy duty rear sway bar. The cheapest one I have seen advertised is for $204 and higher. I think those that do have them are ordering from Thunderbirds Southwest, from what I have read and they are being drop shipped from there. Contact Lance Harrington 979-249-4200 at Thunderbirds Southwest and ask what he is selling them for. From what I read, you must have the front sway bar on the car also. There is also a heavier duty front sway bar available. From what has been posted here on the Forum, the addition of the heavy duty sway bars, front and back makes for a terrific increase in rideability..

You are not that far from LaGrange, so you could drive there, pick it up and save on the shipping charges! Besides, if you have never been to Tbirds Southwest, you will enjoy seeing all the goodies that Lance has, plus have a very enjoyable conversation with him!

[simplyconnected]

I'm with Ray. I ordered many sets of bars from Lance with great success. My cars are flat around corners and they hug the road just like a modern car.

Lance is a character. He has a landing field in his back yard and he always has coffee for you.

Lance buys and sells cars, and he works on them as well. One customer shipped two Thunderbirds from the east coast, to Lance. He fitted 1-1/8" bars on the front of both and also installed rear bars, then shipped the cars back.

[ncbird]

Front sway bar

Ditto on Lance and his wife being great people. If you want a good story
ask about the desk in the showroom. In my discussion with him he was pretty adamant about the front bar being up graded if adding the rear bar. To not do that induces an imbalance in how the car responds.

[Dakota Boy]

Steve (Yadkin)-

Would you happen to have any photos of your rear sway bar installation?

thanks--

[YellowRose]

Swaybars & rear spring, axle setup '59 Tbird

I just had an enjoyable conversation with Lance @ Tbirds Southwest, as always and he has the coffee pot on!!... He confirms that if you put a heavy duty sway bar on the rear end you will need to swap out the OEM one for a heavy duty front sway bar also. To not do that causes an imbalance in the car and you end up with the tail end wagging the dog, so to speak. He also said that it is not necessary to remove the gas tank. They don't when they do these installs.

Some time back, he gave me the drawings for their heavy duty sway bars and I put them in the TRL in a section for Sway Bars. I just looked at it and it looks to me like the drawings are so light you can't see them. But, if you right click on that .pdf link, and do a Save As to your Desktop or where ever you want to save it to, and then open it, you see the drawings fine. For those of you who asked to see what they look like, do that, and you will.
It is unfortunate, it appears, that some vendors are not including his drawings when they sell his sway bars. He has a company that makes them for him.

[RustyNCa]

Yes, if you have the rear of the car running a stronger sway bar than the front, you it will most likely induce a "push" in the front of the car. Some also call it understeer. Another way to describe it, you drive it hard into the turn, turn the wheel and she still goes straight.... Personally, I dislike driving a car with a push.

Sure wish they would make a rear bar for the 58.....


Cheers

I just had an enjoyable conversation with Lance @ Tbirds Southwest, as always and he has the coffee pot on!!... He confirms that if you put a heavy duty sway bar on the rear end you will need to swap out the OEM one for a heavy duty front sway bar also. To not do that causes an imbalance in the car and you end up with the tail end wagging the dog, so to speak. He also said that it is not necessary to remove the gas tank. They don't when they do these installs.

Some time back, he gave me the drawings for their heavy duty sway bars and I put them in the TRL in a section for Sway Bars. I just looked at it and it looks to me like the drawings are so light you can't see them. But, if you right click on that .pdf link, and do a Save As to your Desktop or where ever you want to save it to, and then open it, you see the drawings fine. For those of you who asked to see what they look like, do that, and you will.
It is unfortunate, it appears, that some vendors are not including his drawings when they sell his sway bars. He has a company that makes them for him.

[Yadkin]

Steve (Yadkin)-

Would you happen to have any photos of your rear sway bar installation?

thanks--

http://www.squarebirds.org/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=84823&postcount=16

[Guest]

John. I thought I was through with questions but I do have one more. How do the rear shocks attach to the body? the pictures I have don't show this.

[simplyconnected]

1959 Thunderbird Rear Shock Mounts. Tighten the top nut (34370-S) from inside the car.

[Guest]

Thank you so much, Dave. Is that a spring wrapped around the shock to help it rebound?

[simplyconnected]

The only load leveler shock shown in the books is for a '59 station wagon. Thunderbird used a standard shock.