Adding A Rear Sway Bar

Hi Tom! I recently installed an ADDCO rear bar on my son's 84 SE. Purchased from J. C. Whitney, cost with shipping was around $100. It requires enlarging holes in the lower A-arm to 5/8", and drilling four 3/8" holes in the frame for mounting the bushings. It's not too bad of a job, but in order to correctly get the bar aligned with the end links straight, it is important to have the rear wheels supported (like with ramps). Be sure to debur the drilled holes in the A-arms so that rough edges don't eat up the end link bushings.

In the 70's I bought a couple of bars from ADDCO and they were painted, and their hardare wasn't too great. This bar for the Fiero impressed me. It is nicely plated, and the hardware was plated too. The results on the Fiero are absolutely outstanding. It my humble opinion that EVERY '84-'87 Fiero owner should add a rear sway bar.

Earl Zwickey From: herder@gravitynet.com (herder@gravitynet.com) Have you considered the sway bar from JC Whitless (opps, I meant JC = Whitney.) They sell the ADDCO brand of sway bar (7/8" rear 1" front) = for about $80 each (don't have the catalog with we) and the bars are the = same as the ones sold by the Fiero stores only they aren't as pretty as = them (i.e. painted black). They all mount the rear under the cradle into holes you have to drill = and the fronts replace the stock bar. I have thought of going this direction, but my car only has 4" of ground = clearance under the cradle and I really don't want anything lower under = there. =20 Paul Paul Herder --- From: Dave Nelson To: Tom Gifford Cc: fiero-list@fiero.org Subject: Re: Aftermarket rear sway bar. Message-Id: <199609080143.SAA25583@dfw-ix8.ix.netcom.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > I am considering an aftermarket rear sway bar from the Fiero Store >for my 86 SE. What other vendors offer a rear sway bar for the 84-87 >suspension? How difficult is it to mount? The front bar is easy, but >will I have to machine or drill mounting points for the rear bar? >Any comments or advice would be much appreciated. I've mounted my rear sway bar on both my Fieros. You just need a drill bit for metal to drill four holes under the frame. Drilling is easy if you can raise the car high enough, but you must be careful positioning the mounting bracket holes. Mount the end links temporarily in the a-arms (the holes already exist), push the two brackets with bushings onto the bar, and slide the brackets left and right until they line up with a good spot on the frame, then mark and drill. You need to be able to get a wrench inside the frame to hold the bolt head, so be sure you can do that. I had no problems except for one bolt head where the wrench wouldn't quite fit and I had to improvise with a little screwdriver. This sway bar attaches underneath the frame. I occasionally scrape the sway bar brackets on speed bumps, but they've held up well for four years. Other minor problems are: the bar can catch bloated road kill, and some service stations may not be able to get your Fiero on their lift or over their oil-change pit. But with much reduced body roll, I find the bar well worth the trouble. I only wish I could have thicker bars. From: Dave Nelson

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