Our dark green '69 Mustang is used for everything and it's gotten to the point where it does most things very well. It will run low 13s at the dragstrip and has done over 140 mph at the Silver State Classic Open Road Challenge at Ely, Nevada.
When it comes to handling prowess, the car does well except the back end seems to roll toward the outside of the turn in sharp corners such as freeway off-ramps. We'd like to get this rear body-roll tendency under control. One thing that would help is to lower the car's center of gravity over the rear axle. The Mustang already has mid-eye rear leaf springs, and these bring the back end lower than stock height, but we still think the back is a little high.
The tendency to roll toward the outside of a turn is disconcerting, and it's something we'd like to eliminate or at least minimize. Toward this end, we have a double-barreled fix in store for our '69 SportsRoof. First, we're going to install some 1-inch lowering blocks from National Parts Depot, which will drop the back end some. We have the room in the wheelhouse, so we don't anticipate any clearance problems. Secondly, we've got a new rear antisway-bar kit from Marlo's Frame & Alignment in Chatsworth, California. It should reduce body roll and help keep the back end of our car under control during hard cornering.
Join us as we venture out to Marlo's where we'll accomplish both of the installations at the same time. We're confident the lowered roll center and the added control afforded by the antisway bar will make a noticeable difference in handling.
Here's our new rear-suspension...
Here's our new rear-suspension equipment from National Parts Depot and Marlo's Frame & Alignment. We don't recommend lowering blocks for a radical ride-height adjustment, but for a 1-inch drop, they should work out perfectly. The antisway bar is the type that attaches to the axle housing itself, and the bar ends are then anchored to the rear framerails. Marlo's adds grease fittings to the bushings, and the whole kit costs $179. The lowering-block kit has a list price of $28.95, PN 5500-2A at National Parts Depot.
The installation begins with...
The installation begins with a little grease on the bushings before they are slipped over the antisway bar as shown here. The bushings have been drilled through at the bottom to allow lubrication anytime the bar starts squeaking.
Next the steel straps used...
Next the steel straps used to attach the bar to the rear-axle housing are installed over the bushings. In this photo, we can't see the bottoms of the straps where there are threaded holes to accept the grease fittings.
The last step in preparing...
The last step in preparing the bar for attachment to the axle housing is the installation of the end fittings. These will be anchored to the rear frame-rails when the bar installation is complete.
Here Marlon has a helper assist...
Here Marlon has a helper assist him in raising the bar into position. Notice that the grease fittings for the sway-bar bushings are already in place.
With the antisway bar held...
With the antisway bar held carefully in position, nylon-collared nuts are installed on the ends of the U-bolts. They won't be tightened until the end of the assembly.
Large U-bolts with clamp-style...
Large U-bolts with clamp-style bottoms anchor the bar securely to the rear-axle housing. One is set at each end of the housing in preparation for the bar attachment.
Before going further on the...
Before going further on the antisway-bar installation, we put the lowering blocks into position so when we tighten the bar down, all of the project changes are in place. Here we loosen the lower end of the shock absorber from the spring plate.
With the shock absorber disconnected,...
With the shock absorber disconnected, all that remains in order to remove the spring plate is to take the nuts off the axle U-bolts.