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Welcome To … The World of Performance

By: Terry Stevens

As a First Generation T-Bird owner, you are aware of the historical significance of your “Sports Car”. For its day, the suspension was better than average, but still could be a little scary in a curve or during an avoidance maneuver.

Race car drivers are aware that all the power from their high performance engine is no good unless they have a tuned suspension system with the ability to transfer the engine’s power to the four tire contact patches. The suspension system acts through a combination of lowering, roll resistance, and camber changing machinations to keep the tire patches in contact as long as possible (until the laws of physics take over!)

The same principles apply to your restored rides (we all know how poorly the original suspensions worked!) as well as your everyday vehicles.

By simply adding a set of tuned sway bars to your restored vehicle, you will significantly reduce the roll encountered during any turn or maneuver; thus leading to a greater degree of safety, controllability, and maneuverability while you are cruising to and from your club gatherings or enjoying an outing with other T-Bird owners.

What is a “Sway” bar? (They may also be called “Anti-roll” or “Anti-Sway” bars.) Sway bars are the part of the car’s suspension that work to keep the car body from rolling in a turn, whether on the track or on the highway.

When a car enters a turn, the outer side of the car tends to be pushed down; basically the outside tires are adhering to the road and centrifugal force is trying to rotate the rest of the car body past the tires. Simultaneously, the inner side of the car is lifting since it is mechanically fastened through the frame and body. This “lifts” the inner tires off the road surface and it is possible to roll the car over unless there is a method of resisting the lift on the inner side of the car.

Well guess what? A set of tuned “Sway” bars will reduce vehicle roll with little fuss and a positive effect on overall handling and ride quality. Sway bar sets are designed and engineered for specific vehicles by various manufacturers.

Larry’s Thunderbird and Mustang Parts has just introduced their new Teamco Front and Rear sway bar set for ’55 – ’57 T-Birds. These sway bar sets are produced for Larry’s by the leading aftermarket sway bar manufacturer, and in addition to being manufactured in the USA, the sway bars come with a 12-month warranty.

Follow along as we install a set of sway bars on the beautiful 1957 T-Bird owned by Walt Foster. (Install time was 3.5 hours, including taking pictures for this story and a hot cup of coffee after the front bar was in place.)
In order to establish a handling base line for the sway bar install, we took the T-Bird to a vacant parking lot and set up cones to simulate a highway curve. My assistant, Bobby Livengood (a real old-Ford fanatic!), drove the “Bird” around the cones at 15 mph. This was the maximum speed he could attain due to the severe body roll experienced. Steering during the turn consisted of constant corrections to keep the car on track.


Putting the “Bird” on a lift is the best way to access the bottom side, but jack stands will work fine. You will jack up the front first, and then the rear after the front bar is installed.

Larry’s Teamco sway bar set comes packed securely in a heavy-duty box (All packing materials removed for photos). Note that all hardware necessary for the installation is included; all polyurethane bushings are fully greasable; and all parts are powder-coated gloss black for ease of cleaning and scratch resistance.

As per the instructions (you did keep the instructions; right?) observe the position and attachment points of the stock sway bar. CHOCK THE REAR WHEELS, and raise the front end so the tires are clear of the ground (or lift). Remove the stock sway bar bushings and end links.
With the wheels turned full right, the stock sway bar can be maneuvered out the passenger side so it will clear the driver’s side “A” Arm, then can be removed completely.
This illustrates the high quality of the Teamco sway bar as compared to other sway bars. Greasable bushings, grade-8 hardware, and high tech hollow sway bars combine to improve ride quality and handling when they are installed on your classic “Bird”.

It was easier to get the new, larger diameter sway bar installed with the passenger side wheel removed. I spent 15 minutes trying to get the new sway bar in with the wheel installed, with no luck. Once the wheel was removed, the sway bar slid into place with a minimum of sweat. (Be patient and follow the instructions!)

Torque the bushing fasteners to 35 foot pounds and tighten the end links as per the instructions and you are ready to lower the front end and start the rear sway bar installation.

Rather than describing the rear sway bar installation step-by-step, this view of the finished installation will help you understand the instructions better. It is recommended that the rear bar be assembled loosely to the rear axle. A helper would be useful to steady the sway bar as you attach the stainless steel “U” bolts to the brackets and bushings. If no helper is available, that old standby, “Duct Tape”, can be used to “hang” one side of the sway bar from the axle while the other side is secured with the hardware. The duct tape secured side may then be attached to the axle. Do not grease any bushings until all linkages have been trial fitted and the attachment points on the frame marked (Two holes are drilled to accept 3/8” attachment bracket bolts).
Note the orientation of the bolts and washers. The frame bracket pictured is for the driver’s side and the nut will clear the brake line after the bracket is properly fastened to the upper frame member. Torque all these bolts to the specifications in the instructions. Once the frame bracket attachment points are determined and the holes drilled, lubricate the bushings and secure all bolts so the final assembly is as illustrated.



The final results! When Bobby was warming up the car in the lot, it was readily apparent to me as an observer that he was moving much faster and with much less body roll than before the sway bar installation. His comments were even more enlightening when he summarized the “new” handling ability:
“Not only is the car faster (at least 5 - 8mph) around the curves, but the steering inputs are now steady when executing any turn or maneuver. The ride is significantly better since the side-to-side sway is no longer present. “

There you have it! Less than a weekend day expended for the best ride you and your T-Bird have ever experienced.

Caution: Extreme giddiness and giggles may be experienced during the after installation test drive! Remember not to laugh at other ’55-’57 T-Bird owners who have not yet installed the sway bars when they cannot keep up with you on the cruise through the country this weekend!

Tech Note:
Larry’s Teamco sway bar kits include all hardware necessary for the installation so you don’t have to make an unnecessary trip to the parts store. It is recommended that you replace your shocks while you are installing the sway bars, since the shocks may not have been renewed in years. See Larry’s Ad on page 16.


Editor’s Note: Hotchkis Performance was contacted for Advertising; they are making these sway bars for Larry’s and didn’t want to muddy the waters with an ad for Hotchkis. Instead Terry wrote this great article for us, with all the photos necessary.

Larry’s has set up their ad to feature the sway bars for this issue, so we coordinated with them to get the article and ad in this issue.

Hotchkis will be working to support Larry’s and we are hoping there will be substantial sales for them. If things go as planned, They will make a set of sway bars available for Larry’s to donate at our convention in Salisbury, NC. So let Larry’s know you are from ITC!