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By RB - 5 Years Ago
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Does anyone offer a heavy duty sway bar?. I am tired of my car wallowing so bad in even a slightly sharp curve
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By NoShortcuts - 5 Years Ago
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Royce. I vaguely recall that '54 Ford station wagons had a significant front sway bar compared to the '54 - '56 cars.
Hope this helps. : )
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By RB - 5 Years Ago
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I considered that but next challenge would be to find one... Plus I wonder how much bigger they are.... 55 and 56 seems to be the only years they are not available
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By NoShortcuts - 5 Years Ago
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Royce. I can't remember the sway bar diameter, but it was significantly bigger than the passenger car and it made a difference in handling of my '54 Mainline business coupe that I wish I had never sold. I vaguely recall that some '55 - '57 'Bird owners said that the swap improved the handling of their 'Birds. Also, '54 Ford wagons had 9 leaf rear springs! I think I took two leafs out of the station wagon rear springs when I put them on my '54. They did not wrap-up on me under acceleration! 
Check with Forum member Carl Lynn in Circleville, Ohio for '54 wagon stuff. Email him at cl56vic@yahoo.com
Hope this helps! 
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By RB - 5 Years Ago
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I am assuming 55 and 56 wagons would have a similar sway bar dia?
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By oldcarmark - 5 Years Ago
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Larry's Thunderbird sells a 1 1/8" Front Kit P5482A and a 1 inch Rear Kit P5482B for 54-56 Ford Passenger Cars. Kits have Bar and all required Hardware.
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By RB - 5 Years Ago
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Thank you sir!
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By NoShortcuts - 5 Years Ago
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Royce. I know it sounds strange, but my recollection from 1966 is that only the '54 wagons had the different front sway bar and rear springs.
In the '70s, I remember that ADDCO (sp?) was marketing front and rear sway bars for the '55 - '57 'Birds. IF ADDCO still exists, the 'Bird offering will likely fit the '54 - '56 passenger car.
Another thing that is interesting for '54 - '56 Ford passenger cars, the backing plate arms from '56 and '57 'Birds when swapped onto the passenger car quicken the steering of the car. I guess there is a ratio change accomplished with the use of the 'Bird arms. This info.was published in a Q&A section of Hot Rod Magazine back in the '60s. I had a friend make the arm change back in the '70s and he said he was surprised at the difference it made. Apparently, something was different about the dimensions of the arms used on the '56 & '57 'Bird compared to those on the '55 'Bird.
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By miker - 5 Years Ago
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Addco is still around, I didn’t check the catalog for your year and model. But this discussion just went on at the Ford Barn. Read down to the comments on one particular manufacturer.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=256795
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By NoShortcuts - 5 Years Ago
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Miker is correct. I see the ADDCO Performance Sway Bars listing for the '55-'57 'Birds, but not for Ford '54 - '56 Ford passenger cars. For the early 'Birds, ADDCO has both front and rear sway bar diameter information and installation hardware kits.
Click the link below for their web site which includes a catalog of applications.
http://www.addco.net/aftermarket/catalog/ford/
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By RB - 5 Years Ago
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Bird and passenger car bars are different.. Interesting about steering arms Likely the bird's are a bit shorter
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By oldcarmark - 5 Years Ago
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Concours Parts & Accessories also sells the Bars. As a Set $449.00.
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By carl - 5 Years Ago
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RB (1/26/2019)
I considered that but next challenge would be to find one... Plus I wonder how much bigger they are.... 55 and 56 seems to be the only years they are not available The 55 station wagon was larger diameter than the 55,56 cars and the 56 station wagons had the smaller diameter sway bar also.I think the 55 wagon bar is 1" diameter but I will measure one tomorrow to make sure Carl
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By Ted - 5 Years Ago
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I put the ’55 wagon sway bar on my ’55 Customline and it was larger in diameter than the car piece. This was done in preparing the car for the Big Bend Open Road Race about three years ago. The wagon sway bar that I used measures 7/8” diameter and while I don’t have the original sway bar here anymore, I believe it was ¾”. Carl can perhaps verify the car sway bar diameter?.
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By carl - 5 Years Ago
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Ted (1/26/2019)
I put the ’55 wagon sway bar on my ’55 Customline and it was larger in diameter than the car piece. This was done in preparing the car for the Big Bend Open Road Race about three years ago. The wagon sway bar that I used measures 7/8” diameter and while I don’t have the original sway bar here anymore, I believe it was ¾”. Carl can perhaps verify the car sway bar diameter?. Ted is correct ,the 55 wagon bar is 7/8" and the car is 3/4" Carl
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By oldcarmark - 5 Years Ago
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The Aftermarket Ones from Concours are 1 1/8 Front and 1" rear.
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By slumlord444 - 5 Years Ago
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I have one off of a '56 wagon that I ran on my T bird for some time. I replaced it with a heavier after market bar. Wagon was bigger than my Bird. Will sell it reasonable if you are interested. Not sure what shipping would be. Will have to measure it to verify diamater.
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By NoShortcuts - 5 Years Ago
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CORRECTION. Carl and Ted have corrected the error I made earlier in this thread. The '55 station wagon had the larger front sway bar that I used back in 1966. I stand by the '54 Ford wagons having 9 leaf rear springs (!) and the '56 - '57 Thunderbird front wheel backing plate spindles being interchangeable with the '54, '55, and '56 passenger cars as a way to improve the steering ratio. I have not done that myself, but it was reported in the Q&A section of Hot Rod in the '60s and I had a friend do it on his '56 in the '70s and he was pleased with the difference. My understanding is that the '55 'Bird spindles are not the same as the '56-'57 'Bird spindles. Where's a parts book when you want it?
Thanks to Carl and Ted for coming in on this thread. All of us try to be accurate with what we report, I slipped on this one. Remembering things seems to be getting a bit harder for me with age. Remembering things incorrectly can cause others frustration and problems. I don't mean to do that! I've greatly appreciated all of the helpful and accurate information I've gathered from this site since becoming a member.
Regards,
Charlie
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By Pete 55Tbird - 5 Years Ago
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Sway bars, Sometime in the distant past I bought sway bars, front and rear for my 55Tbird. They were made by Hellwig
and if I remember correctly sold by JC Whitney. I don`t recall the price but it was not that expensive. Together
with a new front end total rebuild, gas shocks and re ached rear leaf springs there was an order of magnitude
improvement in the cars handling. Firm but not harsh. Pete
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By PF Arcand - 5 Years Ago
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I'm certainly not a chassis engineer.. however the 1-1/8th" front bar is a considerable jump up from stock. It's my understanding that going really heavy on the front only, can cause the car to tend towards more understeer ( or plowing if that's easier to understand) So, if going that heavy, the rear upgrade would likely be recommended, to balnce it out some. Also, a very heavy front bar puts more loading into the front chassis.. As for the T. Bird steering arms change, if the car happens to have manual steering, (many probably don't) it will likely make the steering heavier..
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