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@Gary B.

Since Henry just arrived in Tuscany with his family at his vacation home, he might not be answering posts.  Here’s what to do:

Get under the front end of your car with a phone/camera.  Take a photo of the inside of the wheel (either one) where the suspension/trailing arms are attached to the front wheel.  It may be easier to get it jacked up a bit - If you can’t do that, even getting the front wheels up on a curb on the side of a street or parking lot would give a little more room to get under there for a better shot.   Then, post your photo(s) on here.

That photo will tell us what type of front suspension you have and we can then recommend a front anti-sway bar.  They are pretty generic, and there’s no need to try to get Henry involved (although I’m sure he would be pleased to help).

I have a question, though - Why do you wish to add a front anti-sway bar?   Not being critical, just curious and that will also help me recommend a specific size/spring rate for you.

Gordon

Everybody's got a different take, but I understand why @Gary B. would want a sway-bar with an IRS rear end. He'd like to corner more like a sportscar. I've got one front and back. It's just what we expect.

If you have a VW beam, there are only 2 sizes of sway-bar commercially available - 1/2" VW and 3/4" EMPI. The 1/2" bar is what almost everybody (except me and a few other hardheads) run. In the absence of pretty aggressive driving, it's probably the right size. 5/8" would be the sweet spot, but they're NLA.

Gordon is right. Jack up the front of the car and snap a picture or two of the suspension. We'll be able to tell you what you need before we drift off into talking about the weather in sub-Saharan Africa or the benefits of argon vs. helium for shielding gas when Tig welding. Eventually, someone may talk about pot pie, but you'll get an answer before then.

Thanks everybody for your replies and I’ve been talking to a few people outside this site.  It seems I need to reevaluate why I want a sway bar.  It may not be what I need.  I don’t race or track the car and at one point 2 years ago during the build Henry said I didn’t need it.  I’m looking for a little more front end stability or “road grab”.  Somebody suggested stiffer shocks which I had already replaced and they helped a lot.  I can get pictures on Thursday and I’ll post.  In the meantime I’ll be listening to everyone’s thoughts.  Thanks!!

@Gary B. posted:

Thanks everybody for your replies and I’ve been talking to a few people outside this site.  It seems I need to reevaluate why I want a sway bar.  It may not be what I need.  I don’t race or track the car and at one point 2 years ago during the build Henry said I didn’t need it.  I’m looking for a little more front end stability or “road grab”.  Somebody suggested stiffer shocks which I had already replaced and they helped a lot.  I can get pictures on Thursday and I’ll post.  In the meantime I’ll be listening to everyone’s thoughts.  Thanks!!

Queue up the tire pressure comments.

Gentlemen, start your engines.

Last edited by Stan Galat
@Stan Galat posted:

Queue up the tire pressure comments.

Gentlemen, start your engines.

You obviously were reading my mind Stanley Stan_Laurel_c1920I was typing one of those while I was at work and apparently I forgot to hit "send".

I would start with tire pressure if I wanted more bite. If you're going off of the sidewall tire pressure recommendation it is going to be too high. The front of these cars is much lighter than the Beetle for which those tire pressures or any other car for which they are recommended. Many here run 18-20psi in the front and 20-24 in the rear. Try that and see if it improves your front bite.

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  • Stan_Laurel_c1920

Now we have to ask what front suspension you have to know more but, we now know you do have a normal VW Type 1  tranny and vw type 1 engine so we are getting closer to knowing but for the rear you have access to sway bars for VW for sure.

For the Front once we know what you have we can comment.


Do you have the full build sheet for your car?  If so post it for us, without prices of course.  

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