Completed '48 F-1 front sway bar

[1948F-1Pickup]

Had it bent by a company in North Carolina, 1 1/8" diameter and fabbed the rest of the pieces myself. Rod ends and sliding blocks to adjust the ends.
She's flat in corners now!
(sorry- no lift, otherwise I'd have a better photo)

[JSeery]

Nice!

[1948F-1Pickup]

Thanks. It was one of those measure 5 times
type of jobs. Glad it's done.

[5851a]

Looks good. Did you add a reinforcement to the inside of the frame where the bushings clamp mount?

[19Fordy]

Here's a neat sway bar torsional stiffness calculator. Plus, did you know that sway bars can be hollow.
http://www.gtsparkplugs.com/Sway-Bar-Calculator.html

[flathead48]

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Looks very professional, well done

[1948F-1Pickup]

Originally Posted by 5851a

Looks good. Did you add a reinforcement to the inside of the frame where the bushings clamp mount?

I didn't do that. On the front bolt position for the frame bushing, I
drilled out the factory rivet in the frame. That's where there's a
fairly hefty cross-member tying everything together. The bolt
replacing the factory rivet is 7/16" and the rear bolt location
for the sway bar bracket is around 2" back. Shouldn't be an
issue.

Originally Posted by 19Fordy

Here's a neat sway bar torsional stiffness calculator. Plus, did you know that sway bars can be hollow.
http://www.gtsparkplugs.com/Sway-Bar-Calculator.html

My initial idea was a hollow NASCAR bar but appearance
and cost made me search out a place that could bend
a standard bar.
I had forgotten about that particular website....
I used Puhn's equation when I was doing the calcs.
My initial gut feeling was about 400#/in would be
just about right and I could slide the ends in if I wanted
stiffer. The 1 1/8 bar landed at right around 450#/in,
so it worked out well.

[1948F-1Pickup]

Originally Posted by flathead48

Looks very professional, well done

Thanks, I'm getting ready to take the pieces off and send them over
for gold irridite or maybe a black phosphate coating.

[19Fordy]

Go with the black.
Gold is a bit gaudy.

[Curt in AZ]

Beautiful job! Any plans for making a few to sale?

[1948F-1Pickup]

I didn't have any plans but it could be done.
The sliding adjusters on the bar ends are a
real "treat" to make. (very labor intensive)
At around $600, a one-off is definitely not
happening. A project like this would have
to be done in quantities of 10 to bring the
bar itself ($300 for mine) into some concept
of economy & marketability. Hellwig and a
few others minimums are 10 units......
That's how it would have to be done.