GT350 Sway Bars installed on non GT350 Mustang

Hi All

I ended up installing some GT350 sway bars on my V6. I was looking for a modest handling upgrade for not a lot of money and these fit the bill. I thought I'd post up the part numbers in case anyone else wants to do the same. Big thanks to DR and BmacIL for posting in my earlier thread and getting me in the right direction. Thread linked below in case anyone is curious

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80903

Anyway, I ordered the following parts from Tasca Parts. Total price including shipping was under $150.

Front - 34mm. Stock is 32mm
FR3Z-5482-J (1) - Sway Bar
FR3Z-5484-C (2) - Sway Bar Bushing

Rear - 23.6mm. Stock is 21.7mm (base) or 22.2mm (pp)
FR3Z-5A772-E (1)- Sway Bar
FR3Z-5493-C (2) - Sway Bar Bushing

So are they worth it? I'd say yes, especially if you have a car with the base suspension. These did tighten up the handling quite a bit and roll is reduced. Great for a street car in my option. If you have the PP, I'm guessing these won't make as noticeable a difference as they do with the base suspension. Either way if you're goal is to have the ultimate in handling or your car spends a lot of time on the track, then I'd go for one of the aftermarket options.

I will say I'm quite happy with the handling of my car now. With these and a set of 19" Black Accent Package wheels I've added, the car handles much better and is still quite comfortable. Not sure I'll do any other handling mods (eventually, probably...) but for now I can focus my attention on other mods while being satisfied with the handling I have.

Let me know if anyone has any questions. Thanks!

Thanks for the info. I'm debating on whether or not to add them. I just installed some gt350R springs which increased the handling dramatically, I'm wondering if these on top of that would make it even better or a bit worse for a mainly street car.

This is a great post!

Thanks

CVCAShmere

RedRyan98 said:

Hi All

I ended up installing some GT350 sway bars on my V6. I was looking for a modest handling upgrade for not a lot of money and these fit the bill. I thought I'd post up the part numbers in case anyone else wants to do the same. Big thanks to DR and BmacIL for posting in my earlier thread and getting me in the right direction. Thread linked below in case anyone is curious

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80903

Anyway, I ordered the following parts from Tasca Parts. Total price including shipping was under $150.

Front - 33mm (I think, can someone verify?). Stock is 32mm
FR3Z-5482-J (1) - Sway Bar
FR3Z-5484-C (2) - Sway Bar Bushing

Rear - 23.6mm. Stock is 21.7mm (base) or 22.2mm (pp)
FR3Z-5A772-E (1)- Sway Bar
FR3Z-5493-C (2) - Sway Bar Bushing

So are they worth it? I'd say yes, especially if you have a car with the base suspension. These did tighten up the handling quite a bit and roll is reduced. Great for a street car in my option. If you have the PP, I'm guessing these won't make as noticeable a difference as they do with the base suspension. Either way if you're goal is to have the ultimate in handling or your car spends a lot of time on the track, then I'd go for one of the aftermarket options.

I will say I'm quite happy with the handling of my car now. With these and a set of 19" Black Accent Package wheels I've added, the car handles much nicer and is still really comfortable. Not sure I'll do any other handling mods (eventually, probably...) but for now I can focus my attention on other mods while being satisfied with the handling I have.

Let me know if anyone has any questions. Thanks!

Click to expand...

2015Etrac said:

Thanks for the info. I'm debating on whether or not to add them. I just installed some gt350R springs which increased the handling dramatically, I'm wondering if these on top of that would make it even better or a bit worse for a mainly street car.

Click to expand...

Np. There's no negatives to doing these. Its just whether its worth the money. For $150 and a relatively easy install I'd go for it.

RedRyan98 said:

Np. There's no negatives to doing these. Its just whether its worth the money. For $150 and a relatively easy install I'd go for it.

Click to expand...

I was planning to grab a GT350 strut tower brace this week, I may have to add these to my list as well now, especially for that price.

the front is
34mm DIA x 5.7mm wall (1.34 x 0.22 in)

DR_ said:

the front is
34mm DIA x 5.7mm wall (1.34 x 0.22 in)

Click to expand...

Thanks for confirming! I'm a little surprised, as the new bar didn't really look all that much bigger than the stock one. It definitely was, since the stock bushing did not fit over the new car, so I guess looks can be deceiving!

Convertible Question???

2015Etrac said:

Thanks for the info. I'm debating on whether or not to add them. I just installed some gt350R springs which increased the handling dramatically, I'm wondering if these on top of that would make it even better or a bit worse for a mainly street car.

Click to expand...

Will the GT 350 rear sway bar fit on a convertible with the extra bracing? I would appreciate it as I would not want to buy it and not have it fit.

Thanks

CVCashmere

CVCashmere said:

Will the GT 350 rear sway bar fit on a convertible with the extra bracing? I would appreciate it as I would not want to buy it and not have it fit.

Thanks

CVCashmere

Click to expand...

I'm not really sure. I'd check the part number for the stock fastback and convertible sway bars. If they are the same part, than the GT350 bars should fit.

CVCashmere said:

Will the GT 350 rear sway bar fit on a convertible with the extra bracing? I would appreciate it as I would not want to buy it and not have it fit.

Thanks

CVCashmere

Click to expand...

If your car currently uses the same sway bars as the hardtops I would assume so. I'd look up both GT and GT convertible sway bar part numbers and see if they're the same.

The front bushings appear to be discontinued. Anyone know the new part #?

Front - 34mm. Stock is 32mm
FR3Z-5482-J (1) - Sway Bar
FR3Z-5484-C (2) - Sway Bar Bushing

Thanks for posting, $150 for all new sway bars is a pretty good deal.

How hard was the front install?

Mustang_Eh said:

The front bushings appear to be discontinued. Anyone know the new part #?

Front - 34mm. Stock is 32mm
FR3Z-5482-J (1) - Sway Bar
FR3Z-5484-C (2) - Sway Bar Bushing

Click to expand...

I saw the same when I was about to order but I spoke with Tasca parts and those are the ones they shipped me. Maybe they're in the process of being superseded with a new one but the new one hasn't been released yet. You might have to place the order by calling if they're not showing online.

ahl395 said:

Thanks for posting, $150 for all new sway bars is a pretty good deal.

How hard was the front install?

Click to expand...

The front wasn't too bad. Its funny, the part I thought would be easy was the hardest (removing the bracket bolts) and what I thought would be hard was actually easy (snaking the old bar out and the new one in)

This is what I did
-Get car in the air, remove front passenger wheel
-First remove airbox
-Then remove sway bar brackets. The brackets were tough because you need a good 2 feet worth of extensions, and the bolts are tight and held in with locktite. I had a bunch of extensions connected together and the needed a breaker bar to spin them loose. If I could go back I'd buy one really long extension instead of trying to use several small ones together.
-Disconnect the front sway bar links.
-remove a small plastic panel inside the engine bay near the sway bar on the driver side.
-Remove bar. I snaked it out from the passenger side. Essentially, I "swung" it out by rotating it. Swing it down and to the left. If the driver side of the bar gets hung up just go to that side and help it along. It was almost a 180 degree rotation and by the time I was done the passenger side of the bar was under the center of the car. To put the new one in I positioned it where the old one "landed" and rotated it up and to the right. Tough to explain but I hope that makes sense. It ended up being very easy.

Installation was opposite of removal. All in I spent about 2 hours on the front. I could probably do it in 30 mins now.

While on the topic of installation, I'll mention the rear was pretty easy. I was doing a trailer hitch at the same time, so I had the car in the air and the exhaust lowered which may have helped but I don't think is necessary.
-Remove sway bar brackets. Much easier than the front
-Remove sway bar links. To loosen them, you need to either hold the link with an allen and spin the nut counter clockwise (like you'd normally do) or hold the nut with the wrench and spin the allen clockwise (to loosen). I found the later much easier using a t-handle, since there isn't much room to swing a wrench.
-Remove sway bar

Installation is opposite of removal. If you drop the exhaust by disconnecting the hanger mount, make sure they are tight when reinstalling. I didn't and had some weird vibrations at certain RPMS. Once I tightened them up, noise/vibration gone.

Good luck!