Southside Machine rear lower control arms

Has anyone tried these on their wagon?  Any suggestions on how they might pair up with a Belltech 5588 antisway bar?

See:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/111861080128?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

DO THE RESEARCH!!! Wagon rears are wider which require specific width trailing arms or the swaybar is a no go.

"DO THE RESEARCH!!!"

My bad.  I need to provide more detail.  I've done this mod on my previous wagons, but not with these specific parts.

Check out the reference images of the Southside lower control arms.  The Southside control arms are solid square bar stock, and it appears that the predrilled holes for a swaybar are through the side of the arm, not top and bottom.  Now look at the images of the Belltech 5588 (which is specific to the GM wagon).  It bolts to the bottom of the control arms, not the sides (See: http://www.carid.com/belltech/rear-anti-sway-bar-mpn-5588.html?gclid=CLGCrpaUjMoCFcMRHwodWpIEmg).

Suggestions?  Drill new holes through the top and bottom?  Use clamps around the square bar stock?  Is there a preferred method of attaching the Belltech 5588 to lower control arms with a profile similar to that of the Southside Machine arms?

Another option: the Hotchkis 2206R rear swaybar paired with the Southside Machine lower control arms.  Price difference between the Belltech and Hotchkis units is negligible.  The Belltech is solid 1.25" (32 mm) and the Hotchkis is hollow 1.375" (35 mm).

Is there any reason to prefer one over the other?

IMO...Unless your autocrossing,six of one,half dozen of the other. Someone please translate to metric for our Canadien friends.

Edited to include metric equivalents.

Yes those are some beefy rear sway bars. Bigger than a stock front bar, which if you don't upgrade the front may cause some funny handling. Best bang for the buck is a Ford panther (Crown vic, etc) rear sway bar. Pretty easy bolt on and huge improvement to handling while keeping an OEM quality ride.

MalibuSSwagon wrote:

Yes those are some beefy rear sway bars. Bigger than a stock front bar, which if you don't upgrade the front may cause some funny handling.

The orange wagon has a big rear bar, with reinforced control arms, and stock front bar,.

When you drive it to it's edge,. it gets tail happy,. very easy to drive and predict,...

Change can be good.  It's not like these cars don't handle a bit funny at times without modifications.  With the limited slip differential, no rear bar, and marshmallow shocks it can at times seem like you are chairing a fractious "Committee on Future Direction".

I doubt I'll be pushing this car to the limits in a corner.  The shocks are now upgraded to severe service in front, and coilovers in the rear.  The stock rear lower control arms look underbuilt, and would benefit from bracing to hold up once a sway bar was attached.  The Southside Machine arms look like a good compromise for use with a rear swaybar of any kind without the complication of adding bracing to the lower control arms, they only cost $140 with free shipping, and it's therefore a simple swap of parts.

Bracing the stock arms might be less expensive, unless they need new bushings.... in which case I'd be looking at new OEM arms with installed bushings rather than futzing with bushing replacements.  At 20 years old, I'm betting that if the bushings have not deteriorated by now, they soon will be so.  In the end, in going with OEM control arms, I suspect I'd likely blow an entire day on what could otherwise be a 1 hr project, and spend about the same amount of money.

Decision time!  I'm going in.  I'll let you know how the story ends.

phantom 309 wrote:

MalibuSSwagon wrote:

Yes those are some beefy rear sway bars. Bigger than a stock front bar, which if you don't upgrade the front may cause some funny handling.

The orange wagon has a big rear bar, with reinforced control arms, and stock front bar,.

When you drive it to it's edge,. it gets tail happy,. very easy to drive and predict,.

Perhaps your next mod?

Black, or should I say orange humor?

For those new to whitetail deer encounters: deer whistles are useless. IF you see the deer early enough, begin rapidly beeping the horn. That will almost always cause them to turn away from the car. Otherwise, they are just as likely to run straight into the front or side of the vehicle in an attempt to escape. Deer can not judge speed and distance well of car-sized objects, especially those that move at speeds greater that any land mammal. But, they can react appropriately to sound pulses.

One more tip: if you see one deer cross the road, be ready for one right behind it, and the one behind that one, and....

Yes I always slow way down or stop when I see one in the road, if you just keep going the next one may just broadside you. Happened to a friend of mine, luckily only damaged one front fender and mirror on his Civic, he was only out $200 for same color replacements and 30 mins of my time replacing them.

Back to the original topic: The Southside Machine lower control arms arrived today and they look nice.  Heavy square tubing.  Clean welds, black powder coated inside and out, and steel-lined polymer bushings that look like they will hold up a lot better than the dried dingo donger that GM used.  It turned out that Southside Machine LCA are predrilled for both a side-mount or bottom mount sway bar.  At $156 with shipping they are a bargain compared to most other upgraded LCAs. Called Hotchkis and the predrilled bottom mount holes are a perfect match for the Hotchkis 2206R rear swaybar, so ordered one of those too.  I'll start the installation this weekend and report back.  Looks like a clean, drop in fit.  OK...call me an optimist.

Fingers crossed...

OK, that was almost too easy.  I used PB Blaster and beer to remove the old bolts.  Just spray the old bolts with penetrating oil, go back in the house and drink the beer.  Go to bed.  Get up the next morning and remove the bolts.  Four bolts off, four bolts on, done in less than an hour.  Now I'm waiting on the Big Brown Truck of Happiness to deliver the rear swaybar.

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Nice!

Geeze, after nearly four weeks I'm STILL waiting for the bloody Hotchkis swaybar to arrive.  Projected delivery date is 5 February, and it's listed as in stock!

I wonder what the wait time would be if Hotchkis had to mine the ore and forge one for inventory.

In deference to their accounts receivable branch, they were able to process the charge to my visa card within 24 hours.

While I'm waiting, I thought members might enjoy this low-cost option for the rear lower control arms.

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hope that is maple not oak, oak swells too much. The OEM ones are pine, lolilop pine I believe. Not as pretty as my TBI spruce intake manifold. Once she warms up it smells like Christmas.

February 5th came and went with no sway bar. I gave them another week, and called Hotchkis customer support, and...um.. no it's not really in stock. It's a specialty item, we make them as we need to, you're lucky we took your money, I think it's nearly ready to ship, the guy who takes care of this isn't in today, we don't provide tracking numbers, should ship by the end of the week, maybe ... blah, blah, blah. They might make a quality product, but customer service leave much to be desired. Spin the yarn. Wear them down. They'll eventually stop calling.

Sounds very familiar...

So about those control arms.... did they look like a nice set? I've seen them on ebay but never heard of that brand before.

My car will need these soon.

The Southside Machine control arms are great. Very well made and finished, and would make the addition of a rear sway bar far easier than putzing around with the OEM parts. No drilling, welding, or bracing needed. The bushings are a huge improvement over the originals, and the powder coated square tubing is far stronger and more rust resistant than the OEM stampings and fragile rubber bushings. They are also considerably less expensive than most other aftermarket options. The company has been around for many years.

\"Andebe wrote:

Perhaps your next mod?

I was thinking this ,.

Mounted about in the center of the useless luggage rack?

Who said luggage racks are useless?

That picture really is amazing...

Finally received the Hotchkis rear sway bar and installed it. What a difference! Pics are shown under the Dec. 2015 Wagon of the Month.