Project Mustang 5.0, Part II: Controlling Body Roll with Whiteline

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Moving to the underside of the pony car, we next installed Whiteline's heavy-duty, four-way adjustable sway bars on both the front and the rear.  The front sway bar is a direct replacement for the factory piece.  It comes with adjustable end links, lateral locks, and new bushings made from Whiteline's proprietary synthetic elastomer.  Whiteline is tight-lipped about exactly what blend of unobtainum and unicorn horns they use to make their bushings.  However, their bushings display non-Newtonian properties in that they act like compliant rubber bushings at low speeds and more like polyurethane at high speeds.  The result is a ride quality near stock with vastly improved tarmac-holding capabilities and none of that squeaking that can be caused by standard polyurethane.

S197 Mustang Front Swaybar
Whiteline's front sway bar is a complete kit and comes with bushings for both '05-10 and ‘11+ Mustangs.

The installation of the front sway bar is somewhat involved, as the front aero trays and “K-brace” must all be removed to access the sway bar.  However, it can still be easily accomplished using only hand tools, jack stands, and a cutting wheel.  Fortunately, I had a fellow engineer to help me with the installation.

mustang aero tray and K-brace
The aero trays and “K-brace,” while somewhat bulky, are easily removed using a socket wrench.

After removing the aero trays and bracing, we could then access the sway bar.  The front bar attaches to the radiator support/K-member at the center and attaches to the McPherson struts via end links at either end.

It's rather difficult to photograph the front sway bar, as it sits smack-dab against the K-member (that chunk of metal in the top right is part of the K-member).  This photo shows the passenger-side end and its connection to the McPherson strut via the end link.

After disconnecting the end-links from the sway bar and unbolting the bushing saddles from the K-member, the factory sway bar can be carefully removed, taking care not to scrape it against the steering rack's boots. 

This is a side-by-side comparison of the stock bar and the Whiteline bar.  The Whiteline bar is solid spring steel, 33 mm in diameter.  It is the exact same shape as the factory piece and thus a direct replacement.

 

The adjustable Whiteline end link is on the top, the stock one on the bottom.  The red plastic on the Whiteline units is to protect the spherical joints during shipping.  The end links themselves are hexagonal and reverse-threaded on one end, allowing you to use a box wrench to turn them while adjusting their length.

 

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