By The 6th generation Mustang is a huge step forward for Ford in the handling department. For half a century, Mustangs maintained a live rear axle– both wheels were attached to a solid driveshaft, and rotated on their suspension on the same axis. This meant they were great for drag racing and prepared surfaces, but they were also tail happy and had somewhat unpredictable handling characteristics when cornering under throttle. In 2015, the Mustang finally got something that many other performance cars have had for decades: independent rear stock suspension. This keeps both rear wheels relatively planted and improves ride quality, but introduces a bit of body roll as a result. The new Mustangs are far more capable than their ancestors on tracks and in canyons, but there’s still improvement to be made. Fortunately, aftermarket sway bars are here to save the day!
When a car goes around a corner, forces pull the body away from the apex of the turn. This is called body roll. Besides pulling the outside tires down into the pavement, it pulls the inside tires up, lessening their contact with the road. This can induce oversteer, and in serious cases, cause the vehicle to spin out. Sway bars (aka anti-sway bars, anti-roll bars) work as a lateral brace between the left and right side of a car. The front and rear swaybars attach with links to the wheel hubs, and use torsional stiffness to keep the vehicle as close to level over its axles as possible, with the outside wheels forcing the body and the inside wheels back down towards the ground.
The Whiteline Performance Sway Bars for the S550 Mustang keep your vehicle level and steady around corners. The OEM sway bars on the middle-of-the-road Mustang GT are 32mm in the front, and 21.5mm in the rear; Whiteline’s front sway bar is 35mm and the rear bar is 25mm, offering far more rigidity. The sway bars are also adjustable, with multiple mounting points for their end links. This means you can keep your car loose for soft, highway cruising, or tighten it up for more advanced canyon carving.
Whiteline’s replacement sway bars also include new bushings to replace your squeaky, basic factory ones. For the front bar they offer their new PTFE bushings with an interior liner that does not require greasing. In the rear, Whiteline provides traditional bushings with pockets to hold additional grease and extend their lifespan. Additionally, clamp-on locks are included to keep your sway bar from shifting left or right through the bushings under heavy load.
A few handling upgrades like Whiteline’s anti-sway bars can take your S550 Mustang from good around corners to great, especially combined with a coilover suspension system. Check out Whiteline’s Adjustable Sway Bar Kit at the Motoroso Marketplace, along with tons of other awesome upgrades for your new pony! We made an installation guide article for this kit as well, so go check that out if you’re looking for instructions on how to get this kit installed on your S550 Mustang.
