suspension issues with a BFIII wagon.

[Bushbasher]

This is about tyre wear and looking for the cheapest fix I can live with...

Apart from the vehicle issue my missus is also adamant that she doesn't want me to touch "her" car because she likes it the way it is even though I tried to explain that the car is unbalanced and potentially dangerous in an emergency situation as well as the tyre issue.

Ok, so my missus' wagon was set up, by the previous owner, to tow a heavy caravan so he was talked into having the rear springs reset and an extra leaf added. It's now nose bleed high at the rear. To help compensate, they fitted stiffer Pedders front springs so that's quite high as well, not that I mind because the wagon goes up dirt roads alot and into the occasional paddock etc.

The problem is, the rear is still stiffer than the front causing the car to feel like the front is wandering on bumpy roads plus the rear eats the shoulders off the tyres because it doesn't lean over as much as the front in corners. Rotating them just means the front finishes the job with still 10-15k km worth of tread left in the middle of the tyre. If I don't rotate I'm changing rears at nearly twice the rate of the front because they take the shoulder down to canvas by just over half way through the tread life.

I've looked at removing the extra leaf from the rear spring pack but it's not a job I can do in the driveway so I'd have to pay to get it done, but I don't want to go to even stiffer front springs either. So now I'm wondering weather I can get away with a stiffer front sway bar to help balance the body roll thus reduce or eliminate the rear tyre issue.

So my question, well questions, are:
Will this have the effect I'm looking for without losing too much compliance on uneven surfaces and eliminate the wandering AND fix the tyre problem, and if so, what is the stock sway bar size and is an XR6 or XR8 sway bar thicker or do I need to look at aftermarket?
; because it seems to me, If I have to pay $3-400 for a sway bar I might as well pay someone to remove the extra rear leaf. This is also a problem because unless I can have the job done and finished in the driveway while the boss is at work, she'll veto the change and make me put it back the way it was. Any opinions or guidance on my dilemma would be much appreciated.


Cheers
Bushbasher