Adjustable Panhard Rods?

[mrtzmd]

Hello, i saw an adjustable panhard rod for the GT on ebay and i am not sure how these work. I was hoping someone could comment on them. Thanks.
Mauri

[Travis]

Could you post a link? I took a quick look and all I found was the Watts linkage discussed in some other threads, which is neither a panhard rod, nor adjustable, though it does take the place of the panhard rod.

In general, an adjustable panhard bar is both height and length adjustable. Length allows you to adjust the axle position left to right and height allows you to both level the bar(parallel with the ground) as well adjust it's overall height to change the rear roll center. Changing the rear roll center provides fine tuning of the oversteer/understeer characteristics of the car.

-Travis

[heimue]

Travis,

how do you adjust a panhard rod in its height? Its pretty obvious how the length adjustment is done (shorten it --> axle offests to passenger side, make it longer --> axle offsets to driver side), but I would't have an idea what other adjustments you could have with a simple rod.
BTW - the mentioned Watt linkage is a GREAT way of improving handling in fast corners. The current ebay item will end in a few hours, and I'm eager to see the highest bid - it might be mine!

Dieter

[Travis]

Originally Posted by heimue Travis, how do you adjust a panhard rod in its height?

It's actually the mount that adjustable, not really the rod. If you look at my Toyota axle conversion you can see the adjustable mount in the fourth pic down

http://users.adelphia.net/~tlwoodbury/axle.html

You'd also need to do the same or similar thing at the body. RallyBob posted a pic a few years back that showed the body reinforced and slotted...

Originally Posted by heimue BTW - the mentioned Watt linkage is a GREAT way of improving handling in fast corners.

While technically superior as it allows perfect up and down movement of the axle, the actual performance gain will vary greatly depending on the application and the lack of adjustability could actually be a hinderance

In my application, where I have very little suspension movement, both in bump and roll, the 'arc' movement of the axle due to the panhard bar is VERY minimal, especially with the longer bar I'm running. If we we're talking about a car with large amounts of suspension travel, the story might be different.

-Travis

[nobody]

This one is being sold for a Holden but the idea seems pretty clear.

[jeff denton]

Somewhere there is a thumbnail pic of how we did the panhard bracket on Speedway GT. Very simple, we gave it about an inch of adjustment each way from stock hole, probably way more than we'd ever need. On our Limited Late Model Thunderbird we occasionally move it up or down, never more than 1/4 in. Seems like the driver never likes it and we put it back where it was.
When lowering the ride height of the GT by whatever means (we made the spring buckets deeper) the panhard bar would absolutely have to be adjusted accordingly!

[mrtzmd]

Travis, here's the artical number on German Ebay for the adjustable panhard rod:
4514590729. Thanks
Mauri

[Travis]

Looks like it's setup for stock sized bushings, which would allow use of the OGTS poly bushings. Unless your axle is out of place due to lowering the car, it doesn't really have any advantage over the stock bar. In the case where the car has been lowered, you'd want to make the mount on at least one end adjustable, and if you're already fabricating some parts, just fabricate the bar too and save some cash. Those who don't have the fabricating tools or skills should be able to find a local welder who'd be willing to do a little fabrication

-Travis

[mrtzmd]

Thanks Travis for the info. My Gt is for mainly street use so i think i will stick with the stock bar. Mauri