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 downheimue said:Travis,
how do you adjust a panhard rod in its height?
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 hinderanceheimue said:BTW - the mentioned Watt linkage is a GREAT way of improving handling in fast corners.
Alignment shop would be the best way to do it. They might or might not let you sit in it for the alignment. If not, a big bag of crap could be substitutedOut of my home garage, how would I measure or calculate the proper adjustment of an adjustable pan hard rod? Wouldn't I need to do the adjustment at an alignment shop while sitting in the car with a full tank of gas so that the weight is correct and stuff? What home methods are there for getting the adjustment done?
If the thrust angle is off ..it will crab.... The car will always drive straight.
Actually, the pan hard bar helps center the rear end in relation to the vehicle chassis, but due to the fact that a bar attached at one point to the rear and one point to the chassis tends to swing in an arc, it really depends on suspension travel during compression and deflection as to how far the bar will "pull" the rear one way or the other. Also as noted, if you lower the car or inversely raise it (ie lifted four wheel off road vehicles for example) you need a bar that can be adjusted to compensate for the change in height. Ideally your mount points on the pan hard bar, at both ends, should be such that they create a parallel line in relation to the rear end. Otherwise, depending on which side of the arc you are starting at at normal ride height, the rear will tend to want to move more dramatically than if the bar were level at normal ride height. For example, say we have a lowered Opel, if all you do is install an adjustable pan hard bar, and do not alter the mounts (yes, you can do this but it is not the IDEAL way) then when the car hits a bump that causes the rear to rise in relation to the chassis, it will cause the rear to also "pull" to the chassis mount side more than it would have had the mounts been level, because it is farther along the arc at the start point. So if you can move the mount points you can limit this effect, also the longer a bar the less of an arc it will swing in (to a point). Unfortunately you are limited by the width of the vehicle and or rear end for deciding over all pan hard bar length.what does the pan-hard bar do? pulls the rear end left or right.
Weight it down and Measure from the top of the wheel to the same place on both sides of the wheel well and adjust it halfway.
Pat