BajaRunner

Thanks Steve for working with me and doing this 7" drop panhard bar for me!

Primer:


Ooo

garrett1478

NICE REAR

edit: aww where'd the pretty pic go?

BajaRunner

heheheheehehe

msw0085

i vote to replace this->

with THAT

grimpy

lol thats looks sweet! I bet it rides alot better now.

marko3xl3

That's one huge panhard drop bar. WOWZIE!

Just a quick hi-jack, the panhard drop bar straightens the rear axle looking from the top, correct? I know it get's messed up after a lift, just don't know which way Thanks

But the bigger problem here...where did the hottie go?

THE04Runner

Thats quite a large rod you have there in your rear

msw0085

[stewie] hahah spot on, spot on [/stewie]

BajaRunner

Oops well I guess the picture of the girl was against the rules... sorry

Anyways, the extended panard bar straightens out the rear by re-centering it underneath the truck. With my stock bar, my axle stuck out a good 2" to the passenger side of the truck!!

I did actually think that the axle was also off center from say looking down from it as well.

Not to mention the drivers side was pulled DOWN with the stock bar as well because it wasn't allowing any more down travel on that side.

Yea the ride is much smoother now that there is not a ton of tension back there!

I cant wait to go wheel with it now, I think I'll have much better articulation now.

MTL_4runner

Great job on the rebuilding of the panhard bar.
Most people don't realize how much 3rd gen lifts change the geometry (which can radically change how the vehicle drives).

aowRS

Love those stock 'splash guards'.

Andreas

FilthyRich

Mount those 315s and get some pics up. I like your truck

4Hummer

NICE. Man thats a mean looking, and built tuff.

So are you going to share with us the Cost ?

Robinhood150

SC, check your PMs.

99_Runner

That looks nice. Nice alternative to a panhard drop.

sutlTL

I understand why you need to lenghten the panhard rod because of the big lift. As a matter of fact, I have only an 1 1/2" lift and the right side wheel stick out an inch more than the left. I am in the process of making an adjustable rod (so I can lengthen it) to bring it back so it's perfectly even on both sides. I did buy and install the drop bracket from Summit but the problem is that it dropped down at an angle! So it actually made the right side stick out even MORE! My question is what difference is it if the bar is bent like SC4Runner's or kept straight but just a little longer to recenter the rear end? It seems like the length is more important than keeping the bar parallel to the ground! The ends of the rod are just pivot points! Whether it's straight or angled it will still pivot!

MTL_4runner

You actually have a very good point, I eat my words because the arc drawn about the pivot points will be different than stock (I had to draw it up on a dry erase board to visualize what exactly was going on). The panhard bracket (either extension on the axle or on the frame) would be the only way keep the suspension geometry correct to the original design. The issue of doing it that way would be it negates the lift since it closes the gap between the axle and frame (which you are trying to increase for "flex". So you are right, if you try to solve it by extending the panhard bar, it doesn't matter if the bar is bent or straight, they function exactly the same (provided the distance to the pivots is the same). The bent bar does look cool though.

Robinhood150

Yup, I've always said that from the beginning. All the bend does is reduce the stiffness of the bar. A straight bar is stronger and won't deflect as much under load. Of course it doesn't matter if the bar is beefy enough.

The other thing is because the bar isn't horizontal the axle will shift left and right more as the suspension cycles rather than if the bar were horizontal.

BajaRunner

I was wondering the same thing. It seems as if a panhard drop bracket would actually be the best thing, as long as the mount was welded on correctly.... The bar would retain the stock horizontal angle and seems to be the most sensable thing to do. If your lifting the truck up, you ahve to drop the mount down..

I think the adjustable bar would be really cool though. I know the Jeep guys do that.

Since I couldnt tell my exact lift height with teh stock bar on (it was limiting my downtravel) I just guessed 7". The height in the rear is actually bigger than 7" and my right side still sticks out a tad more.

I'll be taking out my 2.5" spacers and replacing them with 1.5" spacers now. I thikn that will smooht out the ride as well!

sschaefer3

BINGO! We do it becuase we can. Bottom line is that it's a longer bar. The conical ends do work best when going streight in as well.

To fix the rest of this, he would need longer links, becuse with all that lift, the rear alxe is sucked forward. Without having the vehicle here, we can't help you with that one.