Denk

Does anyone know where to find a panhard rod drop down bracket without having to buy a whole kit?

CTB

Pro-Comp sells one I believe, and the only one Downey has is part of a kit. Hopefully I got that right and not backwards!

EOD30

I think this question has been asked before, and there was none to be had. I just bought the Downey kit, got it yesterday. It cost $115.00 at Central4wd. I dont know if its worth it, but I wanted to get everything lined back up.

Mat

Bighead

Steve Schaefer made mine. Here is his Sonoran Steel site. The only problem is I don't know if he is still making them.

Flygtenstein

If you own a 2nd gen runner, then you can buy a Pro-Comp for around 40 bucks.

If you own a new runner, you have to beg Steve to make some more otherwise you are plumb out of luck.

How much rear lift do you have?

AgRunner06

I noticed that my rearend sits to the right a little, maybe a 1/2 inch or so. I don't have my coils in yet. Everything seemed to line up when I bought the car. Then some jackass tapped by back passenger side in the parking garage.

I was wondering if the bracket will fix this offset. I think I'm the only one who notices it, but it still bothers me.

Thanks

CTB

Well, how does your panhard bar look? If it is higher on the passener side, then yes, a drop bracket would fix your problem. But, if you haven't installed lift coils yet, I wouldn't even worry about a drop bracket.

Denk

I do believe that 2" OME coils went in the back. When I measured before the lift, the rear was about 1" below the front and is now 1" above the front, give er take a few cm. I also have a 3" body lift but I don't think that has anything to do with the panhard, does it? It looks as tho my rod could use a good 2" drop. And from the schematics I got from th Sonoran Steel Site, the bracket is 4.5" long and approx 2.5" between bolt holes.

So here's the next question, if the panhard is dropped below center, does that mean that the axel will shift out the other side and is that worse than having it out the passenger side. Even tho there is no noticable extension of the axel out the right side of my 2nd gen.

And from whom can this bracket be procured, I have not seen it at the pro-comp site. More friendly dealers wanted.

CTB

No, a body lift shouldn't affect the panhard bar angle because one side is attached to the frame, and the other side is attached to the axle. If all you did was coils, and your rear is only 1" higher than your front, I wouldn't really sweat dropping your bar. A lot of us 2nd Gen's have rear axle sticking slightly out to the passenger side because of new coil springs we have put on the back.

And yes, I would imagine that if you lowered the panhard bar below level, that it indeed would cause the axle to stick out on the driver's side. I have no idea if one side is better than the other, but personally, I would rather my bar be up higher than sticking down low.

Mad Chemist

FYI- I just ordered/received a panhard bracket from Steve Schaefer last week, total, including shipping from AZ to WA was ~84 bucks. Its a bit of a controversy- whether or not to add the bracket. It "might" not do any damage over the long term to lift without dropping the panhard b., but the fact remains that you're axle with absolutely get shifted . So, if you're trying to pinch pennies, the answer is you can get away without doing it. If you're trying to do things absolutely right, then its a wise choice and not too expensive.

Denk

I was just looking at All Pro Offroad's site and they have a panhard LIFT bracket for $149. What is the general concensus on this bit of metal?

Better to raise or lower panhard to center?

Mad Chemist

Hmmm, didn't realize they sell a panhard lift


The rule of thumb is, if you lift your vehicle, you need to drop your panhard.

Mad Chemist

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...hlight=panhard



Read the above thread, and the many others on this topic (gotta use that search function!)

Robinhood150

No, if you drop it below center then the axle will still shift back to the passenger side. Imagine your axle is a piston and the panhard rod is the connecting rod. When the rod is centered, then you're at top dead center. If the rod rotates to either side, then the axle will shift to the passenger side.

Steve

Denk

OK, so now that I have read all the relating threads to the panhard prob, i have come to this conclusion:

It is not necessary to equip your ride with the drop bracket unless you are extremely picky about everything lining up in its proper place or you need complete full articulation for off-roading.

I would prefer to do it in order to prevent damage down the road. So, you get the bracket, do you put it on when it arrives in the mail, or wait till the new OME coils you just put on settle. And if the latter, how long does that usually take. As far as I know now, the brackets come in 2-4" lengths, and the coils will only settle about an inch or so, so a 2" bracket put on before the coils settle will do the job. Does that sound right?

Mad Chemist

Denk,

Sounds right to me- wait until you swap coils before putting in the bracket. Its not necessary to wait until the coils settle to put the bracket in. You don't want to put the bracket in with the stock coils. What you do want to do is get the bracket and coils on, and wait until things settle before getting a front end alignment done (I'm assuming you're going to lift the front end as well). Along with the panhard drop bracket, if you're lifting the front, you might want to add diff drop spacers as well, to save wear and tear on the CV's- only 30 bucks from Revtek.

Mad Chemist

Disregard the comment about the diff spacers, I don't think the CV thing is an issue with the 2nd gen. runners, only third gen. with ADD front ends.

Denk

So I was lookin around fer some brackets and came across a place that sells adjustable panhard rods. An interestiong idea I thought. Check it out:

http://www.rancho.com.au/webpages/panhard_rods.htm

Need to email this place and get a quote...

Flygtenstein

That pic would work, does the same thing in the end.

Bodylift will have no impact on the panhard angle.

I hate to say this, but call 4Wheel Parts, tell them you want a Pro-Comp panhard drop bracket and you want to pay 40 bucks. Repeat as needed if the first store is dumb.

There were some engineers who offered thoughts on this before, but I forgot the specifics.

In simple triangle terms, a 2" increase in height versus a 36ish" hypotenuse will likely decrease base length something like not very much.

It is a person preference thing, IMHO. I have had 2" of rear lift without a bracket, now 3" with a bracket and less than ideal angle and soon 4.5" of lift with the same bracket for around 35k miles or so and have noticed absolutely no difference.

Mad Chemist

Good find- never heard of these guys before. You'll have to post the price, details, etc. I'm sure others would be interested.