So yeah, this is my first time really working on a car ever (aside from changing oil once before) and I'm doing this suspension lift myself. So far it's not so bad.. the rear of the install is almost done, but I have a question...

I can't seem to get the pan bar lined up in the stock bracket good enough in order to get the bolt to go through. The vehicle is held up by two jack stands at the frame and I have a floor jack lifting/lowering/holding the axle in place wherever it is.

I realize that the pan bar is designed to sit level and therefore is almost impossible to install unless it is resting in a level position.

Now, with the Old Man Emu coils and shocks installed, and sway bars reconnected, I tried to lift up the axle as high as possible so that I could achieve a point where the pan bar would sit level and when lined up with the pan bar bracket, the holes would meet up and the bolt could go through. However, it seems to me that after a certain point, the bar will not sit any more level and I can't get the holes to line up so that I can get the bolt through the bracket and pan bar. I'm assuming this is because the old man emu coil is stiffer and provides the lift (which is what we're going for, isn't it?) but how do I get the pan bar re-attached to the stock bracket? I'm goign to have to wait some time for my bracket from sonoran steel to come in.

Any help would be appreciated.. or point me somewhere I can find the answer because the write-ups I've read and searched for don't go into this much detail so maybe I'm making it harder than it really is.

 

after a certain point, jacking the axle seems to just raise the vehicle altogether and not bring the axle closer to the vehicle. Should I just keep jacking the rear axle up and eventually the holes will meet? the vehicle was several inches higher than when I originally jacked it up to get it on jack stands.

Any help would really be appreciated.. or point me to where I can get the info. Thanks

 

With the frame on jackstands, try lifting more on the end of the axle where the panhard bar connects to the axle. I used two bottle jacks, one on each end of the axle, to move the axle around. Once it was close, I used a screwdriver as a prybar through the bolt hold to line up the bushing.

 

I installed mine when it was sitting on it's own..on the tires. I had to stick a screwdriver in the hole to align it, while sticking the bolt through. It wasn't too difficult..just took some creative movements

 

gapguy, i just set the vehicle down on its own tires and i noticed that indeed the holes are very close to being alligned.. ill try what you just said.. thanks for the input guys!

 

If that doesn't work disconnect the entire panhard bar, then reattach at the upper mount. Then jack up the rear drivers side tire until the bar aligns with the mount.

 

Try a ratchet strap or two to make things line up and also use the screwdriver method. Becareful you don't break the ratchet strap, that would hurt.

 

Put some weight in the back to bring it down. Then it will line up.

You are getting the drop bracket right?