All,

Looking for opinions on getting a Panhard Bar for my daily driven L. Putting on some LFP 58" Traction Bars in 2 weeks and was wondering if I should install a Panhard Bar while Im at it. My truck is basically stock (just 2" drop shackles, exhaust), and its my daily driver now, and am just doing the mods that wont affect warranty issues (engine and tranny) at this point. Do you even notice a Panhard bar while on the street during spirited driving, or is it really only for Road Courses? Any drawbacks from getting one installed?

Im getting the Traction Bars for cheap insurance on driveshaft breakage / warpage, and to give the L a bit more of a solid feel. I dont think it would hurt me in the warranty arena with Ford. In another year when my warranty runs out, I plan on doing the FTVB, Chip-Pulley-Filter mods. Until then, I thought Id start on stuff that wont be a problem when / if I take my truck into the service department.

Thanks in advance for your opinions / help.

 

I could give you a one word or three word answer. Which ever you like............


YEP

or

JUST DO IT

 

is there any drilling with a panghard bar? or simple bolt on?

 

you drill one hole in the frame and one hole in the mounting bracket.Thats its.It si very close to a bolt on but with the drilling,I would not concider it a true bolt on.Stan

 

Don't wait to install the FTVB. It is made from all FoMoCo parts (looks exactly like the stock unit) and no one would ever be able to telll you had changed it if you had a problem. This is the best mod you will ever do to your L. If I were you I might go with new anti sway bars (I like the hellwigs) before the panhard bar. The panhard bar does help but not near as much as stiff sway bars. On the street you may not notice much difference with just adding the panhard bar. It's just another part of the puzzle.


Jerry

 

 

Yes,
Do it before you change the sway bars. You may find that the panhard is enough improvement that you won't want to change the bars. Either way it is a great mod. Instantly you will feel the difference.

 

How control bars affect handling

When I am out the track with the local sports car club, I am often asked how to make a car handle better. You can have all the horsepower in the world, but if the suspension isn't up to snuff, horsepower is useless. Techniques used to make race cars handle better also can make street vehicles more stable and safer.

Springs are usually the topic of conversation, but control bars are often the difference between good handling vehicles and those that tend to "fall over". Both sway bars and panhard bars are used for suspension control, but the purpose of each is often confusing. They are used for entirely different purposes.

Panhard bars are used to help locate a solid rear axle under a vehicle. The bar is mounted across the vehicle, with one end connected to the rear axle housing and the other end connected to the body. During cornering or sideways movements of the vehicle, the bar keeps the axle located laterally under the body. Panhard bars should be as long as possible for the best handling.

Independent rear suspensions do not need a lateral bar to hold the axle in place, and some vehicles with solid rear axles do not use a panhard bar. The rear axle may be held in the proper location by leaf springs, control arms mounted at a V-shaped angle, or even a Watts linkage. The Watts linkage is a type of panhard bar but it uses a swivel linkage in the middle to reduce the body lift effects that a panhard bar has during hard cornering.

Sway bars are used to reduce body roll or lean during cornering. Almost all vehicles are equipped with a front sway bar, and many performance vehicles have a rear sway bar too. Sway bars are wide U-shaped bars with the bottom of the U often mounted to the body with bushings and the arms of the U mounted with links to the suspension. When a wheel moves up on one side of the vehicle, the spring steel sway bar lifts the wheel on the other side of the vehicle. The added weight on the other wheel keeps the vehicle body relatively flat, making the suspension angles better for higher traction.

There is a lot of science to sway bar selection. The strength of the bar must be matched to the weight and size of the vehicle. Professional racers will use different size bars to help tune the suspension. An increase in sway bar diameter of even a few thousandths of an inch will make the bar significantly stiffer. Some bars are hollow tubes, while others are solid steel. The length of the arms on the sway bar also make a difference. Short arms have less leverage, so the bar is stiffer. Some aftermarket sway bars have adjustable positions for the connecting links at the ends of the bar to adjust bar strength.

Adding a rear sway bar from another car to yours may be simple, but if the front and rear are not compatible, you will have different traction at the front and rear. This can make the car swap ends very quickly. When installing a sway bar, use both the front and rear bars from a high performance version of the same model car, or select a set from aftermarket suppliers. They have already done all the research to make your vehicle better handling

Sway bars are not just for high performance vehicles. Top heavy vehicles can benefit too. Motorhomes, vans, and even work trucks may benefit from the decreased body roll that sway bars can provide. One aftermarket version of the sway bar for motorhomes uses hydraulics instead of spring steel. A double action hydraulic cylinder is mounted between the body and the rear axle on each side of the vehicle. Connecting hoses transfer oil from one cylinder to the other in an opposite direction. If the body leans and one cylinder extends, the hydraulics cause the other cylinder to extend, reducing the body roll.

Many performance enthusiasts believe that stiffer springs will make the car handle better. They will reduce body roll, but give a harsh ride and make wheels and tires bounce off the ground more. Traction is actually decreased! Good handling cars use soft springs, and use premium quality shock absorbers and sway bars to keep the body flat and the tires on the road.

 

I disagree with Silver-Bolt.......but that's what makes the world go around. I open track my L and probably have as much track time in an L as anyone in the country except for Cliff. I have big brakes, Roush lowering kit, bigger anti sway bars, Panhard bar, and anything else available to help me get a 5000 lb brick around a road course. On the street adding the panhard bar was an improvement but very small one. Maybe one reason it was not that big a difference on my L was because I had the Roush kit already installed before I put the panhard bar on. Adding the Hellwig bars made the biggest difference in cornering of any mod I made. Eward had the same exact mod as I had except he was running stock bars. My truck would get through the slalom way better than his with stock bars. The Ruslow panhard bar is not a very good piece. It's made well but the design leaves a lot to be desired. It's the only one that will work with the spare tire so far but it has many problems. It's to short , mounted to the wrong side of the truck frame, and it's mounted to high. The guy's on Corner-carvers laughed their rears off when they saw it........something about screwing up the roll center. I'm not smart enough to know what that means but everything I've read says the bar should be as long as possible, connected to the left side of the frame, and mounted as low as possible. This is not meant to be a slam at Stan. He produces a bar that is better than nothing but is far from being a great piece. I have all the pieces to make a bar that would connect to the left side of the frame and a bracket that welds to the axle tube on the right side. I bought the bar from early classics http://www.earlyclassic.com/catalog.aspx

I have a brkt that welds on the right axle tube. To install this I will have to lose the spare and since I drive the L every day I'm not ready to give up the spare.


J

 

What difference would it make if its to the left or right side of the frame? The other points I understand, but left versus right, not quite sure, unless it has somethign to do with the weight of the driver in the vehicle?

--Daniel

 

Daniel,

I will find it for you. There is a long explanation for why it should be attached to the left side. Something to do with torque of the motor if I remember correctly. I found this and it says it depends on if your running on dirt or pavement. I'll find where I read the left side was better. This may be more info than anmyone ever wanted to know about a panhard bar.
http://www.rpmnet.com/techart/panhard.shtml

J

 

The effect of the PHB is subtle.

To those who say otherwise, crawl underneath an disconnect it. It takes all of five minutes. Now compare and tell me how much difference it makes. I have, and it's not that much.

And for a daily driver only, I would skip it. Makes too much noise for the marginal improvement in grocery getting prowess.

 

I guess that all of the OEMs are just not as in the know as this guy when they put stiffer springs on the performance versions of base vehicles -- like Roush did with the Lightning vs. the base F150.

Well, hell, what does an idiot like Jack Roush know about going fast?

 

Thanks Tim,

Finally someone that will tell the truth about the panhard bar. You will make up in your mind that it made a big difference but the fact is that is make almost no difference on the street. Go here if you want to read about all the problem with this bar. http://www.nloc.net/forum/showthread...5&pagenumber=2


Search the CC's site for Ruslow and read the post about the bar for the L. It's long and there is lots of name calling but some good info.

J

 

Ruslow, I am interested in your pan-hard kit, can you send me details to purchase one. Also, do you have an option for a non-anodized bar, I would prefer silver to match my rear end-links. Looking forward to hear from you.jdenton@sc.rr.com