Thread: panhard bar

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Hello all I have a question for yas.. I have a 53 anglia that was setup with a track locator and everyone says NO ! Go with a panhard bar for the street. My question is I am making the bracket that will come off the center of my 9" rear. The bracket will be on the right side of the rear end and I will put the other bracket to the left frame rail. Does the bar need to be level ? My rails are only 20" apart and the bar wont be very long at all. Thank you for any info Scott

If the bar isn't level, the rear axle will move side-to-side as the suspension flexes. What's wrong with the track bar? I ran one on my big block 72 Chevy pickup for 5 years.

The car sets so low the bar would have to be mounted on top. The people i have talked to say for the street and as small as the car is its best to run the panhard? Im just tryin to get some other peoples input.

Mounted on top of what? Ladder bars?

ive always use the pan hard bar, but it looks like you could use whatever you wanted to. its needs to be level.

Henry sorry .. its mounted from the right rear upper to the left front upper heims ( I have a 4 link ) I would put in a pic but dont know how ? Thanks

Originally posted by Henry Rifle
If the bar isn't level, the rear axle will move side-to-side as the suspension flexes. What's wrong with the track bar? I ran one on my big block 72 Chevy pickup for 5 years.

Jack, the rear will move side to side no matter how you level the Panhard bar. It's an abomination of nature and that guy Panhard should have been hung by his gonads until he came up with a better design. if you're gonna use one, you need to think outside the box. Just because your frame rails are narrow doesn't mean you can't fabricate a mount to position the Panhard bar end way on out past the framerails. Same with the differential, fabricate a mount to move the bar end out to the width of the car. In order to do the least damage, it needs to be as long as possible. With all due respect to you, Mike, I'm glad it has worked for you.

And with all due respect to the guys who tell you that a track bar won't work on the street, they're all full of horsefeathers. It's the most geometrically correct method of limiting lateral rear shift (with the exception of triangulating the links). Of course, your bar has to be stout enough to withstand the obstructions and cornering forces you'll encounter on the street. That's just my opinion though, what do I know?

dirt... I have a 41 Willys with a Pro Street frame. I made a bracket that I welded to the left side of the center section and made and bracket that welds to the bottom of the right side frame. The bar is about 16 c to c and rides level. The rear suspension only moves maybe 3 inches total when under way so it doesn't wiggle the hips at all.
My circle burner guys all say it is all wrong...should be higher or lower depending on who you talk to.
As for me... it's just above center and level and it works great. BTW I use one urathane rod end and one steel to keep the rattle down..

May be a silly question (or not).
Any reasons against combining track bar and Panhard?

I am running the panhard bar on a ladder bar setup. Mine is mounted to the front swivel point on the drivers side and the passenger lower mounting bracket at the rear end. It works fine for me have very little if any side to side wiggle.
I don't see why you couldn't run the track bar along with the panhard as long as you can get both in there.

every round track car ive ever seen has a panhard bar. its strong and adj. i dont know what else you would want. works just as well on the st. either set up is ok depends on what you like. most st. hot rods dont move up and down very nuch in normal driving so the arch of the pan hard bar wouldnt be that much.

Most hot rods don't have enough suspension travel for a Panhard bar to cause a problem, provided the bar is close to level.

Here's the math. . . . With a 20" Panhard bar, and 6" of total suspension travel (3" up, 3" down), the axle will shift .225" towards the side of the frame where the bar is attached. That's probably maximum travel we're going to see in a street driven hot rod. When the Panhard bar is level, the axle shift will always be towards the anchor point.

If your Panhard bar is at a 15* down angle, the same 6" of travel will move the axle .563" away from the anchor point when the suspension compresses and 1.07" towards the anchor point when it extends.

If the Panhard bar is at 30* down, those shifts become 1.41" and 2.12", respectively. Pretty nasty axle shift.

Bear in mind that the shape of the Panhard bar has nothing to do with the movement. The critical measurement is the angle downwards from the frame attachment point to the axle attachment point.

No argument that Panhard bars work well when properly fabricated. They can turn into horror stories, though.

For an Anglia that isn't likely to run a slalom course, has a very narrow frame, and already has a track bar, I don't see the need for a change. Circle track cars are a different story IMNSHO.

Originally posted by techinspector1
Jack, the rear will move side to side no matter how you level the Panhard bar. It's an abomination of nature and that guy Panhard should have been hung by his gonads until he came up with a better design. if you're gonna use one, you need to think outside the box. Just because your frame rails are narrow doesn't mean you can't fabricate a mount to position the Panhard bar end way on out past the framerails. Same with the differential, fabricate a mount to move the bar end out to the width of the car. In order to do the least damage, it needs to be as long as possible. With all due respect to you, Mike, I'm glad it has worked for you.

And with all due respect to the guys who tell you that a track bar won't work on the street, they're all full of horsefeathers. It's the most geometrically correct method of limiting lateral rear shift (with the exception of triangulating the links). Of course, your bar has to be stout enough to withstand the obstructions and cornering forces you'll encounter on the street. That's just my opinion though, what do I know?

Tech, so what you are saying is that if your frame is narrow that you can make brackets OUTSIDE of the frame to the bodys sides and extand the panhard bar as long as you wan't?
Not sure if that's what you are meaning hear but that is what I got out of it at least and knowing me, I know little. haha Thanks.

Shawn,

Even short Panhard bars can work if they're level. See my math above. However, the longer, the better.

Richard,

I should have said that "the axle will move side-to side a lot if the Panhard bar isn't level.

Ok I see what you mean. But question I have is, did Tech mean that you can make brackets outside the frame to be able to stretch it longer or no, does it HAVE to be mounted to the frame cross member or something of that sort? I wouldn't think it would matter either way because extending and making brackets is still holding BOTH sides of the bar to keep the rear from going side to side.
Thanks Henry.