panhard bar location

[Rednek13x]

i get the general idea of a panhard bar, that you want it parallel at ride height, and longer the better. The problem is, im having one heck of a time figuring out where to place it on my truck!

any ideas?






I already have a straight ride tech panhard bar that came with the kit, id like to use at least the rod part. can cut to length and make what ever brackets

[Kim57]

Seeing as your bags are on top of your axle it looks like the best place would be behind the rear housing.
I would make a bracket to attach it to the axle tube that puts it behind and parallel with the pumpkin and then another bracket on the opposite side frame down tube.
You will have to set ride height for the mounting location of the bracket on the frame.
Hope you understand what I mean.
You can also do a watts link but that would take a little more engineering.
Kim

[Rednek13x]

thats the only place i could think of, but the bracket from the axle is going to be pretty long... or would i work if i shortened up that bracket and angled it back to the rear of the frame notch?

[tmoble]

Originally Posted by Rednek13x

thats the only place i could think of, but the bracket from the axle is going to be pretty long... or would i work if i shortened up that bracket and angled it back to the rear of the frame notch?

That's what I'd do.

[Kim57]

It should work at an angle without any ill effects.
As long as you have gussets on your bracket being long shouldn't hurt it either.
Kim

[NEWFISHER]

Thinking outside the box: Run it from the rear lower mounting point ( bracket on the rear axle) of the parallel bar bracket diagonally forward to the lower/inner side of the bridge on the opposite side.

[ChuckDriver]

Here's a pic I have saved, its how Kim57 described it.

[Rednek13x]

Looks good chuck I think I'm going to try and come up with some brackets tonight

[NEWFISHER]

The short parallel to axle trac bar method works great on static trucks. With the amount of suspension cycle you are planning on, are you worried that the it will push the tire into the bedside? I had an adjustable one on my mild notch ( not through frame) bagged 65 and was glad I was running 235/75/15s. I have also read that with the parallel 4 link, a shorter parallel bar to axle will bind the bushings of the 4 link bars when it cycles? Anyone run into either of these issues with a bridge like Rednek is working with?

[CharlieSheen]

Hate to say this but I think the problem may be more of your bag location.Spring perches are set as close to the tire as practical to improve handling and combat body roll.Moving springs inboard are fine for going straight but problematic for cornering.

[Rednek13x]

This is all a whole new world to me as far as air ride suspension. Everything is tacked into place so if it needs to be changed not a big deal. I know what you mean with the bags on the inner side of the frame rails. Figured it would be alright. Seen a bunch like that at shows and online. What does everyone else think of my bag location.

[tmoble]

in an ideal world the springs/coilovers/bags/whatever would be close to the outer end of the axle. so would the shocks. the closer to the centerline this stuff is the more leverage the truck has over it. If you increase the spring rate to control the lean you get a rough ride. You could move the bags to the outside of the frame but then there might be limitations on wheels and tires. Trade-offs everywhere.

It's kind of a pick your poison type deal.

[Rednek13x]

Well i had planned on running the shocks on the outside, might look into running the bags on the outside and the shocks inboard the frame. Wheels are not going to be very big, will fit between the finder and bed side so no worry's there. I think i figured out how to the the pan hard bar. Going to work on it tomorrow and ill post up what i come up with.

[IIGW]

Although I dig the parallel 4-bar set up have, id personally ditch it and get a triangulated 4-link set up and be happier in the end.

[Rednek13x]

well unless someone is willing to give me $500 for this parallel set up im going to have to stick with it and make it all work. Defiantly on the next one will be triangulated.

[Chris.]

Mount it in the proximity of the yellow circles as level as possible to the axle at ride height, and as parallel to the axle as possible

[G&R's57GMC]

You want the longest bar possible and mounted so is level at ride height.

Here's mine at ride height.

[IIGW]

here is my info (2 pennies worth)

Panhard bar will move the axle left and right, as been stated above. The problem with them is everyone says set the bar at ride height parallel. The big problem with this suggestion is your truck is on air ride. Why does that matter? Because you installed air ride to be low at the hangouts, cruise-ins and slammed when parked. And if you set that panhard bar parallel when you are at ride height, it will pull that axle to the side when its aired out and every time you look at it, and anyone else does, what do they see? An axle that is not centered in the truck… meaning hey look he didn’t measure correctly when he built the suspension. It will happen, and you will hate every minute of it. How do you go about fixing this? The triangulated set up was already talked about, and as you stated unless you sell your current set up your stuck. So you have two options, maybe three. Move the bars inside of the frame and use a track bar from the rear left mount to the front right mount, thus keeping the axle centered and wont move left or right. Option two, add a trac locator, which is a single mount on the axle and goes into a “Y” which mounts to both left and right sides of the inner frame, which also will keep the axle centered. And last you can add a watts link to the rear of the axle.

[Stepside Jim]

I do see what IIGW is saying, due to the extreme travel, and due to to the fact that the truck will sit and stay at an extreme travel, the off centerness will be more noticeable.

There is one other type of axle centering device that is called a Watts linkage.

It has a center pivot and the linkage works from there, the axle stays centered.

Speedway has a Watts linkage kit available. Finding a way to mount the center pivot to the axle is the biggest decision. Since you have the frame sections dropping down behind the axle and you haven't made a bed floor yet, I figure you'd have many choices how to mount this kit.

Use Watts linkage on the Speedway site to see the kit.

On Google images under Watts linkage there are many images to give an idea of how the system works.

Good luck, Jim

[CharlieSheen]

Hey Redneck,see if you can reach out to skymangs (Ole Sarge Customs) about your air suspension setup.He did a real nice job with one on his "49 ls1" build,and has been great with his ongoing "S-10 Swap How To" thread.I got in touch with him with a question a while back,and the guy was a ton of help.He seems to have a lot of air and off-road suspension experience.It would be cool to see if he had something to offer here.Give him a pm.

[Rednek13x]

I'll look into the watts system and give sarge a pm to see if he could chime in here.

[ChuckDriver]

Pulled this pick from a 67-72 build.

[Chris.]

Originally Posted by IIGW

here is my info (2 pennies worth)

Panhard bar will move the axle left and right, as been stated above. The problem with them is everyone says set the bar at ride height parallel. The big problem with this suggestion is your truck is on air ride. Why does that matter? Because you installed air ride to be low at the hangouts, cruise-ins and slammed when parked. And if you set that panhard bar parallel when you are at ride height, it will pull that axle to the side when its aired out and every time you look at it, and anyone else does, what do they see? An axle that is not centered in the truck… meaning hey look he didn’t measure correctly when he built the suspension. It will happen, and you will hate every minute of it. How do you go about fixing this? The triangulated set up was already talked about, and as you stated unless you sell your current set up your stuck. So you have two options, maybe three. Move the bars inside of the frame and use a track bar from the rear left mount to the front right mount, thus keeping the axle centered and wont move left or right. Option two, add a trac locator, which is a single mount on the axle and goes into a “Y” which mounts to both left and right sides of the inner frame, which also will keep the axle centered. And last you can add a watts link to the rear of the axle.

I came over from the mini truck scene and in my experiences which may mean nothing to the rest of the car community when it comes to bags but most people with bags ride height is extremely low mine is built at a 5in ride height lower to park higher for obstacles only. I agree however that parallel 4link with panhard bar isn't the best setup for bags but it isn't uncommon and probably not unreasonable for say 0in to 6in of travel

[IIGW]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Pulled this pick from a 67-72 build.

that pic is a fine example of strength, but its big, bulky, overkill and takes up LOTS of room..

the rear suspensions on 20 ton trucks arent even that stout.