Well, its been a long time since I wanted to do either a watts or a panhard bar for my 64.5 coupe, ive been following the excellent threads here and at corner carvers, and started my project 2 weeks ago.
I went with the panhard bar because I felt it was a little less complicated to fabricate with the tools equipment that I have access to.
Im still working on how to mount the pass bracket , either to the shock plate ala maier or to the leaf spring itself. The bar has 5" of adjustability.
Parts list:
(2) 3/4-16" Rod ends
(2) 3/4 to 5/8 bronze bushings
(3) ft. 2"x2"x 1/8" square tubing
(2) U channel 1 5/8" interior width x 6" long
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64 1/2 restomod coupe, cobra brakes, full roller suspension.
Last edited by Federico Garza; 10-10-2011 at 03:29 PM.
Nice! I like the fact that you built adjustability into it. I believe most people really have no idea on exactly how a Panhard bar works. My I suggest this book? Has a very good section on it's use. Forget what the reviews say. I think they're just looking for quick answers only.
Nice! I like the fact that you built adjustability into it. I believe most people really have no idea on exactly how a Panhard bar works. My I suggest this book? Has a very good section on it's use. Forget what the reviews say. I think they're just looking for quick answers only.
Thanks for the link, and yes theres really no good solid tech out there, I read a little about the roll centers, and how on a leaf spring car you cant have compiting roll centers.
Saw a dart set up on CC's with the bar way below the axel centerline (actually bellow the leaf springs), so Im really curious to experiment the different settings, albeit this one will never see a track, 100% street car.
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64 1/2 restomod coupe, cobra brakes, full roller suspension.
I decided to research and clarify what moving the bar/roll center up and down would do since I'm getting close to putting mine in. Thought it may be helpful to add that info here:
Adjusting the panhard up, moves the roll center up, and causes the springs to feel stiffer, giving less body roll, and a greater tendency to oversteer.
Adjusting down, causes springs to feel softer, giving more body roll, and greater tendency to understeer.
I could see where this could take some time to tune depending on tires and such...
I'm running 245's up front and 285's out back, so I'm kinda thinking I should move the bar up a little to balance the car a little... at least as a starting point. i dunno....
I decided to research and clarify what moving the bar/roll center up and down would do since I'm getting close to putting mine in. Thought it may be helpful to add that info here:
Adjusting the panhard up, moves the roll center up, and causes the springs to feel stiffer, giving less body roll, and a greater tendency to oversteer.
Adjusting down, causes springs to feel softer, giving more body roll, and greater tendency to understeer.
I could see where this could take some time to tune depending on tires and such...
I'm running 245's up front and 285's out back, so I'm kinda thinking I should move the bar up a little to balance the car a little... at least as a starting point. i dunno....
Keep in mind raising or lowering the bar on the axle is also going to effect how the tire is loaded or unloaded on that side in turns. That book I posted covers that.
I installed a Maximum Motorsports Panhard on a '86 TBird TurboCoupe. The car was built up using a Mustang 8.8 rear and a MM coilover front suspension, Vortech blown 331 and a T5 trans. The Panhard allowed much higher cornering speeds, and freeway entrance ramps were a joy to take. They was virtually no body lean, and the car had just a hint of oversteer. The car also had a mostly stock 4 link, which normally has a very high roll center.
There is some thought as to what side of the car to attach the frame end to, with MM favoring one side and others, ie, Griggs, favoring the other side. Something to do with engine torque I think.
Just be sure the Panhard is adjusted perfectly horizontal and normal ride height This will minimize any side to side movement if the rear axle assembly as the springs deflect through their normal range of motion.
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John
'97 TBird project. AED supercharger, forged bottom end. Runs high 11's, when it runs.
There is some thought as to what side of the car to attach the frame end to, with MM favoring one side and others, ie, Griggs, favoring the other side. Something to do with engine torque I think.
Thats due to the rotation of the driveshaft, the body mount should be on the driver side to counter the natural twisting of the axle from that force... based on what I've read so far.
There's certainly more to suspension and going fast than I realized the more I dig in to how to set up a car properly.
I installed a Maximum Motorsports Panhard on a '86 TBird TurboCoupe. The car was built up using a Mustang 8.8 rear and a MM coilover front suspension, Vortech blown 331 and a T5 trans. The Panhard allowed much higher cornering speeds, and freeway entrance ramps were a joy to take. They was virtually no body lean, and the car had just a hint of oversteer. The car also had a mostly stock 4 link, which normally has a very high roll center.
There is some thought as to what side of the car to attach the frame end to, with MM favoring one side and others, ie, Griggs, favoring the other side. Something to do with engine torque I think.
Just be sure the Panhard is adjusted perfectly horizontal and normal ride height This will minimize any side to side movement if the rear axle assembly as the springs deflect through their normal range of motion.
I did the same on an 88lx coupe and a 94gt I had, basically stock 4 link with my homebrewed PHB, what a joy to drive, but alas that was a 4 link, Ive never driven a leaf spring bar with a PHB...
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64 1/2 restomod coupe, cobra brakes, full roller suspension.
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My panhard bar build thread
