I think that's your best option OP. After you do it you can come back and argue with everyone about why the way you chose to do it is right!

I'm just sharing my reasoning on why I decided on the adjustable bar from SS...

1. With my limited knowledge on suspension & all the "geometry factors" involved, the lift bracket (on the driver side) sounded better from what I read... but I didn't have enough information on this for me to feel comfortable going that route.

2. As far as the panhard bracket or adjustable panhard, I didn't want to do the drop or lift bracket because I didn't want to have anything welded on. I try to keep all my mods bolt on & try to avoid any mods that require cutting, pounding, trimming, etc. Aside from a lift and larger tires, I like the idea that my 4runner is still in its stock form. I realize I could cut the panhard bracket off if I changed my mind but I wanted to maintain as much of the "originalness" as possible.

3. I wanted an adjustable bar to center my axle & from what I was told by SS, the driveshaft hitting the gas tank is supposedly an issue of not running a rear sway bar & something about the rear shock length (don't remember exactly the details on that one). Whether that is true or not, I went with his word since he has more experience than me.

4. I went with SS adjustable panhard because he was able to answer all my questions. The couple other companies I contacted regarding an adjustable panhard never really gave me straight answers.

5. The main reason I went with SS adjustable panhard was I wanted one with bushings so it would be closer to the OEM configuration.



From the spec sheet I got with my adjustable panhard:
3" lift = 37 1/4" panhard length measured from center bolt hole

hmmm, my axle hits the gas tank skid all the time. with no changes to anything to do with the panhard bar. i have 8 wraps and LC monroes. and i run a sway bar too.


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The 2-3" kits come with drop brackets because there isn't quite enough room for a good length lift bracket to fit. Usually a 2-3" lift doesn't extend the bumps so stock clearance is an issue. With a 6" lift they usually have longer shocks, and most people run larger tires, which needs extended bumps without extra work. With extended bumps you now have more room to add a lift bracket. The front is a whole different ball game. You want the trac bar to be in line with the drag link to avoid bump steer, so you are limited in options when it comes to brackets on specific model vehicles. If you have OTK steering or Hi-steer you can add a lift bracket to keep your trac bar in line with your drag link. Still a lift bracket is better than a drop bracket in most offroad applications, especially when in off camber situations. Look at most rock crawlers, they usually have very high axle side mounts. Moon buggies typically have very high panhard/tracbars to help raise roll axis as much as possible.


Project BeerRunner - AssBurns 2000 Limited Build Thread

Here is a good article on how panhard bar location and angles effect handling on vehicles. It's aimed mostly at track bars but can still be applied to our vehicles.
http://kb.fmiracing.com/caster-cambe...nter-explained


Project BeerRunner - AssBurns 2000 Limited Build Thread

So it sounds like there are 4 options.

1. Leave everything alone. This results in misalignment of the rear axel causing it to be shifted to one side.
2. Lift the front of the panhard bar. Problem is that you can really go up only an inch or so without increasing the size of your bump stop and thereby limiting flex.
3. Drop the rear of the panhard bar. This causes an increase in the COG for the vehicle.
4. Use the adjustable panhard from SS. The problem with this route is that everyone complains about the bar hitting their gas tank.

Am I missing any other options? Given the above I still think that option 3 is the best option. It seems like the lesser of the 4 evils. I really don't like the idea of the bar banging around against my gas tank, I don't want to limit flex, and leaving it as is sucks for a big lift in the rear.

Has the guy at SS ever addressed the issue of the pan hard banging the gas tank? Ive seen several posts from him on the topic, but not one that addresses this specific issue.

Option 1: Obviously not a good option for obvious reasons

Option 2: Raises RC and levels the panhard bar. Since most people that have lifts, run extended travel shocks which require extended bumps to stop the shock from over compressing. But not all people run extended bumps. It also pushes the drive shaft closer to the gas tank which can be an issue for some people.

Option 3: Not quite a bad option but it lowers the RC too much and causes too much body roll. Actually keeps the driveshaft from hitting the gas tank more than stock. If combined with option 2 by splitting the difference will keep the RC the same.

Option 4: Centers the axle, keeps RC the same, but pushes the driveshaft into the gas tank and doesn't correct the panhard angle.

Best option in my opinion would be to raise the axle side as much as possible without hitting the crossmember then dropping the frame side to get the panhard angle level. But it also requires the most work. If you want something bolt on and easy then just do the adjustable. If you are able to fab up brackets then do the lift and drop to help raise RC, level panhard bar, keep driveshaft from hitting gas tank too much. Raising the RC just a little bit goes a long ways, so keep that in mind.



Project BeerRunner - AssBurns 2000 Limited Build Thread

I may be mistaken because it's been a while since I researched the panhard issue in depth but I seem to remember the driveshaft hitting the gas tank skid issue occurring in stock configuration, with drop bracket, & adjustable. It didn't seem specific to a particular set up. There wasn't much information regarding the lift bracket on the driver side at the time I was looking into it a few years ago so not sure about any specifics on that.

there are three solutions to the gas tank issue. extend the bump stops. or panhard drop. the adjustable panhard. obviously only.extend thd bumps if you habe tire rubbing issues or very very long shocks like 17+ compressed. the panhard drop causes the axle to swing away from the gas tank. adjust your panhard to be shorter to avoid gas tank contact, this is dumb, very very dumb.

my rule of thumb: do a panhard lift bracket 1"+ the size of thd bump stop extension you have. then use panhard drop to make the panhard flat with the ground. no adjustable panhard.

also a zbar doesnf do shit its just marketing to make it look like its flat, suspension links work from point to point not ths path of the link.

also id like to point out that it is important to have a flat panhard bar. when the bar sits flaf your up and down travel has very little side to side movement, the body very midly oscillates from straight to turning right. however as the angle increases so does the side to side movement, and it also induces a change in the thrust angle. when the suspension droops is forces the body to turn right, then under compression it turns left.

interesting tidbit: when thd panhard is flat it averages out to always forcing the truck to turn right, this is because in japan the roads are rhd and when the road is rough that oscillation actually helps you stay on the crowned road just like having more caster on the passenger side does. obviiusly they were lazy and didnt swap the panhadd bar over.

I agree with everything you said except the extended bumps with 17"+ compressed Length shocks. I've ran 15" compressed and they wouldn't hit stock bumps at full compression by almost an inch.
Never thought too much on how the panhard can effect turning. I learn something new every time you post something.


Project BeerRunner - AssBurns 2000 Limited Build Thread

It does not hit anything. You got bad info. Drive shaft hits the tank in full flex situations if running long shocks and coils. this happens stock or with the panhard bar.

So could not extending the pan hard bar cause a vibration in the rear

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No. Vibrations in rear are usually tire balancing, wheel bearings, worn out suspension.

Well wheel bearings r new, suspension is new and tires where just balanced and didn't do it befor the lift. Only other thing I can think of is u joint going out

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