Adjustable Panhard ?? to the Experienced

[cj80cruiser]

Over the past few months as threads have come and gone I've noticed that advice is given to get an adjustable trac/panhard bar to eliminate contact between the rear driveshaft and gas tank skid. The logic didn't make sense to me as I've always thought that adding a lift would shift the axle farther to the passenger side and actually create more room between the driveshaft and gas tank skid????

Today I viewed a completely unrelated thread with a great clear pic of what I was thinking. Here's the LINK 3rd pic down.

Since the mount is attached to the passenger side frame and driverside rear axle, how would that not shift the axle to the passenger side since you would be essentially shortening the trac/panhard bar with more lift.

 

[Nelsonmd]

You have it backwards, you get an adjustable bar because the lift has moved the axle too far to the pass side, and the adjustable ends up being longer, thus bringing the axle back to center. Then, when you compress the suspension, the longer trac bar causes the DS to hit the gas tank skid.

Does that make sense? Your mental geometry is correct, you just have the reasoning backwards.

 

[cj80cruiser]

Exactly Matt. That's where we agree.

But the advice given is to get the adjustable track bar if the driveshaft is hitting the gas tank because of the OEM tracbar being too short.

I wish I could find the threads that stated this but its probably a lost cause.

 

[Baja Runner]

Your right, a longer panhard will make your axle hit the gas tank.

Even with 6" of rear lift, the panhard only needs to be about .5" longer than stock. I know this from experience on my last 4Runner.

I don't see how he has it backwards... its pretty clear.

The drop bracket I feel is the best way to achieve the axle centering problem after a lift. Center your axle back, and not lengthening the bar to make contact under heavy compression.

 

[Gerdo]

Your right, a longer panhard will make your axle hit the gas tank.

Even with 6" of rear lift, the panhard only needs to be about .5" longer than stock. I know this from experience on my last 4Runner.

I don't see how he has it backwards... its pretty clear.

The drop bracket I feel is the best way to achieve the axle centering problem after a lift. Center your axle back, and not lengthening the bar to make contact under heavy compression.

X2

The drop also brings the axle arc to be more vertical when compressing.

 

[absalom]

Is the jury still out on whether a drop bracket increases roll center?

 

[FrankM23]

that's my vote. I always heard it was better to install the bracket drivers side on the axle.

 

[builditbreakit]

that's my vote. I always heard it was better to install the bracket drivers side on the axle.

Agreed

 

[Nelsonmd]

Is the jury still out on whether a drop bracket increases roll center?

that's my vote. I always heard it was better to install the bracket drivers side on the axle.

The jury was never out, it's just geometry, the drop bracket lowers the roll center, causing more roll.

If you weld the bracket onto the axle side instead, you will raise the roll center (less roll).

The jury may be out on how big a difference there is between drop bracket and lift bracket, but you can't argue the geometry.

 

[J-money$$$]

Yep nelsonmd has it. That roll center is the imaginary axis the body will roll on relative to the suspension. A higher roll center = less body roll. a lower roll center = more body roll. The drop on the passenger side lowers i by an inch or so.

And no a loger trac bar will not help drive shaft/gas tank rubbing. It will make it worse. Been there done that. I had an extended trac bar for a few day and then the drive shaft actually hit the gas tank, not the skid. Needless to say i tossed it

 

[JayRolla]

I just drive with the stock bar. I dont think I hit my gas tank and the truck drives fine. Axle is only off a few inches. Doesnt bother me.

 

[revenantdead]

has anyone tried doing both? and what i mean by this is if the track bar is meant to be as level as possible, split the difference of the lift between the axle bracket on the d side and frame bracket on the p side and extend them both to the middle?

 

[cj80cruiser]

I just drive with the stock bar. I dont think I hit my gas tank and the truck drives fine. Axle is only off a few inches. Doesnt bother me.

This is my thought process.

 

[builditbreakit]

Why would you want to:

has anyone tried doing both? and what i mean by this is if the track bar is meant to be as level as possible, split the difference of the lift between the axle bracket on the d side and frame bracket on the p side and extend them both to the middle?

If your goal is to:

A higher roll center = less body roll. a lower roll center = more body roll. The drop on the passenger side lowers i by an inch or so.

 

[brian2sun]

Like the others have said, a longer bar will make the driveshaft/gas tank contact worse because it will move the axle more to the D/S. The reason some people can run the extended bar and don't have problems with that is because they still have their rear sway bar hooked up which limits the travel. If you want to take advantage of the extended travel longer shocks provide, then you need to ditch the rear sway bar. But the drawback is the driveshaft will make contact with the skid or even the tank itself.

The best way to determine if an extended PH bar will cause shaft/tank contact is to flex it out and look at it the way it is now, with the stock bar. Find a hill or something, compress the D/S rear, set the ebrake and put it in gear, kill the motor, and get out and see. Then just imagine the arc of that bar extended whatever amount you plan to extend it. If you only have a tiny little bit of space, then you know the shaft will hit with an extended bar. The stock gas tank skid is pretty thin and can be hammered back a little to make room.

 

[cj80cruiser]

So from what I'm gathering it's best to just leave the stock panhard alone since it will create less body roll and have less of a chance of hitting the gas tank or gas tank skid.

 

[sn0wrunner]

Mine rubbed like hell untill I put my drop bracket on. If you are running any type of LC coils and you use the stock panhard bar without a drop bracket, it is going to rub on the gas tank skid at full stuff. This is a fact. You will need to do some sort of modification to the gas tank skid like pound it back or just go ahead and get a whole new skid from Lil skips offroad that hugs the tank closer.

 

[hrt4me]

If you are running any type of LC coils and you use the stock panhard bar without a drop bracket, it is going to rub on the gas tank skid at full stuff. This is a fact. You will need to do some sort of modification to the gas tank skid, like pound it back, or just go ahead and get a whole new skid from Lil Skips Offroad that hugs the tank closer.

how much is the Lil Skips Offroad gas tank skid plate?
do you have any pics of one installed?

 

[osochef]

lilskips link

Lil' Skip's Offroad
I think its $325 plus shipping and Colorado tax if aplicable. Gerdo rocks.
I have a drop bracket and LC 861's and I definitely hit the stock skid, no more with Lil Skips.