Home Made Adjustable Panhard bar.

[J-money$$$]

Thanks Nelson We put a lot of thought into that design. For the uppers we did make an adjustable bushing, (bushing with a welded on shaft) but I went out of my way to get the proper material. We used grade b7 all thread. I know welding grade 8 is bad. That allthread welded great, almost like DOM. and we used weld in bungs, those are the only way to fly.

Now im not saying that the Op's design will fail for sure, on a link it would., but the track bar sees relatively little stress in comparison to the links. If he was to wheel that design it will fail.

The three major issues I see, 1. welded grade 8 2. using a nut instead of a bung 3. the grade 8 is welded to a poor quality material. So even at best its only as good as the mystery tubing toyota used.

 

[Nelsonmd]

Thanks Nelson We put a lot of thought into that design. For the uppers we did make an adjustable bushing, (bushing with a welded on shaft) but I went out of my way to get the proper material. We used grade b7 all thread. I know welding grade 8 is bad. That allthread welded great, almost like DOM. and we used weld in bungs, those are the only way to fly.

Now im not saying that the Op's design will fail for sure, on a link it would., but the track bar sees relatively little stress in comparison to the links. If he was to wheel that design it will fail.

The three major issues I see, 1. welded grade 8 2. using a nut instead of a bung 3. the grade 8 is welded to a poor quality material. So even at best its only as good as the mystery tubing toyota used.

Yeah, Looking back at that thread, I don't like bushing side all that well, but I suspect that material you used is alot better (and closer match to the DOM tubing) than the stuff from HD. Maybe putting even some small gussets or collar on the threaded stud would help. You guys aren't doing this on DD's though, which helps.

Why didn't you do the uppers the way you did the lowers, with the tube/tube weld on the bushing side, and the threaded Heim on the other? Was your tube too short already? I thought looked like a good beefy design I would be comfortable with (the lowers that is).

 

[J-money$$$]

Yeah, Looking back at that thread, I don't like bushing side all that well, but I suspect that material you used is alot better (and closer match to the DOM tubing) than the stuff from HD. Maybe putting even some small gussets or collar on the threaded stud would help. You guys aren't doing this on DD's though, which helps.

Why didn't you do the uppers the way you did the lowers, with the tube/tube weld on the bushing side, and the threaded Heim on the other? Was your tube too short already? I thought looked like a good beefy design I would be comfortable with (the lowers that is).

I want to remake the uppers, to the same design as the lowers, but the reason we made those bushings was because we were running upper links with heims on both sides, so to change to a bushing we needed on that would thread into the link that was already made.... One day ill get some money and re-do them. all I need a couple feet of tubing, and a pair of bungs.

I made those bushings to see if our issue was a dual hiem link, which it was. They are beefy when seen in person. Those shafts are welded to a dom sleve with 3 passes, and a plug weld from the back. I though about the gusset, but look at the stock uppers....... I know my design is stronger than that 1/2" solid bar tacked to the bushing like the OEM links

 

[maxspeed96ct]

Wow great work, were did you guys purchase the bungs and the nice endlink joints from.

Thanks Nelson We put a lot of thought into that design. For the uppers we did make an adjustable bushing, (bushing with a welded on shaft) but I went out of my way to get the proper material. We used grade b7 all thread. I know welding grade 8 is bad. That allthread welded great, almost like DOM. and we used weld in bungs, those are the only way to fly.

Now im not saying that the Op's design will fail for sure, on a link it would., but the track bar sees relatively little stress in comparison to the links. If he was to wheel that design it will fail.

The three major issues I see, 1. welded grade 8 2. using a nut instead of a bung 3. the grade 8 is welded to a poor quality material. So even at best its only as good as the mystery tubing toyota used.

 

[prospectator]

If you want to make a cheap panhard why not over sleeve the original bar (or under sleeve it). It won't be adjustable but you can get the necessary length determined before final welding. If you don't plan on lifting and lowering your 4Runner you don't need it to be adjustable if you have the necessary tools to complete this mod.
Just find a piece of heavy wall (> .125) tubing with an ID that is slightly larger than the OD of the factory panhard. Drill two large 3/4 holes through each end of the sleeve. Install the new panhard with the sleeve, determine the necessary length by bolting the ends back to the panhard drop bracket and the rear end and tack it together. Remove the panhard and finish the final welding and weld the 4 - 3/4 holes, so now you've got two perimeter welds and 4 plug welds. This spot would be stronger than the factory welded ends on the original panhard bar. This method may not work, since you've already cut yours apart.

 

[J-money$$$]

The bungs and heim joint ends came from ruffstuffspecialties.com the bushing endlink I made, but I used ruff stuff for the bushings.

on the new lower link design I used hex bungs so tightening the jam nut would be easier. those come from ballisticfabrication.com

I would recommend both companies, Ballistic has much higher quality stuff tho

 

[J-money$$$]

If you want to make a cheap panhard why not over sleeve the original bar (or under sleeve it). It won't be adjustable but you can get the necessary length determined before final welding. If you don't plan on lifting and lowering your 4Runner you don't need it to be adjustable if you have the necessary tools to complete this mod.
Just find a piece of heavy wall (> .125) tubing with an ID that is slightly larger than the OD of the factory panhard. Drill two large 3/4 holes through each end of the sleeve. Install the new panhard with the sleeve, determine the necessary length by bolting the ends back to the panhard drop bracket and the rear end and tack it together. Remove the panhard and finish the final welding and weld the 4 - 3/4 holes, so now you've got two perimeter welds and 4 plug welds. This spot would be stronger than the factory welded ends on the original panhard bar. This method may not work, since you've already cut yours apart.

I actually Did something very similar back in the day, not I have a stock length one again

 

[prospectator]

I actually Did something very similar back in the day, not I have a stock length one again

I think you meant you now have the stock length again. If so, how did you get it to mount (assuming you still have your 4runner lifted)? Mine wasn't even close and I did buy the SS adjustable panhard.

 

[J-money$$$]

I think you meant you now have the stock length again. If so, how did you get it to mount (assuming you still have your 4runner lifted)? Mine wasn't even close and I did buy the SS adjustable panhard.

Like I said it was somewhat similar. And yeah my truck is still lifted, but i ran into issues with the longer bar and gas tank driveshaft carnage, so its back to stock length.

What i did was cut the track bar in half using a sawzall, WHILE IT WAS INSTALLED ON THE TRUCK. once it was in 2 pieces it had a gap of about .5". by cutting it on the vehicle you can see exactly how much longer it needs to be.

from there i cut a ring of similar sized tubing that fit the newly created gap. Tack it all together, remove the track bar and weld it all up.

I was going to use the outer sleve like what you are talking about, but my dad is a professional welder and told me it was a waste, so he welded it all up, and im sure that area is stronger than the rest.... That what you get when you weld high pressure steam lines for 30+ years

 

[prospectator]

Like I said it was somewhat similar. And yeah my truck is still lifted, but i ran into issues with the longer bar and gas tank driveshaft carnage, so its back to stock length.

What i did was cut the track bar in half using a sawzall, WHILE IT WAS INSTALLED ON THE TRUCK. once it was in 2 pieces it had a gap of about .5". by cutting it on the vehicle you can see exactly how much longer it needs to be.

from there i cut a ring of similar sized tubing that fit the newly created gap. Tack it all together, remove the track bar and weld it all up.

I was going to use the outer sleve like what you are talking about, but my dad is a professional welder and told me it was a waste, so he welded it all up, and im sure that area is stronger than the rest.... That what you get when you weld high pressure steam lines for 30+ years

Yeah, both work. The sleeve just eliminates you from having to build a custom length piece. Plus your method requires 4 perfectly straight cuts unless you have someway to keep the 3 pieces in perfect alignment. Filling the gaps with weld. Which probably isn't too critical since we're talking about a panhard bar....................

 

[maxspeed96ct]

Heres the final pic before it went in.

I thought about what waskillywabbit pointed at in his picture, and I purchased another 3/4 nut and put down a nice fat beed over the weak area to the threaded nut. The weakest link now is the threads on the nut , But I know they will hold up on the panhard bar unless I hit some serious jumps :thumb3: .

And I double checked what grade my bolts are when I purchased the 3rd nut and they are grade 8 .. Some idiot on the other forum was doubting me since it was shinny. But I just didnt want to go into details about zinc coating..

Wish me luck, Im certain there wont be any issues. Though for my future projects ill be sure to try out some of the bungs and joints from the sites j-money mentioned

 

[maxspeed96ct]

Sorry to tell you this, but the weakest link is still where you welded the Grade 8 bolt with the head cut off to the end of the OEM panhard bar. Adding another nut doesn't change or help that brittle fracture spot, just made it bigger with more heat.

Even if its now a grade 5 it will still with stand the panhard bar tention.

 

[steezemcqueen]

Even if its now a grade 5 it will still with stand the panhard bar tention.

Thats not how it works. A lower grade bolt is softer and will bend easier and a high grade bolt is hard but is brittle. By welding it, you just made it more brittle so it is now weaker than either a grade 5 or grade 8.

 

[fightman80]

Last time I checked, this wasn't english class????

 

[maxspeed96ct]

Man I couldnt stop thinking about it all day as I drove around.

Just placed the order for my Sonoran bar :roadkill:


Who cares about spelling, 98% of the time Im on the forums im on my phone.
Spelling and grammer go out the door.

 

[fightman80]

"Tension" is about a 3rd grade level word and perhaps you should have paid more attention in English class. :moon:



Perhaps there is hope for you afterall. :beer:

"PERHAPS" you should try to be more helpful, rather than make fun of a man's spelling??? We all know you are qualified to do the work you do, but sometimes, you can be wrong. Not saying that you are, but it is possible.....let the man test his pan hard bar, off public road ways 1st, and then let's see how it works out???

That Yotatech thread got really nasty for no reason So Gay, lets not bring that nastiness here.

By the way, I passed my College Program English class (Essay writing and oral communication) with a 94%.

 

[fightman80]

About as helpful and as straightforward as it can get. In this case, I'm not wrong. Brittle fracture failure.

The other thread was axed due to poor choices and rules violations made by the OP.

:hunter:

I can imagine.....alot of threads get axed over there.....thank God the mod's here are more forgiving.

 

[JohnsD90]

"Tension" is about a 3rd grade level word and perhaps you should have paid more attention in English class. :moon:



Perhaps there is hope for you afterall. :beer:

He can speak however he wants here, im sure you wouldn't say it to his face that he "mispronounced" a word or something, its insulting when you do it, same applies here, if you dont like it you can leave.

 

[J-money$$$]

I can imagine.....alot of threads get axed over there.....thank God the mod's here are more forgiving.

This site seems to be pretty strict, and people try to keep it nice enough here, so you really dont see too many deletions/bans. Pirate4x4 is a good one to get in e-fights on. and ttora

 

[4Runner8]

He can speak however he wants here, im sure you wouldn't say it to his face that he "mispronounced" a word or something, its insulting when you do it, same applies here, if you dont like it you can leave.

amen brotha

Edit:

just re read through this and wabbit i dont think you should go around the forums making fun of ppl. real PROFESSIONAL bussiness owners (if you are the owner) wouldnt do that because they would want a good reputation. your making a lot of enemies real quick. i wouldnt be surprised if word got around that you were being an a$$ to ppl and you saw a decline in bussiness. just my 2 cents