My adjustable Panhard bar

[Singtoe]

Let the critiquing begin...

All this talk about a home made adjustable panhard bar has me wondering if a decent homemade one can be made.

Here is what i came up with.

The OEM panhard tube is actually quite thick. It is 0.135" thick. It was much to my surprise when i first cut it open. As you can see in the picture, it is not DOM. Notice the seam where it was folded over and welded.





Now, What to use for the adjustment part. Hmmm. I wanted to be able to adjusted mounted on the car but a I could not find a Left hand rod. So I would be stuck just using single threaded rod and would have to remove one end to do the adjustment. Now what thread rod would be strong enough. Then I thought about using a tie rod.

I had some old inner and outer tie rods for the front of the 4runner and if it is strong enough for the front then it should definitely be strong enough for the rear. The Shaft diameter is 20mm. Best of all, these parts were free.





What I did was cut off the tie rod so that when it was inserted in the panhard end, it would extend inside and actually lock into place in the oem taper.






I used an axle nut that was tapered already and threaded it on to the rod and spot welded so it would not ruin the temper of the tie rod. Then I welded the rod nut assemble to the OEM pan hard bar.




I took the inner tie rod end, cut the ball socket joint off and turned down the joint to fit inside the OEM panhard bar.



Kind of similar to a bung fitting.

I welded it it on the OEM panhard bar and threw some paint on it.




Now the final assembly.

 

[J-money$$$]

I told you it was around .120 wall


looks okay just dont make it too long or you will flex the truck and get some carnage

 

[Nelsonmd]

This is a pretty good design for homemade panhard bar. Cool idea using a tie rod for this. I am not that sure about the axle nut weld to the tie rod, but I can't see how you did it.

 

[scoobydann]

It seems as though you have the tools and some skill in working with metal so my question is why dont you just do it right. The tubing size isn't a horrible choice but throwing on used pot metal components, rewelding them and putting them back on the truck concerns me. then there is this.

the 2 arent even completly welded.


I have seen plenty of suspension compoinents fail and its never pretty, and this is in the desert, God forbid you tag a curb at the wrong speed and the whole rear end comes out from under you.

The bent tierod is 1 1/2x .250 and it still bent like it was a twizzler

If I had welded it like above the joint would have failed and I wouldnt have driven back to the trailer. but it was welded right with the right components

The new one is 1 3/4 .388 wall and shall expect the same.

If you want an adjustable panhard the Sonoran at $175 is not a bad deal at all. and it fits where it should, no guess work.

For spits and giggles I pieced together what one would spend on building one right.

Tubing is 1 1/2x.120 DOM at $7.50/ft at 4 ft--------------------$30

Heims from Ruffstuff Specialties $13.50 x 2--------------------$27

Jam nuts (ruffstuff) $2----------------------------------------------$4
weld bungs (Ruffstuff) $7.25 x 2----------------------------------$14.50

and the time and patience to cut and weld it right-------------$priceless

giving a total of------------------------------------------------------$75.50 without shipping or having someone weld it.

Some components can be switched out for heims but you are getting more $.

bushings--$10.50 each

johnny joints--$32.50 each

sorry to rant but this stuff concerns me

 

[maxspeed96ct]

O no, not another one of these threads haha :uzi:



yours looks much better then my original, nice job .

I ordered this the other night to upgrade my setup Currie Enterprises CJ Axle Parts ,

along wth a weld bung.



It took me a while to find a 1.5 wide bushings but I finally found it.

enjoy bro :cheers:

 

[Singtoe]

For spits and giggles I pieced together what one would spend on building one right.

Tubing is 1 1/2x.120 DOM at $7.50/ft at 4 ft--------------------$30

Heims from Ruffstuff Specialties $13.50 x 2--------------------$27

Jam nuts (ruffstuff) $2----------------------------------------------$4
weld bungs (Ruffstuff) $7.25 x 2----------------------------------$14.50

giving a total of------------------------------------------------------$75.50 without shipping or having someone weld it.

Some components can be switched out for heims but you are getting more $.

sorry to rant but this stuff concerns me

I see what you mean, but mine was free. Even if I had a solid steel pan hard bar, if I clipped a curb at speed, I think I would have bigger problems like a broke axle, broke wheel, deployed airbags, broke neck and etc.

With my design, the tie shaft goes to the end of the little tube. In the event of an accident, this area will most likely bend but not break. As for pot metal (which it is not), if it good enough for the front of the 4runner, it should be fine for the rear.

As for using DOM tubing, Toyota doesn't even use it.

For just driving on the street and mild off roading, I think my redneck engineering panhard bar should be fine, and yes, you are absolutely correct to super build a bar if I was going desert racing or doing a BAJA 1000 or some other hard core event.


FWIW, in the past couple of weeks, we have seen lower ball joints fall completely apart. The rear axle in the 4runner is only held be some pressure and a circle clip. The inner tie rod in its thinest part is 7/16" thick. So, what I am saying, is that there is a lot more stuff to worry about then cut up panhard bar.

 

[Big John]

That TRE looks to be cast and there is a certain way that should be welded. I don't usually weld to cast, so I can't remember the exact process but I think it should be pre heated in order to MIG.

 

[scoobydann]

High nickle rod. Pre heat and slow cool. Similar to when turning a knuckle. Preferrably TIG welded.

 

[Singtoe]

That TRE looks to be cast and there is a certain way that should be welded. I don't usually weld to cast, so I can't remember the exact process but I think it should be pre heated in order to MIG.

You had me thinking about cast and forged. This is what I believe from what i could find on the internet. Cast items will have a thin and defined parting line while forged items will have a wide and broad parting line.



Here is a cast crank

Here is forged crank

 

[Nelsonmd]

This is a ground down parting line, the part has been cleaned up to remove burrs on the parting line. Pretty common practice.

 

[Singtoe]

I know that this is not OEM but it should follow the same general construction.

 

[Nelsonmd]

I don't know that all TRE's are forged. And there are alot of different kinds of forging.

 

[newmexrunner]

what is the mount width where the rod ends attach for panhard bars?

 

[Singtoe]

I fixed the links.

 

[Dous]

I am still using this panhard to this day with no issues!

 

[Kenjan]

Ok how much

I have to many irons and kids and a wife to take on more fab work

LoL