those with LC coils, rear panhard/track bar mods?

[01t4rnr]

After careful measuring i can tell my axle has shifted over about an inch. You cant eyeball it and tell but again after some measurements in different areas im about an inch off at ride height for sure.Heres my question.. i know there is a company that sells an adjusable rear track bar but its $175 . would an adjustable bar say made for a Jeep TJ Wrangler not work just as well? ( i can get these at cost )
http://roughcountry.com/jeep_xtras_1086.html
Im pretty sure you can still buy heim and rod ends from the local Tractor Supply and build your own for 1/3 of that. What are you guys doing , if anything? My truck seems to track straight but seems very slightly squirrelly if that makes any sense? not sure if its b/c of the rear axle being off or if its the soft rear coils. :thanks::thumb3:

 

[Mauzer]

I have the same issue but its not a real concern to me, I have a panhard drop I just haven't had the opportunity to weld it up yet. The rear only feels squirelly when I go over speed bumps at speed but other than that it tracks straight and drives fine. I know others have cut and sleeved the stock panhard but you need to know how much extension you need, building your own would prob be the cheapest route (if you don't want to use the drop bracket).

 

[Elton H]

ive got a ss ajustable

 

[J-money$$$]

.....allright, im sure someone will want to argue with me, but

Extended track bars are a BAD idea if you wheel your truck hard. They WILL, and I promise they will, push your driveshaft into your gas tank. Especially if you run Land cruiser shocks. I had mine smashed so hard against the tank that the weights on my drive shaft put dents in the side of the tank. I was running an extended trackbar. I put a stock length one back in and cut the skid with a sawzall and still had minor rubbing, basically just the drive flange and the rear gas tank mount. Even when i ran stock links and OME shocks i rubbed enough to break the zirks off my driveshaft and dent the skid. The drop bracket barely changes any thing as well. It will just make it rub less by pulling the drive shaft about 1/16" farther away from the gas tank than a stock one. LEAVE THE STOCK ONE, it does not look that bad. Im running OME 891 springs with two 10mm trim packers on each side and the cones. and mine is not too far off

just my 2cents.

If you want to go extended you are warned

 

[YotaFun]

I would just spring for the Sonoran Steel Adjustible Bar.

Unless you have the fab skills you could always drop the mount on the frame lower.
I thhought at one point there was a comapny that made a bolt on bracket but I can't remember who.

At least with the adjustible, if you ever do air bags, ior as the springs settle, you can adjust it to keep it in spec

 

[Mauzer]

.....allright, im sure someone will want to argue with me, but

Extended track bars are a BAD idea if you wheel your truck hard. They WILL, and I promise they will, push your driveshaft into your gas tank. Especially if you run Land cruiser shocks. I had mine smashed so hard against the tank that the weights on my drive shaft put dents in the side of the tank. I was running an extended trackbar. I put a stock length one back in and cut the skid with a sawzall and still had minor rubbing, basically just the drive flange and the rear gas tank mount. Even when i ran stock links and OME shocks i rubbed enough to break the zirks off my driveshaft and dent the skid. The drop bracket barely changes any thing as well. It will just make it rub less by pulling the drive shaft about 1/16" farther away from the gas tank than a stock one. LEAVE THE STOCK ONE, it does not look that bad. Im running OME 891 springs with two 10mm trim packers on each side and the cones. and mine is not too far off

just my 2cents.

If you want to go extended you are warned

Good to know, now I'm really not in a hurry to do the drop bracket (gonna have to do some "field testing" of my own)

 

[brian2sun]

What Jason said is true. He and I have done a lot of R&D lately while building our link set-up and the extended bar is only a good thing if you are running a rear sway bar. The problem is, rear sway bars limit our trucks travel by 2-3" which is a no-go as far as I'm concerned. If you wheel a lot, you'll eventually want to ditch the sway bar and at that point if you run an extended pan hard, you'll have gas tank interference issues.

The pan hard drop is better than an extended bar, however I broke my pan hard drop off (and it was welded and bolted) with the forces created by having a lot of flex and so I put it back to stock location which is where it will be staying from now on.

 

[steezemcqueen]

The pan hard drop is better than an extended bar, however I broke my pan hard drop off (and it was welded and bolted) with the forces created by having a lot of flex and so I put it back to stock location which is where it will be staying from now on.

Brian you should try welding a brace on to the bracket like what sn0wrunner did. i know the same thing happened to him and once the brace got welded on, its been fine ever since. I am about to do the PHB drop bracket as soon as find time to get it welded. i'll post up some more pictures of the bracing

I agree that the PHB drop bracket is better than the extended bar because it keeps the geometry the same. it really isn't required though. especially if you are at 3 inches of lift or less

 

[brian2sun]

That's a good idea steeze. I was thinking of adding some material to the top so it can be secured by 2 bolts in the frame instead of just one to stop it from shifting. I may give that a try, but like you said, it isn't that big of a deal so it's not high on my list right now. I'll mess with it after I get my gas tank skid and driveshaft clearance issues all figured out and fixed.

Edit: Actually, maybe I'll just do that before I cut my gas skid because the pan hard droop should give me a little more clearance down there (even if it's only a 1/16 or 1/8").

 

[01t4rnr]

I agree that the PHB drop bracket is better than the extended bar because it keeps the geometry the same. it really isn't required though. especially if you are at 3 inches of lift or less

Im definitely over 3" with these coils but here is the idea i was thinking should work -this one isnt quite long enough and getting the axle and frame mounts might be tricky


Extra Long Top Link Category 1 - 0267725 | Tractor Supply Company

 

[J-money$$$]

you should just call a local fab shop, im sure they can make you something at a reasonable price

 

[Mauzer]

Jason,
Do you DD your Runner w/o the rear sway? I have LC coils in the rear and I want to remove the sway but can't get any real experienced opinions on it. I busted a rear link and was thinking I would just remove the bar all together instead of making longer links. I'm just not sure since I drive on the hwy and the LC coils are pretty soft

 

[Elton H]

ive got 8 wrap lc's and no sway bar its not horrible but i been thinking of putting it back on

 

[mmml4]

I dropped my frame mount by 3 inches and added 2 inches to the axle mount and used the stock panhard. This is all temporary untill I get the LC rearend installed.

 

[RunnerLimited]

Hate to bring a really old thread up again
but need advice to what I should do. I have 9 wrap LC coils in the back
and been planning on getting an adjustable panhard bar maybe Sonoran or TC.
Im mostly highway driving and a bit of city driving. I do the occasional off-roading on the weekends but nothing too major. I also have my sway bar connected in the front and rear.
Reading this thread im worried to buy an adjustable pan hard bar because of the damage that it might do to the gas tank if I do decide to take the sway bar off, any opinions? I do have the money for the adjustable bar but if I can get away with a drop bracket to prevent the slight shift I get when I drive, Id rather save myself some money

 

[UnderFire]

The factory bar can be cut and lengthened pretty easily, I think it was 15/16" solid bar that I used that fit inside the panhard's factory tube, can't remember for sure though.

 

[Spunk]

Hate to bring a really old thread up again
but need advice to what I should do. I have 9 wrap LC coils in the back
and been planning on getting an adjustable panhard bar maybe Sonoran or TC.
Im mostly highway driving and a bit of city driving. I do the occasional off-roading on the weekends but nothing too major. I also have my sway bar connected in the front and rear.
Reading this thread im worried to buy an adjustable pan hard bar because of the damage that it might do to the gas tank if I do decide to take the sway bar off, any opinions? I do have the money for the adjustable bar but if I can get away with a drop bracket to prevent the slight shift I get when I drive, Id rather save myself some money

There is a minor misnomer about the need of longer panhards. Longer/adjustable panhards are most useful when the suspension has longer droop travel than stock. For example, replacing springs and shocks with longer ones would require either repositioning the panhard(dropping) or buying an extended one (adjustable). Our vehicles was designed to perform within a certain range of motion. If you keep your stock shock length, then panhard adjustments are practically negligible. If you only replaced your springs to have higher frame ground clearance, then no extra mods should be needed. Brake lines, sways and links were all designed to comply with the range of motion provided by stock shocks. If you only replaced your springs, and nothing else, you should have no problems with your driveshaft.

However, if you decided to go "long travel" to the rear, then weighing the options between rear sway bar modding or panhard modding become important. The rear suspension has significantly more travel and articulation than the front suspension. To make it even longer, I would keep the sway bar and use an adjustable panhard. The sway bar affects cornering, while the panhard keeps the wheels driving true. In my opinion, it's wise to have the best of both worlds, perhaps even a quick disconnect sway bar.

Just passing on an idea.

 

[D Farms]

extending the panhard bar is a poor way to correct the problem. the bracket on the axle should be extended upwards, this raises the roll center and make the side to side travel the same as stock. the drop bracket is a good option but it lowers the roll center, so sway is increased. the problem with raising or lowering the panhard bracket is there becomes an issue with clearance. heres the formula for axle shift. √(37²−lift²) the pan hard is about 37 inches long. anyways even on my 5" lift the shift is neglagable. the real issue is the effect on tracking when the axles moves down over a bump.

@op you say an inch, do you mean the right side sticks out an inch further than the left or the entire axle is moved over one inch. i have 5" rear lift with lx coils and i noticed about a half inch of axle movement.

 

[csp]

Nothing about what happens has changed since this thread was active.

You want the track bar to be as parallel to the ground as possible so the axle doesn't get pushed side to side as it travels. That's where the drop bracket comes into play.

 

[infamousRNR]

I too have 9 wraps in the rear and am worried about spending $$$ on an adjustable just to have it slam against my gas tank........

It looks like a pan hard drop bracket is the way to go......

Anymore more feedback from anyone with an opinion either way