Trac Bar
- Thread starter GX4SEVEND
- Start date
This excites me. :hungry:
Duhockey
Senior Member
side note, I have a panhard drop bracket that I have yet to put on, you can tell that my axle is slightly to the driver side,
but I have been running the stock panhard with 9 wraps with no really bad consequences,
so, if you must wait a bit before you get the panhard drop bracket, I think you should be fine for a bit.
but I have been running the stock panhard with 9 wraps with no really bad consequences,
so, if you must wait a bit before you get the panhard drop bracket, I think you should be fine for a bit.
YotaZach85
New member
People look at me like I have 3 heads when I tell them this, THANK YOU!!!!!!
Side note: I made my panhard drop bracket out some 3/16 flat stock I had laying around and at first I just had it bolted on and it worked fine until I went wheeling, it would loosen up everytime I went wheeling so I ended up welding it on and problem solved.
And for the whole drive shaft and gas tank issue: as stated I have a drop bracket and my drive shaft still hits the tank pretty hard. I have about a 3/4" deep dent in it now and it still hits, I have to replace the grease fitting on the slip shaft after every wheeling trip.
Last edited:
Duhockey
Senior Member
I have 9 wraps and all I did was bend down the tab above the diff,
plenty of play.
if I get longer control arms/ sway links etc I may think about extending it.
steezemcqueen
Moderator
a panhard bars' job is to prevent side to side axle movement. it is most efficient when is it completely horizontal since it is parallel to that side to side movement. when you drop the panhard bar, you bring the bar closer to horizontal where is is most efficient. when you extend the bar, the angle remains the same. it is not required to do anything to the panhard bar when you lift, but doing the drop does help with axle alignment and the effectiveness of the panhard bar.
brian2sun
Elite Member
I agree, Steve also has a big discalimer that OME front struts over-extend the front IFS and shouldn't be used (without limit straps). I've wheeled the hell out of my OME shocks (as well as many others I know personally) and hung pleny of tires in sticky situations and no of us have ever had any issues with overextending the CVs. Steve definitely likes to sell his products over his competition's products, but I don't agree with a lot of his "research" either. I think Steve probably discontinued the PH drop bracket because he makes ~$200 more on the whole adjustable bar.
I completely agree with Duhockey/Pikeman, the bracket keeps the stock geometry. The adjustable bar pushes the axle too far over toward the driver's side because the bar isn't level until the driver's side tire is almost fully stuffed. That means the axle/driveshaft gets closer and closer to the tank the more you stuff the driver's side tire. However...
The drop bracket puts the bar level at rest so it pulls the axle/driveshaft away from the gas tank almost as soon as it starts flexing.
I have my own design for a good panhard drop bracket which will use 2 bolts to connect to the frame so it cannot rotate (but will require drilling one extra hole in the frame mount). I'll combine that with welding it on and it will be the most solid PH drop bracket around. I just haven't got around to it yet because I've trimmed my gas tank skid and no longer rub on anything under there so it's not really on my list of things to do right now.
I have an M6 size bolt with a small head in the spot that the "problem" zerk goes in. When I need to lube the driveshaft, I take the bolt out, put the zerk in, lube it, take the zerk back out and put the M6 bolt back in. I recommend doing this because one of these days, you'll smash that zerk up in there, and probably ruin the threads trying to drill it out.
Last edited:
YotaZach85
New member
Thats how my drop bracket is, stock bolt location, extra bolt, and fully welded. Thanks for the zerk fitting advise, I never would have thought of that and just kept replacing fittings!:bravo:
GX4SEVEND
New member
Do you guys have any pics of this?
J-money$$$
New member
Addicted offroad gave Brian and I a really good idea.
Hack it all off and make new trac bar mounts, and a new trac bar that will position everything where it should be.
See the main problem is our trac bars are short. so the arc that your axle moves on is short. In turn you get lots of side to side motion as your suspension cycles. Even if you drop the trac bar frame mount you still have the short trac bar, and therefore the same arc but in a different place. ANd an extended one puts the axle in a place it should not be given where all the stock mounts are.
but if you were to re-work the entire setup and end up with a trac bar say 6" longer your arc would be significantly larger resulting in a more stable suspension. to truly eliminate all issues it would also have to be perfectly perpendicular to the ground at rest. So flat.
Most people to not want to embark on this adventure, so the pan-hard drop is the best solution found. Google it: there are many writeups showing how people braced the drop in various ways. This drop sees excessive forces because of the short length of our trac bar. as your suspension cycles your axle will still move along the same short arc. So that transfers into some serious pulling and pushing on the drop bracket.
Hack it all off and make new trac bar mounts, and a new trac bar that will position everything where it should be.
See the main problem is our trac bars are short. so the arc that your axle moves on is short. In turn you get lots of side to side motion as your suspension cycles. Even if you drop the trac bar frame mount you still have the short trac bar, and therefore the same arc but in a different place. ANd an extended one puts the axle in a place it should not be given where all the stock mounts are.
but if you were to re-work the entire setup and end up with a trac bar say 6" longer your arc would be significantly larger resulting in a more stable suspension. to truly eliminate all issues it would also have to be perfectly perpendicular to the ground at rest. So flat.
Most people to not want to embark on this adventure, so the pan-hard drop is the best solution found. Google it: there are many writeups showing how people braced the drop in various ways. This drop sees excessive forces because of the short length of our trac bar. as your suspension cycles your axle will still move along the same short arc. So that transfers into some serious pulling and pushing on the drop bracket.
GX4SEVEND
New member
I checked out Slee, Wheelers, Wabfab, Allpro, ARB etc. and no one had a drop bracket except Toytec. I googled it and a bunch of 2nd gen stuff comes up.
Another question......when will the LCA and UCA for the rear that you and Brian are working on be ready? :naughty:
Hopefully once Brian gets his 861's installed you guys will have a better idea of what I'm dealing with now and you'll have a fix for it.
Another question......when will the LCA and UCA for the rear that you and Brian are working on be ready? :naughty:
Hopefully once Brian gets his 861's installed you guys will have a better idea of what I'm dealing with now and you'll have a fix for it.
J-money$$$
New member
the new links will be on my truck by next weekend. I have to weld them up. Brian and I have been tossing ideas around for a panhard fix. The latest is pretty involved. Ill let you know what the out come is.
J-money$$$
New member
I would not worry about your panhard bar being stock. even if you axle is shifted slightly over. It is in a stout location.
the lower links and upper links are something to worry about
sn0wrunner
New member
get the toytec one, extend it more so it works with your amount of lift, and weld in a cross brace. Thats what i did.
Hell its just some pieces of steel, just go buy some and make your own custom one yourself.
Hell its just some pieces of steel, just go buy some and make your own custom one yourself.
