Adjustable panhard bar- how-to & part numbers

[86Shelby]

I had been dealing with an offcenter rear axle on my R/T since it has been lowered with the Eibach springs. The rear drivers side tire would rub on the shock tube and the passenger tire had gotten a little scraped up on the fender lip over the years. Since I had the rear of the car up in the air and had a little cash I made myself an adjustable panhard bar to solve the problem.

I sourced all my parts at Speedway Motors, located about 10 minutes from my place in Lincoln, Ne. www.speedwaymotors.com They are a parts store much like Jeg's or Summit but cater to street rods, IMCA and roundy-round dirt track racers.

With the jack under the rear axle it appears the axle will be pretty dang close to centered. It will be very tough to tell with just a quick glance, before it was painfully obvious. I decided that I would rather have the strength of having most of the threads of the heim joints threaded in the rod and forgo the fraction of an inch to make it perfect if it ends up just a hair off. If they would have had steel parts in the sizes I needed I would have used them, I feel the aluminum will work fine. I also elected to use thier rubber heim joint seals to help keep dirt and grime out of the joints. You'll need a handfull of washers or some other spacer to use on either side of the heim joints since they are much narrower than the factory bar & bushings. The factory bolts are 12mm which is pretty close to the 1/2" diameter hole in the joints, since you'll be tightening the attaching bolts good and tight I don't forsee that being an issue since it's only a couple hundredths of an inch difference.





Not done with the fuel pump swap yet, so it's not 100% installed yet, no test drives yet either.


Part number list:
910355-42.....Aluminum Swedged Tie Rod 42" long
1170810........5/8" RH thread 1/2" diameter hole heim joint
1170810L......5/8" LH thread 1/2" diameter hole heim joint
3159603........5/8" RH aluminum jam nut
3159604........5/8" LH aluminum jam nut
91001503......Heim joint seals 6pack
PN N/A..........A handfull of 1/2" washers from the neighborhood hardware store
It totalled less than $60 for me with tax. Shipping would increase that obviously.

[Force Fed Mopar]

I would go have the 4-wheel alignment checked after this.

[turbodaytona87]

Speedway also has heavier duty Chromoly rod ends in that size for $20/each, part number 91002126. I'm going to have to build myself one of these, my stock one is starting to bend, ever so slightly.

[supercrackerbox]

Speedway also has heavier duty Chromoly rod ends in that size for $20/each, part number 91002126. I'm going to have to build myself one of these, my stock one is starting to bend, ever so slightly.

Fairly typical on these cars.

[Johnny]

Or buy one pre-built with poly ends from you know who....

[Turbulence]

Old thread I know, just wondering how the Speedway parts held up. Johnny no longer make the panhard bar. The rear axle on my 85 T&C is offset towards the passenger side by about .5" I'd like to centre it.

Thanks

Martin
85 T&C wagon

[Wastelands Warrior]

Old thread I know, just wondering how the Speedway parts held up. Johnny no longer make the panhard bar. The rear axle on my 85 T&C is offset towards the passenger side by about .5" I'd like to centre it.

Thanks

Martin
85 T&C wagon

I have one of Johnny's bars on my Spirit R/T, but used Speedway parts on my last 2 turbo Dodges and they worked fine.

[Turbulence]

Thanks!

Martin

[86Shelby]

Still working fine for me.

[Turbulence]

Perfect!

Thanks,

Martin

[Turbulence]

I've had it installed for about a month now. My plan was to use it to center the rear axle as it was off center towards the passenger side by close to an inch. So I put jack stands under the rear axle, and with the stock bar removed I pulled the body to the passenger side a bit and installed the adjusted panhard bar. About a week later I noticed that the car looked the same as before I started. Crawled underneath to discover the channel brace that runs from the drivers side of the axle at an angle up to the middle of the body had buckled slightly, moving the axle back to its original spot. That channel will need reinforcing.

I'm at the point where I don't really care. The car was that way for many years, possibly from the factory so I may just leave it be. And it isn't as noticeable with Fiero wheels on the car as it was with 16 inch pumpers (30mm offset versus 40mm offset).

Martin
85 T&C wagon