Panhard mount sorted!

[Apache]

Mate of mine welded up the bracket today and we fitted the rod back in the original bracket (despite nay-saysers ) and as the maths predicted, the shift of the body on the chassis was negligible.

The maths said (assuming an unmodified truck had a level panhard rod) that the shift would be 8mm with weight on wheels. When complete and measured, it was something between 5 and 10mm (the limits of accuracy of tape measure under the truck!) so unless I get some serious extension offroad, then the body is near enough central.

Whilst under the truck, I took the rear ARB off as due to the panhard bracket being damaged, the ARB drop brackets had been bent too. I can report having caned it round a few roundabouts and accelerated hard out of junctions, the rear ARB is there for decoration only!

Also took the front valance off (as per Lovely Boyo) and the truck looks like it would eat old people and small children! It opens up scope for a really mean looking bashplate! Watch this space!

[surfenstein]

blimey i am surprised.mine shifted about an inch and a half.tony n was witness to that.when we tried the 35s on stein.anyway good job mate

[RodLeach]

So would you suggest binning the rear ARB and just fitting say.. ES9000 over the ES3000??

Im hoping to order parts tonight/tomorrow for my 2nd 2" suspension lift and the next one will effect the arb's etc

[Apache]

I expect yours is a bigger lift because it's lighter though. The higher you go, the more the length of the panhard matters. 3" or so is in the noise as far as the effective length of the rod matters - it seems!

[surfenstein]

yea you could be right there andy.my lift using the l/c springs does seem to be considerably bigger than other peoples using the same springs.that would explain the axle offset and the need for an adjustable panhard rod.

[Apache]

So would you suggest binning the rear ARB and just fitting say.. ES9000 over the ES3000??

Im hoping to order parts tonight/tomorrow for my 2nd 2" suspension lift and the next one will effect the arb's etc

No. I've got ES3000's and LC springs. There is no discernable difference with / without the ARB. I did some heavy duty testing round some tight roundabouts too.

Personally, I find the ride nice with ES3000s. but others like ES9000s. Cant help thinking softer is probably better offroad.

[The Lovely Boyo]

Also took the front valance off (as per Lovely Boyo) and the truck looks like it would eat old people and small children! It opens up scope for a really mean looking bashplate!

Here's what mine looks like without the valance



And here's the mesh I fitted over the large gap thats left - didn't want stones going through the rad.



You can just make out the bash plate I made a few weeks back.

I have also removed the rear ARBar - I have 9000's on the truck and didn't notice any difference.

[Slugsie]

Interesting. I have Vinces panhard bracket fitted to drop the rod, but I've found that it puts too much strain on the chassis mount (one of the bolts ripped right through the chassis mount after an off-road excursion), so I'm tempted to mount it back as standard like you have done.

I've been thinking about the adjustable panhard rods, where can you get them from?

[Apache]

Vatchmanstein does adjustable ones. I was thinking about buying one if things get a bit out of line at bigger suspension excursions.

As for Vince's mod, I reckon a bolt through the original mounting hole would spread the load better, or even weld it in place.

[Slugsie]

Vatchmanstein does adjustable ones. I was thinking about buying one if things get a bit out of line at bigger suspension excursions.

As for Vince's mod, I reckon a bolt through the original mounting hole would spread the load better, or even weld it in place.

Welding it in place would definately be the answer, but I don't have the kit, and even if I bought it (and I do want to) I wouldn't have the confidence to do something like that until I've practised.

[Apache]

We were gonna do that today if relocating the rod back to the original mount shifted the body too much.