Panhard Bar
Old [Sch|F]ool
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 12,862
Likes: 568
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
You need to be able to weld.
Handling gain... the car will understeer like a pig because of the relocated roll center. Plan on getting new (much stiffer) rear springs as well. But the controllability is much better due to the lower roll center.
Handling gain... the car will understeer like a pig because of the relocated roll center. Plan on getting new (much stiffer) rear springs as well. But the controllability is much better due to the lower roll center.
I've always heard that the watts link is superior to a panhard rod. I have a panhard rod on my '48 Buick (yeah, i know!) and it shakes the whole rear end back and forth when you go over bumps. The watts link is supposed to minimize this since it pivots. If you look at a picture of both I think you'll get my drift.
Old [Sch|F]ool
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 12,862
Likes: 568
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
in reality, a Panhard is better than a Watts because you can only put the roll center so low with the Watts.
As for side-to-side jacking with a Panhard... Do this as an experiment. Take a 3-4 foot long rod and mark where one end is. Pivoting off of the other end, go 3 or 4 inches up and 3 or 4 inches down, scribing a line. This is how much lateral excursion there is with a typical Panhard. You'll find that it is less than you can expect from bushing compression - in other words it is fairly insignificant.
As for side-to-side jacking with a Panhard... Do this as an experiment. Take a 3-4 foot long rod and mark where one end is. Pivoting off of the other end, go 3 or 4 inches up and 3 or 4 inches down, scribing a line. This is how much lateral excursion there is with a typical Panhard. You'll find that it is less than you can expect from bushing compression - in other words it is fairly insignificant.
I'll agree that if you can get the panhard rod horizontal (or close to it) the movement would be minimal. On most cars that i've seen, the panhard rod is not
horizontal. I remember reading that's why Mazda used the watts link. Are the autocrossers getting better results with the panhard rod?
horizontal. I remember reading that's why Mazda used the watts link. Are the autocrossers getting better results with the panhard rod?
Old [Sch|F]ool
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 12,862
Likes: 568
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
They used the Watts because they could make the car shorter. They put the Watts ahead of the axle (forcing it to be very asymmetrical and thus have even more of a working arc than a Panhard) which would be difficult to do with a Panhard and maintain decent ground clearance.
If the Panhard is not horizontal on most cars you've seen, then the people who installed them did a **** job. Then again, it doesn't seem to matter very much, as OEMs install Panhards at crazy angles all the time (real short ones too!) and it doesn't seem to hurt anything.
If the Panhard is not horizontal on most cars you've seen, then the people who installed them did a **** job. Then again, it doesn't seem to matter very much, as OEMs install Panhards at crazy angles all the time (real short ones too!) and it doesn't seem to hurt anything.
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