1st Generation Specific (1979-1985) 1979-1985 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections

Panhard Bar

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Old 10-06-02, 06:27 PM
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Panhard Bar

I have heard of guys putting panhard bars on FB's to replace the watts link. How easy is this and how much of a handling gain can you get? TIA
Old 10-06-02, 06:33 PM
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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.
Old 10-06-02, 06:40 PM
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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 10-06-02, 06:46 PM
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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.
Old 10-06-02, 07:03 PM
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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?
Old 10-06-02, 07:14 PM
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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.
Old 10-06-02, 07:22 PM
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Actually. I was refering to OEM's
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