Hi guys,

I have been researching Panhard bars for a while and there are many many to choose from and from many different companies.

There are:

Fixed length with various bushing types (poly, rod, and mixed)

Adj bars with the above types of bushings

Adj bars that you can adjust "on the car"

Double adj bars that you can adjust while "on the car"

Then there are various materials that the bar is made out of:
Stamped
Mild steel
CM steel
plus some I'm forgetting

And of course they are at different price points, $79 to $179+

So my question is what type of drivingor level of that type of driving would one need fixed vs adj, poly vs rod, mild vs chrome moly steel, poly vs mixed vs rod, etc. etc.

I'm not trying to be a PITA, but the more detailed the response the better for me. I am just curious if I am getting all bent out of shape thinking the lightest, most adjustable, and "race" type bar is overkill or if there is actuall benefit for using one type vs another.

Thanks PHB gurus!

 

well, i'm sure sam will correct me if i'm wrong.

a) if you lower the car, you need an adjustable PHB.

b) from what i've heard/read. most people prefer and recommend a combo type PHB with a poly bushing on one end and rod end on the other. the rod end eliminates bind and the poly isolates the chassis enough to retain daily drivability without too much noise.

as far as single/double adjustability and materials go, i can't help there. seems like chromemolly would be best, but i don't know for sure.

 

Unless you start playing around with ride heights, I don't see any reason to be adjusting the thing more than the once/twice/whatever it takes to get it set right the first time. The type of adjustment sounds more like a matter of convenience than amounting to any real amount of additional adjustment precision.

Cr-Mo is a stronger material, so a PHB made from it can be made a little lighter than an equally strong PHB made from mild steel. Or one of equal weight will be stronger. One thing to keep in mind is that welds in Cr-Mo should be post-weld heat-treated to restore the mechanical properties.

"Bind" or any actual need for rod end(s) in the PHB as opposed to OE-stiffness rubber or poly is a bit more complex, and "bind" associated with the PHB has less effect on handling than it does with the LCAs and UCA. But it is the simpler solution to simply use one rod end and side-step the whole issue.


Norm

 

Norm

I like the idea of having a poly bushing on the chassis end for improved NVH and a rod end on the axle end for reduced 'bind' and this would also seem to apply to the LCAs and UCA as well as the PHB.

What I was wondering is how big an issue is rod end wear as my understanding is that aworn rod end can make a lot of noise as well as resulting in 'slop' in the suspension.

 

It more applies to the LCAs than to the PHB, actually. You should expect that the angle that the car will roll to will be greater than any amount of pinion angle change. Logic suggests that requirements for the UCA would be more like those for LCAs than PHBs in this respect.

Rod ends will develop a little clearance, no doubt about it. In general, rod end lifespan is tied to the quality of the parts, the loading they receive, and their location relative to sources of contamination. The good news is that they get noisy before the slop amounts to anything. A few thousandths of an inch slop is probably enough to hear, but the actual amount of motion involved is all but meaningless in terms of axle steer or lateral location and I doubt that you'd feel it. Proper rod end installation requires that it be captive in some way, such that if you were able toput up with the noise without going batty to the point where the socket fell off the ball the LCA/PHB/UCA/whatever wouldn't then fall off the car. FWIW, there are a couple of methods of protecting rod ends against intrusion by much of the water and other crud.


Norm

 

A PHB issubject to a LOT of tension and compression loads. You want the least deflection you can get to keep the body aligned squarely over the axle. The higher the loads and/or bigger and/or stickier the tires the more important this becomes.

Rod-ends just don't deflect.Poly bushing flex less but still flex. Not all rod-ends areequal. The look similar, they aren't. A $5 end is much sloppier andnoisier than a $30 teflon-lined end. You need adapters to make rod-end barsfit, some companies cobble things out of parts catalogs. UMI, which is the company I sell, machinestheir own so they fit right. Then you pay for materials. Quality of powdercoating (if any), Quality of welding.

Let's face it a PHB ain't rocket science. But there are ways to do them better and ways to do them worse. Adjustables with the adjuster in the middle are weaker those on the with the adjuster at the end. On the car adjusts are about ease, but "normal" adjustables aren't hard to deal with in the least.

CM has greater tensile strength than mild steel. S197 PHB's we use (with pictures): http://www.stranoparts.com/searchbym...&ModelID=5

We have Non-adjustables, Standard adjustables, On the car adjustables, Dual-rod ended ones, Mild Steel, Chrome-Moly. The best one IMHO for performance and bang for the buck is the $149 mild steel double rod-ended unit. It you want CM, you can opt for that.

 

Sam

I had a look at your LCA, UCA and PHB selection and like the PHB with a Poly Bushing on one end and a rod end on the other. Is there a reason you don't offer the same combination on the LCAs?

PS - do you ship to Canada?

 

Wedo offer an LCA that's a poly/rod-end combo, it's called "single adjustable": http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...&ModelID=5

We do ship to Canada.

 

Sam

Sorry I missed them. They seem to be what I am looking for.

 

No problem.... I'm glad you asked!