Hicompression

Two Questions:

1) What is the acceptable amount of axle shift you can have in the rear of an S197 before a panhard bar is absolutely necessary?

2) What will be the result if you leave the axle shifted out to one side and don't correct for it with an adjustable bar?

Thanks!

dvs4.6

i dropped my GT about 1.4 on the rear and same on the front, my rear shifted about 1/2". i have tracked her on several accounts and have not had a single issue. it is more of an aesthetic issue. unless your car shifted more then 1/2 to 2/3" then maybe you may want to get one that adjust from the center rather then the ends (easier to adjust). But i honestly would not worry about it. will not effect tire wear. may affect your confidence if your that concerned with the rear side view of your stang. Leave it alone and spend the money on something that will really produce a difference in handling charectoristics. many Threads on that subject on this fine site.

Good Luck!

Norm Peterson

The car will have slightly different amounts of understeer depending on whether you're turning right or turning left. Not everybody notices this, though.


Norm

Hicompression

Thanks for the responses. It's 1/2 an inch out on the driver's side (I checked using the plumb-bob method). If I were to buy an adjustable panhard bar I would only be moving the rear towards the passenger side by 1/4 inch to center it. Based on the comments here and my own knowledge of Ford's "factory" tolerances, this is not enough out to worry about.

157dB

Thats with the suspension at rest.
It just gets worse as the suspension compresses.
Watch rear the inner fender lip for wear from the
tire on that side from bottoming out the suspension
over bumps.

Hicompression

It works both ways really. How about when the suspension rebounds? Won't it come back to center? I'm just looking for a happy medium. I will definitely watch the inner fender lip for wear though. Thanks for the heads-up.

Norm Peterson

The axle moving toward the passenger side during rebound is not as much of a concern - the body is rising, which tends to add some extra clearance.


Norm

dvs4.6

HICOMP,
One question for you, are you going to track your car?
If not leave it alone.
If you are, put it at the bottom half of your TO DO list.
Good Luck

Philostang

I had the same response as dvs4.6, because to me the value of a new phb is found mostly in better bushings. If your current bar is factory, you have pretty soft bushings and that makes the rear end feel all funny (esp. over bumps).

This was the biggest change I noticed when I switched my bar. Forget about centering, the added confidence of the drive was well worth the expense. If you plan to track your car, I would say put this much higher on the list.

Best,
-j

Ato

I measured mine after the d-specs and Roush rears, my axle had only shifted 4mm which wasn't enough for me to bother with so I sold my adj panhard bar the other day.