Panhard bar???

[Bruceynz]

Hi Guys,

What are your thoughts on fitting a panhard bar to a J body, I have a friend who says under hard cornering the rear end moves quite a lot, he says although a panhard bar is not 100% desirable as the arc means the wheels can still move it reduces the movement quite considerable down to mm

Anyone got any good ideas or have fitted a panhard bar, I would like to hear your comments.

Thanks
Bruce

 

[Aspen500]

With leaf springs, a panhard bar doesn't really do a whole lot. Yes, it will prevent side to side deflection of the springs but, IMO the benefit isn't worth the trouble. It can make things worse if not properly engineered and CAUSE lateral movement of the axle as the suspension travels. Actually, even the ideal panhard bar set up will make the axle move to the frame pivot side of the car to some extent when the suspension travels.

The ultimate is a Watts link set up. It eliminates lateral movement but doesn't pull the axle sideways during travel. It's also a heck of lot harder to engineer and install correctly.

 

[80mirada]

Your Cordoba has triangulated leaf springs, it helps keep the rear end centered and also has a minor steering effect to improve cornering control. A properly setup rear sway bar, good springs, and some performance shock will work better in the long run. You could run a Watts type linkage, but unless it is an all out auto cross car it won't be noticed much. The Panhard will just clutter up the area behind the rear axle and make routing the exhaust harder with very little benefit.

 

[Bruceynz]

Your Cordoba has triangulated leaf springs, it helps keep the rear end centered and also has a minor steering effect to improve cornering control. A properly setup rear sway bar, good springs, and some performance shock will work better in the long run. You could run a Watts type linkage, but unless it is an all out auto cross car it won't be noticed much. The Panhard will just clutter up the area behind the rear axle and make routing the exhaust harder with very little benefit.

This is unfamiliar to me " triangulated leaf springs" can you explain to me about this please, its real interesting and I am learning a lot! At a guess the springs don't run parallel to the body??

 

[80mirada]

Your leaf springs are not parallel, They are closer together at the rear and farther apart at the front, IIRC. This creates triangulation, which has a stabilizing effect on the position of the rear axle, the E-body, I believe, was the first to use it. There is also a side effect that the rear axle "steers" it is a VERY small amount, but the engineers calculated it in, to add under-steer, making hi-speed cornering more predictable. Chrysler's chassis engineering pushed the boundaries of tire and shock technology, and their relatively simple suspensions were actually very advanced

 

[Bruceynz]

Your leaf springs are not parallel, They are closer together at the rear and farther apart at the front, IIRC. This creates triangulation, which has a stabilizing effect on the position of the rear axle, the E-body, I believe, was the first to use it. There is also a side effect that the rear axle "steers" it is a VERY small amount, but the engineers calculated it in, to add under-steer, making hi-speed cornering more predictable. Chrysler's chassis engineering pushed the boundaries of tire and shock technology, and their relatively simple suspensions were actually very advanced

Ok, what does IIRC mean, probably kick myself once you tell me

 

[80mirada]

If I Remember Correctly

 

[Bruceynz]

hahhaha got ya ok :icon_fU: