Home made adjustable panhard rods

[Riad]

Does any one have a picture of their own homemade adjustable panhard rod(s). Or has any one ever tried this? It seems like a pretty straight forward task. If you have a useful tap&die tool set (like me ). I was hopeing to utilize the following steps:

1. Cut the rod closer to the axle end bushing.
2. Die both cut end of the rod in proper direction so you don't have to take out the rod every time to adjust it.
3. Get a 6/8" (or what ever measurement is appropriate) long tube with 1/4" or 3/8" (or what ever measurement is appropriate) thick wall that has the same/little less OD as the panhard rod.
4. Tap the tube in appropriate directional thread from both ends to match the panhard rod threads.
5. Get lock nuts for the (newly created) panhard rod threads.
6. Put'em all together, you're DONE!

This is just an idea guys, I am sure 100s out there have thought of it or have done it (maybe). So what do ya'll think? is it a good idea? Bad idea? why/why not?

Thanks

[clownmidget]

http://www.colorado4x4.net/tech/rear.../trackbar.html

[landtank]

for the rear I'm a drop bracket guy and bought it from MAF and the front I bought a slee DIY joint and paid a guy to cut and weld it in.

guess what I'm saying is I left it to the experts. I just don't understand the loads on that bar and how they need to be addressed.

[clownmidget]

Rick, true enough. Plus I assumed Riad knew or would shortly find out that the front is solid and has to be addressed by Slee's joint or MAF's drop bracket. The rear is a fairly thin walled tube, on the order of 0.125" wall, so I don't personally feel it is any less structurally sound by doing the type of mod Mark Brodis outlined. I did this same modification to my rear over a year ago and now have put over 20K miles on it since then and have not had any issues. The one benefit from the inserts/joints is their ability to rotate on the threads if under enough torsional load. But still the drop brackets would alleviate how much torsion the bar would experience by placing it in a better plane to begin with. For me, the ideal set up would be to place a "raising" bracket on the axle and still have an adjustable length panhard rod.

[Riad]

Well, I actually thought the rear rod is solid and the front is not .

Neverthless, the solid rods that MAF has, they are died,almost just like I said in my post #1. Except, I was thinking of utilizing a tube by tapping it. I think I also saw similar rods on SOR site. But that would only work for the solid rod. As for the rear, I like what is done in that link you posted Mike. Thanks for the link. I think I'm going to do that. Now as for the load, I was hoping some one could chime in and point out whether it's a good idea or not.

[TiredIronGRB]

Originally Posted by Riad

Well, I actually thought the rear rod is solid and the front is not .

Nope, get the Slee DIY and forget it

[sleeoffroad]

Do you have left and right hand taps for this? Also, I doubt that the stock material tapped will last very long. The threads will wear out and you will get clunking unless you can me sure that the locknuts keep the joints from moving.

[Riad]

Thanks for chiming in Christo. Yes, I have the tap (and die) tools. I was thinking exactly what you are saying. If the lock nuts are loose, in theory, that clunking would happen to any drag link(s)/joint(s) with threads, right? Now if the threads wear out, then I guess it doesn't really matter how tight the lock nuts are. They will come loose more often. It can be fatal over time too. Is that why it is necessary to weld in an extra piece with threads and sleevs? That would make sense. So I guess all those after market solid rods out there are better materiala than the stock rods. Otherwise, those would have the same problem of worn out threads and clunking.
Am I right?

[Riad]

OK I have finished the rear. I like it . The upper end thread is permanently welded to the tube adapter. With the Jam nut it is extra strong. Only the lower (longer end) portion of the panhard rod is adjustable. It's all RH thread, 3/4"-16 thread, about 1ft long. The thread is stainless steel. I'm still going to get some garden hose type stuff and wrap up the exposed part of thread with some oil or something.