as i posted before, after the FJ80 coil spring swap, i got way too much lift than i intended for. also, the body shift bothers me too. i went to Downey Off-Road, bought their 3" panhard drop braket kit.
i searched around the forums for how to do the panhard bracket before but not much of info could be found. so i'll do a lttle write-up, hopefully will help someone down the road.
my writting is kinda rough, so be prepaired.
ok, here is the before
tools needed:
various socket wrenches,
a punch, or a large screw driver,
floor jack, jack stands,
corded or cordless drill with 3/8 drill bit.
small hammer,
very very importantly, a quality set of tie-down.
pre-installation:
PB-Blast'd the bolts 'n nuts on the parhard rod, passenger side shock. drove for couple days and re-spray. the bracket itself from Downey had metal finish, i spray painted it with 2 layers of primer and 2 layers of black matte, just give it more resistance on rust. you let leave it as-is, should be fine, too.
installation:
1. losen up the passenger side rear tire lug nuts, then jack up the rear axle. take off wheel.
2. remove the bottom bolt on the passenger side shock. i had these new shocks put in just few weeks ago, so the bolt came off easily. for you have rusted ones, be careful. with the shock out of the way, it's much easier to work on the bracket.
3. adjust the jack and jack stands: driver side high, passenger side low. that way, the panhard rod has less tension on it.
4. un-bolt the panhard rod, and punch out the bolt with a small hammer, nothing will fly.
5. put the bracket in temperarely, with the stock bolt. mark the location of the holding bolt hole using the bracket as templet, take the bracket out, drill the hole on the frame. location is not critical, as long as you can put the bolt(comes with the bracket) through. put bracket back in for the last time, bolt on. don't tighten it all the way down, do it later. fail to do so, it will cause the bracket too narrow to fit the panhard rod.
6. ok, here comes the hard part, putting the panhard rod back on, specially i'm doing it all by myself. that's where i spent most of the time scratching my head. because it seems the rod is half inch too short, and no matter what i do, it wound line up with the bracket. finially, i got a great idea. i use a set of good 1500lbs rated tie-down to pull the bracket and the rod closer, using the tie-down's rachet to get where exactly i need it to be. pi-cia-cake.
7. tighten the bolts in this order: rear shock bottom bolt, panhard rod bolt, bracket bolt, holding bolt. basically, from bottom to the top.
8. relase the tie-down, raise the passenger side jack, mount the tire.
here is the after:
i'm going to swap the springs to OME's, which are 2" shorter than the FJ80's. the panhard rod should be right where it should be after that.
i did it in about an hour, without wasting my time on how to re-connect the panhard rod, you should have it finished in 40 minutes.
i searched around the forums for how to do the panhard bracket before but not much of info could be found. so i'll do a lttle write-up, hopefully will help someone down the road.
my writting is kinda rough, so be prepaired.
ok, here is the before
tools needed:
various socket wrenches,
a punch, or a large screw driver,
floor jack, jack stands,
corded or cordless drill with 3/8 drill bit.
small hammer,
very very importantly, a quality set of tie-down.
pre-installation:
PB-Blast'd the bolts 'n nuts on the parhard rod, passenger side shock. drove for couple days and re-spray. the bracket itself from Downey had metal finish, i spray painted it with 2 layers of primer and 2 layers of black matte, just give it more resistance on rust. you let leave it as-is, should be fine, too.
installation:
1. losen up the passenger side rear tire lug nuts, then jack up the rear axle. take off wheel.
2. remove the bottom bolt on the passenger side shock. i had these new shocks put in just few weeks ago, so the bolt came off easily. for you have rusted ones, be careful. with the shock out of the way, it's much easier to work on the bracket.
3. adjust the jack and jack stands: driver side high, passenger side low. that way, the panhard rod has less tension on it.
4. un-bolt the panhard rod, and punch out the bolt with a small hammer, nothing will fly.
5. put the bracket in temperarely, with the stock bolt. mark the location of the holding bolt hole using the bracket as templet, take the bracket out, drill the hole on the frame. location is not critical, as long as you can put the bolt(comes with the bracket) through. put bracket back in for the last time, bolt on. don't tighten it all the way down, do it later. fail to do so, it will cause the bracket too narrow to fit the panhard rod.
6. ok, here comes the hard part, putting the panhard rod back on, specially i'm doing it all by myself. that's where i spent most of the time scratching my head. because it seems the rod is half inch too short, and no matter what i do, it wound line up with the bracket. finially, i got a great idea. i use a set of good 1500lbs rated tie-down to pull the bracket and the rod closer, using the tie-down's rachet to get where exactly i need it to be. pi-cia-cake.
7. tighten the bolts in this order: rear shock bottom bolt, panhard rod bolt, bracket bolt, holding bolt. basically, from bottom to the top.
8. relase the tie-down, raise the passenger side jack, mount the tire.
here is the after:
i'm going to swap the springs to OME's, which are 2" shorter than the FJ80's. the panhard rod should be right where it should be after that.
i did it in about an hour, without wasting my time on how to re-connect the panhard rod, you should have it finished in 40 minutes.
