Adjustable Front Panhard Bar Options

[Walking Eagle]

Ok, since I found out the front bar is solid, it makes doing it myself a little more troublesome - more troublesome than I think I really want to mess with. So what are my options?

1. Slee adjustable panhard bar - $215

2. Slee weld in do-it-yourself panhard bar - $105

3. MAF adjustable panhard bar - $275

4. Spector Off Road $401 for set- front and back

5?

Are there any other options?

 

[landtank]

MAF used to make a drop bracket for the front pan hard rod

 

[calstyl2]

MAF also used to make a drop bracket for the front pan hard rod

discontinued and was a POS, I never could get the front or rear to line up to OEM spec, caused me lots of grief


SOR has them too

 

[landtank]

discontinued and was a POS, I never could get the front or rear to line up to OEM spec, caused me lots of grief


SOR has them too

I have the rear one and it worked out real well for me but you had to be on top of your game to get it installed correctly because it wasn't as easy as bolting it in place.

For the front i like the DIY kit from Slee. No fancy joints and stock bushings. It cost me 60.00 to have a pro cut and weld it in place.

 

[Walking Eagle]

MAF used to make a drop bracket for the front pan hard rod

Ya', I skipped over that one on purpose. The drop bracket for the rear panhard rod makes sense, but the some of the arguments against the front one as far as it throwing off the angle of the steering rod seemed to make sense.

 

[Nay]

What you have to consider is your flex goals. If you are going to 3 link the front end, then I'd do with the MAF bar. I run the 4+ in the rear and love it. I'm just not a huge fan of poly et. al. in suspension links, although if you keep the stock front end then there is no benefit to the MAF except you have one completely rigid bushing and one rubber, and that might add a bit of stability.

What you don't get with the weld in is new bushings, and I think that's worth the extra $$$. So for me, it's Slee or MAF, and the extra spend on MAF depends on my other goals. That MAF joint is going to take more grit up front, so wear and tear is maybe a greater concern and I'd probably only do it in conjunction with a redesigned front end.

As others have said, if you drop the mount you'll get bumpsteer. Even in the rear don't do the drop bracket - it's too much loss of clearance since you are trying to build a more serious offroad rig.

#5 is a DIY bar with a heim (spherical rod end) joint on both ends. That takes all rubber out of the system and is nice for extra rigidity for big tires. Only issue is figuring out how much lift you will have and whether you still need that bend. If you need the bend, probably not worth the effort. I'd just ask MAF to put a rod end in both sides and spend the extra coin at that point.

 

[80jay]

I have the SOR adj panhards and love them they are both solid front and back and adjustable up to 6" of lift.

 

[Tapage]

Toughdog from Australia . ?

Anycase I thought the MAF rear drop braket it's a great option .. I was talking with Steve in novermber and he said, they would do it again ..

 

[landtank]

Even in the rear don't do the drop bracket - it's too much loss of clearance

Sorry for the hi jack but would you explain this.

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Sorry for the hi jack but would you explain this.

x2... I be confused, Nay.

 

[Walking Eagle]

I'm really cofused by Nay - I don't get the whole poly comparison with MAF and Slee and the MAF joint. Am I missing something here, they both look like they have the same bushings. They actually look like they're both sourcing them from the same place down under, not saying they are, just saying if you didn't know who used a blue background for their photos, and who uses white, you'd be hard pressed to tell these apart. I think Nay is 1/2 talking about panhards, and 1/2 talking about lower rear control arms, as MAF's do have a spherical on one end of those.

 

[ncrockinfj]

I have the MAF adjustable panhard bar and am completely happy thus far (about a week now) so not too long yet I would recommend it.... for now

 

[Trinny]

I vote for the Slee DIY adjusters. It's the cheapest option and is equally as realiable/adjustable as the ready made units. I don't understand the argument for new bushings in this application.

 

[calstyl2]

When I had the MAF drop brackets for the panhards as my suspension compressed as street speeds I could feel the entire truck do a crab walk as each axle moved sideways, I did not dig that going through dips at speed,
From what I have seen the Slee bars and the SOR bars I put on are both made in Oz by the same place

 

[Walking Eagle]

I vote for the Slee DIY adjusters. It's the cheapest option and is equally as realiable/adjustable as the ready made units. I don't understand the argument for new bushings in this application.

Well, my truck is pushing 200K - so new bushings wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

[landtank]

When I had the MAF drop brackets for the panhards as my suspension compressed as street speeds I could feel the entire truck do a crab walk as each axle moved sideways, I did not dig that going through dips at speed,
From what I have seen the Slee bars and the SOR bars I put on are both made in Oz by the same place

the bracket for the rear panhard actually eliminates this over the adjustable one. That is do to the fact that the panhard is more horizontal with the bracket. I think you conclusion to your problem is incorrect.

 

[landtank]

Well, my truck is pushing 200K - so new bushings wouldn't be a bad idea.

Yes but most likely not needed for a some time.

 

[landtank]

I'm really cofused by Nay - I don't get the whole poly comparison with MAF and Slee and the MAF joint. Am I missing something here,

Nay might have been refering to MAF 4+ panhards. They are a completely different animal and have some spherical joint at one end.

Personally if you want the adjustable panhard to work better during flex you can just leave the lock nut loose so it can rotate on the threads.

 

[Nay]

Sorry for the hi jack but would you explain this.

I had a MAF drop bracket briefly installed. When you compress the passenger side of the suspension, that bracket drops down an additional 4" behind the axle, where it can hit the rocks if you rock crawl.

I flexed it up prior to a Moab trip and was uncomfortable with the loss of clearance on a bracket that is not braced to take potential heavy impacts. It was an unlikely area to hit hard, but possible.

If I was going to adapt the bracket, I would raise the axle bracket via custom fabrication. You are then raising roll axis, but be careful based on your suspension that you have clearance to the frame at full compression.

 

[Nay]

Nay might have been refering to MAF 4+ panhards. They are a completely different animal and have some spherical joint at one end.

Personally if you want the adjustable panhard to work better during flex you can just leave the lock nut loose so it can rotate on the threads.

Yes, the 4+.

4+Plus 80 Series Super HD Adjustable Rear Panhard Rod

Unbelievably, the regular poly cost as much as these...it's a no brainer to go 4+ if you are going MAF. MAF's poly used to be $199...I wonder if that is an error.

Ignore LT's suggestion to just run a poly bushing on the threads with a loosened nut for more flex . I have seen this approach in the past and it may not wear well and if not will get noisy.

There is a front panhard with spherical bearing - if you will be modifying the front end I recommend this approach highly.

I have also run the Slee panhard, which was fine. I thought it was causing some noise in the poly bushings, which is why I went MAF, but it was something else. I have a bias against plastic bushings just because I have tried so many times to make them work without any long term success. The new polyester Slee bushings may in fact prove to match rubber, but at the end of the day plastic has a singular proven advantage: short term cost.

I was concerned about the spherical bearing getting noisy, but so far after 8 months zero issues with zero maintenance. But I still run a stock front panhard - only the rear is 4+. On a 3.5" lift, the angle of the panhards is so minimal that they don't cause any issues. I'd raise the rear mount with a MAF 4+ bar if I was planning a 7" lift and say 40" tires.

In other lines of modified rigs, you see people who are getting hardcore with trail biased rigs go to fairly big lengths to get "bushings" out of the system entirely, because they are pushing the limits of any kind of bushing flex in terms of durability/reliability and at some point the movement a bushing allows in flex it will also allow in deflection in trying to control very large tires on the highway. That is why johnny joints are very popular, and these MAF 4+ joints built into the arm end are perhaps an even better solution when you look at the load ratings of a spherical end of that size.

If you are really headed this way and moving to say a 14" travel shock, it will be worth assessing all of these links up front before you start spending coin you may be likely to spend twice.