I’m not a mechanic (take that into consideration if you use these notes-these are not instructions, don’t take them as advice or a recommendation…mess with your car at your own risk)
When I work on something mechanical I try to make notes partly so if I ever have to do it again I have VERY detailed notes oriented around a beginners understanding…also it reduces irritation as the project isn’t just about fixing/improving/maintaining…it’s also about creating notes someone else (or I later) may use.
I recently read about the drkdss “
Notes follow
After a few days:
-The vehicle’s “suspension lean” seems to be gone
-it goes into low mode without stuttering or having trouble settling
-it seems to handle better
-the suspension seems to be better damped
Could be placebo but I don’t think so
When I work on something mechanical I try to make notes partly so if I ever have to do it again I have VERY detailed notes oriented around a beginners understanding…also it reduces irritation as the project isn’t just about fixing/improving/maintaining…it’s also about creating notes someone else (or I later) may use.
I recently read about the drkdss “
BOLT ON TRACKBAR CORRECTION KIT “
And noted that with my build, the vehicle feels less stable at 75+ mph than I would like. It’s doable…but not great. I do have full bumpers, sliders, a roof rack, snorkel, sensor lift, taller driver side rear coil, coil spacers, 35’s etc though so it may just be that…but I figured this TRACKBAR kit made sense since my panhard was at an angle…and post install it does seem flatter sort of like what the Dr kdss website shows.Notes follow
- Place vehicle in neutral height
- Remove spare tire
- Break 19mm bolt on driver side panhard loose…needed 15/16 shallow well, swivel, and Impact wrench. Very very high torque, couldnt readily manage this by hand.
- Break passenger panhard bar loose (same 15/16…no bolt on the back of this one though)
- Strap panhard up and out of way
- Slide panhard back bracket in…according to instructions might have to bend stock panhard bracket w a (12”) crescent wrench to get it in there…if so, bend it back afterwards using the standard bolt…this didn’t really work for me except to bend the top half of the bracket. I had to spend 5 minutes w a dremel removing material from the new inner bracket to get it in there…then I painted the affected metal and I bent my bracket back into place using the oem bolt (relatively soft metal)
- (Potentially not in Mr. kdss instructions) remove 2 14mm bolts that hold your sway bar to axle on passenger rear side. You’ll likely need a deep well 14mm later when you use a torque wrench to put these back, but shallow 14 works here.
- Put new main panhard bracket on and thread new provided long bolt in just a few threads
- Blue (or red 1 drop) loctite the oem m10 bolts and loosely put those in the bottom through the sway bar bracket and new panhard bracket (I reused the oem lx570 bolts…they’re longer than those Mr. kdss provided…though not by much…the 3-4 end most threads on these bolts do completely penetrate the oem swaybar bracket even with the new panhard bracket in there…meaning the oem ones appear to be long enough to not have issues with this application)
- New panhard bracket Side bolt next. Loosely thread
- Main factory track bar bolt to insert track bar into new bracket at the new increased height (I used the shorty bracket rather than the one with two holes since I’ve just got a sensor lift).
- Blue (or red 1 drop) loctite and loosely thread provided 21mm nut nut to hold panhard at new higher level w the old oem panhard bolt.
- Snug all bolts (don’t torque yet)
- Main (upper) original panhard bolt/provided nut gets 120 lbs…this is tough…there’s a way to get an open ended 21mm wrench (I used one with a wobble closed head pressed against the body so I could later wobble the head to get the wrench out after torqued) to pinion itself against the body of the vehicle without damaging any ahc lines (there’s one that’s close)
- Bottom bolts 50 lbs each (I used oem lx swaybar bolts used rather than those provided as they were longer…upon inspection, threads on the oem lx570 bolts are all the way through and just visible within the axle swaybar bracket…meaning we likely don’t lose any bite from the oem bolts even going through this new panhard bracket).
- Side bolt 120 lbs
- Main track at bolt 120 lbs
- Paint mark bolts
- Tighten driver side track bar bolt/nut again
- Paint mark your bolts so you know if they loosen
- Reinstall your spare tire
After a few days:
-The vehicle’s “suspension lean” seems to be gone
-it goes into low mode without stuttering or having trouble settling
-it seems to handle better
-the suspension seems to be better damped
Could be placebo but I don’t think so
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