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:whoops: your right I missed the keyword, "not", edited it.
MAF rear Drop bracket issue
- Thread starter landtank
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:whoops: your right I missed the keyword, "not", edited it.
Sorry, didnt realise you were working to such a tight budget, as to use an add on bracket you werent happy with instead.
Looking at the nice undamaged tyre tread blocks, and the clean undamaged undercarraige though, Id say your add on bracket is fine for on the road.
Now you got me deep
What´s s the minimum lift that requires the panhard dropdown bracket ?
I never was quite happy with my 80 handling after lifted. Now that I recall it was harder to control when turning to the right at high speed.
On my case I got 863´s but carry at least 300 pounds of extra weight like my aux gas tank, rear bull bar and the 60 qts Engel refrigerator full of
so I guess mine have about 2" lift when loaded !!!!!
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- Thread starter
- #25
Sorry, didnt realise you were working to such a tight budget, as to use an add on bracket you werent happy with instead.
Looking at the nice undamaged tyre tread blocks, and the clean undamaged undercarraige though, Id say your add on bracket is fine for on the road.
I don't mind spending money where money is needed. My only gripe with the bracket was that it was built wrong. Once I corrected that it worked great.
Draw whatever conclusions you want from what you see but I'm not in a rocky enviroment for the most part and that was an old post.
- Thread starter
- #26
It's a Slee 4" lift. At that height the axle is like 1" displaced and needs to be addressed.
I think MAF has both 3" and this 4" drop bracket. I'd still do it again, I really think this is a good solution.
I am doing this on a 3.5" lift. I rock crawl and for the most part I hate drop down brackets simply because of the clearance loss. But, the panhard bracket is just not exposed, and unlike Jeeps, it is already a monster bracket triangulated to the frame. That's one of the things I love about the 80 - you have options like this that can actually make sense simply due to the strength of the underlying platform.
I don't have a rear swaybar drop kit, so the swaybar is rotated down and behind the pumpkin. I don't have a problem dragging on it, so I don't know how I'd manage to catch the panhard bracket, but it sure will be an ugly day if I ever pull that one off.
I don't have a rear swaybar drop kit, so the swaybar is rotated down and behind the pumpkin. I don't have a problem dragging on it, so I don't know how I'd manage to catch the panhard bracket, but it sure will be an ugly day if I ever pull that one off.
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Roberto,
I wasn't happy with the way my truck handled with the 850J/863J until I added Slee's panhard rod adjusters. After installing them my rig was back riding on tracks.
Regards
Alvaro
I wasn't happy with the way my truck handled with the 850J/863J until I added Slee's panhard rod adjusters. After installing them my rig was back riding on tracks.
Regards
Alvaro
Now you got me deep
What´s s the minimum lift that requires the panhard dropdown bracket ?
I never was quite happy with my 80 handling after lifted. Now that I recall it was harder to control when turning to the right at high speed.
On my case I got 863´s but carry at least 300 pounds of extra weight like my aux gas tank, rear bull bar and the 60 qts Engel refrigerator full of
Well, the MAF bracket's still have an issue, but it's maybe not a bad thing.
Rick's bracket in post #3 has a good slope to the angle cut on the right hand side, but mine was so minor that it didn't align with the greater angle of the stock bracket. So the mounting hole was still to the side just like in Rick's pics above with zero improvement over stock mounting. So I have had to cut and grind an increase in the angle so the bolt hole is aligned to the stock hole, but that's not really a big deal as it just means I have customized the bracket to my stock mount shape and lift height at the cost of an hour of my life
.
The bigger issue is the alignment hole for the brace that ultimately sets the entire setup and determines the true axle alignment. That overlap weld is going to be fun to drill, and only one side of the the brace will be flush with the bracket once it's done. I think that adding some material in there and welding once it is bolted up is going to be in order...but the net is I will have a zero angle panhard and properly aligned axle for $100 using rubber bushings, so no complaints as long as the whole thing is rigid as it should be.
It all depends what you want - something of a PITA to install, but I'll post driving impressions once I get that hole drilled tomorrow (need a new 1/2" bit).
Rick's bracket in post #3 has a good slope to the angle cut on the right hand side, but mine was so minor that it didn't align with the greater angle of the stock bracket. So the mounting hole was still to the side just like in Rick's pics above with zero improvement over stock mounting. So I have had to cut and grind an increase in the angle so the bolt hole is aligned to the stock hole, but that's not really a big deal as it just means I have customized the bracket to my stock mount shape and lift height at the cost of an hour of my life
.The bigger issue is the alignment hole for the brace that ultimately sets the entire setup and determines the true axle alignment. That overlap weld is going to be fun to drill, and only one side of the the brace will be flush with the bracket once it's done. I think that adding some material in there and welding once it is bolted up is going to be in order...but the net is I will have a zero angle panhard and properly aligned axle for $100 using rubber bushings, so no complaints as long as the whole thing is rigid as it should be.
It all depends what you want - something of a PITA to install, but I'll post driving impressions once I get that hole drilled tomorrow (need a new 1/2" bit).
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Thanks Alvaro.
Did you replace both of them or only rear ?
Any tips to adjust it once got it installed ?
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Roberto,
I replaced both of them.
Just make sure you get a nice weld and that the nut on the adjuster is nice and tight.
More pics here
Regards
Alvaro
I replaced both of them.
Just make sure you get a nice weld and that the nut on the adjuster is nice and tight.
More pics here
Regards
Alvaro
Nay, any photos of what you are talking about?
I'm considering the drop bracket and the adjustable link. I think it will give the ultimate in tuning, plus, if i ever decide to go to 6 inches it will still be OK.
I'm considering the drop bracket and the adjustable link. I think it will give the ultimate in tuning, plus, if i ever decide to go to 6 inches it will still be OK.
- Thread starter
- #34
There was no directions with my bracket, just an invoice 
.
What I did was to loosely assemble the bracket so I could get an idea where that hole needed to be drilled in the factory seem and then used a 4" grinder to smooth it out a little to make center punching the hole easier.
Once this was done I centered the axle by placing wood between the tire and frame to hold things in place while I drilled the hole.
Everything worked just fine.
.What I did was to loosely assemble the bracket so I could get an idea where that hole needed to be drilled in the factory seem and then used a 4" grinder to smooth it out a little to make center punching the hole easier.
Once this was done I centered the axle by placing wood between the tire and frame to hold things in place while I drilled the hole.
Everything worked just fine.
Same here, no directions. I used a hand winch to center the axle and line everything up, and actually had no problems at all drilling the hole by starting small and going up in 1/16th increments until I was past 1/4". What happened to mine I think is my stock bracket wasn't totally flush, and tightening the bolt allowed the brace to slide back a bit as the two surfaces pulled together.
CJ, what I am talking about in terms of the MAF bracket being off can be seen if you look at Alvaro's mount in the pic above your post - you can see that the stock mount has a bend halfway up the passenger side back in to the frame. The MAF bracket needs that exact shape to hang straight down, and it wasn't enough of an angle, so I had to cut it. No big deal, just some extra work.
In the long run I may well just have the axle side raised and go back to stock mount on the frame end. I definitely like the horizontal panhard and will keep that design. Dropping the frame end does lower the roll axis (as well as the mount and panhard itself), so raising the axle end is the best solution and it could probably be done by centering the axle and tack welding on a new mount, pulling the panhard and welding it up with a brace back to the axle tube. Very simple stuff for a fabrication shop - probably less than $100.
Again, I wouldn't say this is necessary in any way, but you can keep a horizontal panhard for less $$$ than an adjustable and there is no major reason I can see to need to upgrade the panhard itself, so it is definitely a sensible approach if you want to spend the time.
CJ, what I am talking about in terms of the MAF bracket being off can be seen if you look at Alvaro's mount in the pic above your post - you can see that the stock mount has a bend halfway up the passenger side back in to the frame. The MAF bracket needs that exact shape to hang straight down, and it wasn't enough of an angle, so I had to cut it. No big deal, just some extra work.
In the long run I may well just have the axle side raised and go back to stock mount on the frame end. I definitely like the horizontal panhard and will keep that design. Dropping the frame end does lower the roll axis (as well as the mount and panhard itself), so raising the axle end is the best solution and it could probably be done by centering the axle and tack welding on a new mount, pulling the panhard and welding it up with a brace back to the axle tube. Very simple stuff for a fabrication shop - probably less than $100.
Again, I wouldn't say this is necessary in any way, but you can keep a horizontal panhard for less $$$ than an adjustable and there is no major reason I can see to need to upgrade the panhard itself, so it is definitely a sensible approach if you want to spend the time.