Pulling panhard bar to change the bushings...should front axle be on jack stands or no?

[Arizona Wilderness]

I watched a few Youtube videos. The first one by Azcruiser ( How to: Install Adjustable Panhard bars (80 Series Toyota Land Cruiser) ) I couldn't understand if he was lifting it or not, or what he was saying about alignment if left the wheels on the floor. The second one at the end 10:35 Now playing Watch later Watch later Add to queue Add to queue made me think it doesn't matter?
I've already got it jacked up. The problem is I don't really understand what the panhard bar does.

 

[SpenserAK]

The problem is I don't really understand what the panhard bar does.

Sets the lateral position of a solid axle & controls its side-to-side movement as it moves up & down with the suspension. Also called a trackbar, as it allows the axle to vertically “track” properly (at least that’s how I think of it).

 

[Arizona Wilderness]

Taking a look, thanks

 

[Arizona Wilderness]

Well my mind is blown now, but...

 

[Arizona Wilderness]

Is the answer that, I should jack from the bottom of the pumpkin to halfway between full bump and full droop?

 

[SpenserAK]

Jacking the axle up doesn’t change the position/state of the suspension, it will simply lift the whole vehicle up. The short version is, if you’re simply replacing the panhard bushings, all you need to do is park the truck on level ground, remove the bar, put new bushings in, and reinstall the bar. As seen in the video, after reinstalling one end of the bar, you might need help shifting the vehicle in order to get the other end aligned.

The longer version starts with saying I’m not an expert on anything, but as you can see in the first video you posted, he doesn’t jack anything up. With the bar removed, the truck is still sitting on the coil springs, with the axle held in place enough by the radius arms. You don’t want to drive it without the panhard installed, but it should be fine sitting there while you get new bushings.

The following is irrelevant to your situation as you’re just replacing bushings, but to explain what he’s doing (and the “alignment” you referred to)... an adjustable-length panhard bar is used to center the axle from side to side, after you lift a vehicle with solid axles. The lift changes the angle of the bar, and thus shifts the axle toward one side, as you can understand from the video I posted. He’s not adding a lift in the video (it’s already lifted), just installing an adjustable bar to move the axle back toward center.

If you look at your front axle and the bar, you can imagine how lengthening the bar would push the axle toward the passenger side, while shortening the bar would pull it toward the driver’s side, hence using an adjustable bar after a lift.

He left wheels on the ground, without jacking anything up, so that the vehicle sits at its natural ride-height (suspension is neither compressed nor drooping) - this is so when he installs the new adjustable bar and changes its length to center the axle, it will be centered at normal ride height.

Take a shot every time I say “bar”

 

[Arizona Wilderness]

Jacking the axle up doesn’t change the position/state of the suspension, it will simply lift the whole vehicle up. The short version is, if you’re simply replacing the panhard bushings, all you need to do is park the truck, remove the bar, put new bushings in, and reinstall the bar. After reinstalling one end of the bar, you might need help shifting things to get the second bolt aligned, if the vehicle shifted at all when the bar was removed.

The longer version starts with saying I’m not an expert on anything, but as you can see in the first video you posted, he doesn’t jack anything up. With the bar removed, the truck is still sitting on the coil springs, with the axle held in place by the radius arms. You wouldn’t want to drive it without the panhard installed, but it should be fine sitting there while you get new bushings.

The following is irrelevant to your situation as you’re just replacing bushings, but to explain what he’s doing... an adjustable-length panhard bar is used to center the axle from side to side, after you lift a vehicle with solid axles. The lift changes the angle of the bar, and thus shifts the axle toward one side, as you can understand from the video I posted. He’s not adding a lift in the video (it’s already lifted), just installing an adjustable bar to move the axle back toward center.

If you look at your front axle and the bar, you can imagine how lengthening the bar would push the axle toward the passenger side, while shortening the bar would pull it toward the driver’s side, hence using an adjustable bar.

He left wheels on the ground, without jacking anything up, so that the vehicle sits at its natural ride-height (suspension is neither compressed nor drooping) - this is so when he installs the new adjustable bar and changes its length to center the axle, it will be centered at normal ride height.

Awesome. Great technical writing.

I wasn't sure if it was under load, or which way.

Thank you!

 

[SpenserAK]

The springs are under load, but that’s okay for this job. The bar is not really, there may just be a little shifting side-to-side when it’s uninstalled. You can see his friend pushing the truck from the side so the second end of the bar aligns with the bolt hole.

 

[Arizona Wilderness]

Since I already put the front axle up on jack stands, is there any drawback to me removing the panhard bar with it up on jack stands--he says something about alignment(?)--so I can have a little more room to work?

 

[SpenserAK]

Looks like you quoted my long post before I made a couple small adjustments - his alignment comment is part of what I was saying about having the vehicle at normal ride-height when re-centering the axle with an adjustable panhard, which doesn’t apply in your case with a non-adjustable bar.

I’d do it with tires on the ground so it’s more stabile, especially if you need to shift the vehicle when reinstalling the bar. Maybe not likely to be an issue on stands but shouldn’t be necessary. If it really feels too cramped and you want it on stands, keep it as minimal as possible, be careful and make sure they’re placed well so the vehicle is secure.

 

[Arizona Wilderness]

Looks like you quoted my long post before I made a couple small adjustments - his alignment comment is part of what I was saying about having the vehicle at normal ride-height when re-centering the axle with an adjustable panhard, which doesn’t apply in your case with a non-adjustable bar.

Personally I’d prefer to do it with tires on the ground, so it’s more stable if you need to shift the vehicle when reinstalling the bar. May not be an issue, that’s just how I would do it, but I’m also lifted with bigger tires and have plenty of room. If it feels too cramped and you want it on stands, just be careful and make sure they’re placed well so the vehicle is secure.

Thanks bro! Owe u a beer if you're ever near Peoria, AZ!

 

[sunrk]

Should be no need to jack anything up to get the panhard rod out at the front or the rear. Main thing is to park on as level a surface as you can since without the panhard fitted there's nothing to keep the body/chassis 'centred' with the relevant axle/diff assembly.

Re-fitting should be just as easy. Just ensure that the bolts are torqued back up to factory spec (or if you use anti-sieze, factory spec less 30 percent).

Ensure the new bushes are pressed in evenly at each end and all should be well. If the panhard is an adjustable type, take the opportunity to check the positioning and adjust if necessary.

 

[Rusty Marlin]

As above, with the cavate, you might need a ratchet strap or some other way to pull the body and axle ends of the panhard mounts toward each other to line up the bolts.

 

[lumbee1]

I used the Toyota tool to install and set the length of my adjustable panhard.

 

[jht3]

I used the Toyota tool to install and set the length of my adjustable panhard.

but were the tires on the ground or jacked up?

 

[lumbee1]

but were the tires on the ground or jacked up?

On the ground. The jack allows for serious fine tuning of the side to side movement of the body over the axles.