datsunfreak Posted July 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, datsunfreak said: I think a better cost/benefit could be to either build a much longer panhard rod, or possibly switch to a "j bar" panhard rod? Aaaaaand after reading way too much about how J bars work, not doing that... 😄 Edited July 25, 2020 by datsunfreak Quote Link to comment
Aibast Posted July 26, 2020 Report Share Posted July 26, 2020 My Toyota Starlet has a barnhard rod that is on the same level as the rear axel itself. Side do side movement is minimal. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, Aibast said: My Toyota Starlet has a barnhard rod that is on the same level as the rear axel itself. Side do side movement is minimal. These are designed to go up a bit at rest to minimize movement on compression. If they are dead flat when at static ride height, the movement will be greater on compression. Why I was thinking a J-bar would be better is that it would allow me to keep stock Explorer rear sway bar set up. As it stands now, there's a strong chance the panhard rod could contact the sway bar on compression. Edited July 27, 2020 by datsunfreak Quote Link to comment
Aibast Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 this is Volvo 200-900 series setup. They move around alot. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 16 hours ago, Aibast said: this is Volvo 200-900 series setup. They move around alot. Yeah, stock bars in the Galaxies do move quite a bit. Probably less so in this particular car. 😁 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2020 Got some 2x6 box yesterday and made the upper mount. Hoping to get it zooked on Saturday. Then we should be ready to test fit it in the car... 👍 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted August 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2020 Tim did some more welding for me on Saturday, this time with sleeves... All done, cleaned, and painted... And the cleaning and painting got a little out of control... Tim has convinced me we need to add some reinforcement to the panhard rod mount, and I don't disagree, but we also ran out of argon... 😁 So the test fit may have to wait a few weeks... 👍 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted August 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2020 (edited) On the bottom of the upper control arm mount we found out the hard way that it fouls the rear sway bar when it moves through its arc. We trimmed a bit off the side that fouls thinking it was "enough", but it still isn't ideal. So we cut a small piece of steel plate that will get welded in here like this, then after that we can grind a wee bit more off that right corner for even better sway bar clearance. The smaller square you see there is a magnet holding it in place, so it can be tack welded. This will also help box it in for more strength. There are lots of sideways load forces on this section of the mount, because panhard rod... Awhile back when we were converting Tim's monster truck 1200 to a 4-link, we ended up with some leftover bits. He has ever so graciously donated those to this project so that gets me a big head start on building the control arms I need. The two long rods you see here will be the lower control arms (just need two left-handed heim joints), and the other bits will be used to build a super beefy panhard rod. So I need to get some steel pipe to build that, and enough bits to make the upper control arm... And as it turns out, it can be important to pay attention when you are taking stuff apart... 😅 I have been building everything on the rear end to use standard 5/8" heim joints, meaning they need 5/8" bolts to attach them to whatever you are bolting them to. Well, I didn't really notice that all the stock control arms use 1/2" bolts. Which means the holes in the frame end of things are all too small. I thought, "no biggie, I'll just drill them out bigger to use 5/8" bolts". Except some of them are impossible to get at with a drill. So instead, Tim had the bright idea to use heim joints with a 5/8" male screw in bit, but a 1/2" hole in the joint. And as it happens, he had one of those in the leftovers pile. So what we are going to do is build the arms where they all have 5/8" mounting holes on the axle end, and 1/2" holes on the frame end... 👍 In fact, if you look closely at those panhard rod bits in the above photo, you can see one has a slightly smaller mounting hole in it... 😁 Edited August 6, 2020 by datsunfreak 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted August 7, 2020 Report Share Posted August 7, 2020 Another factor John didn't mention above is, all of those 1/2" Heims are going to be the left hand thread joints. That way it will be impossible to install the rods the wrong way round and all of them will adjust the same way (ie. right twist in/left twist out... or vice versa, however they wind up on the car). Occasionally, our heads are used for more than just hat racks! 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted August 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2020 Still waiting on argon to finish the welds, but I decided to make one more brace for the lolz.... 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted August 13, 2020 Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 On 8/6/2020 at 9:45 AM, datsunfreak said: We... we welded that on straight, did we not? Onnacounta it looks crooked as hell in these pictures! On 8/10/2020 at 2:25 PM, datsunfreak said: Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted August 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 1 hour ago, dimlight65 said: We... we welded that on straight, did we not? Onnacounta it looks crooked as hell in these pictures! Optical illusion due to parallax view, compounded by wide angle lens that tends to "flare" things out. Trust me, it's straight. Ish. 😁 It helps to view it from slightly farther away... On 8/3/2020 at 11:42 AM, datsunfreak said: All done, cleaned, and painted... And the cleaning and painting got a little out of control... Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted August 14, 2020 Report Share Posted August 14, 2020 Nice, I need a bench I can weld axles on 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted August 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2020 On 8/13/2020 at 11:09 PM, ]2eDeYe said: Nice, I need a bench I can weld axles on It's a handy thing to have around... 😁 Speaking of which, I finally got some argon Friday, so Tim boxed in that mount for me... Got that cleaned and painted, then moved it outside to prep for install... I was also able to get the bits I needed to finish making the control arms... And some pipe to make a panhard rod... Hoping to get the axle in place, and the control arms mounted, on Wednesday. That way I can measure for the panhard rod and build it, then measure and see what length the springs need to be. 👍 4 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted August 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2020 Locating arms in and everything lines up nice... Got my measurements for the panhard rod, so hoping to make that on Saturday morning. Then I need to swap in the new shocks so the axle will stay in there by itself... 😁 We have one new 225 lb spring (leftover from another project) that looks like it's going to work for this, so I am going to order one more. Once that comes in, we can get it back down on the ground and get to work pulling the engine/trans... 👍 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted August 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2020 (edited) Got my measurements for the panhard rod, cut it, then Tim welded it for me... Got it painted, new rod ends installed, then chucked it in... Also installed the new shocks, which took up most of my time. As often goes, it took at least an hour to get the old shocks out, and 3 minutes to put the new ones in... 😃 My other spring should be here by Wednesday, so hopefully we can see if these springs will work for the ride height I want... Also need to remove the stock gas tank to see if we want to relocate it so we can use the Explorer rear sway bar... Edited August 31, 2020 by datsunfreak 3 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted August 31, 2020 Report Share Posted August 31, 2020 9 hours ago, datsunfreak said: Ok, you gotta stop using that fisheye lens! Now that upper link and Panhard mount look all whopper-jawed the other direction! 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted September 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2020 21 hours ago, dimlight65 said: Ok, you gotta stop using that fisheye lens! Now that upper link and Panhard mount look all whopper-jawed the other direction! Buy me a lift. 😁 2 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted September 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2020 (edited) Kept trying to measure to do the alignment, and it was a total pain in the ass. Finally said fuck it and bolted the wheels on. Definitely made it a lot easier to measure how far off I was... The axle needs to come 1/2" to the left, and about 3/4" further back on both sides. Also need to raise the axle around 1.5" before the final measure/adjustment. I definitely want it to be lower than this at static... Edited September 3, 2020 by datsunfreak 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted September 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2020 Alignment did not go off as planned. Forgot I had to do the tedious job of making a dozen or so spacers for the rod ends... So hopefully will get those in Saturday morning and do the alignment... 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted September 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2020 Not sure if I am going to run them yet, but the price was way too cheap to say no. 16" cop steelies with caps... 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted September 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2020 On 9/10/2020 at 5:23 PM, datsunfreak said: Alignment did not go off as planned. Forgot I had to do the tedious job of making a dozen or so spacers for the rod ends... And I totally screwed up my measurements on ALL of those and had to trim all of them 1/4" to fit. Did get them installed and a rough alignment done. Gonna try and dial it in all the way tomorrow... Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted September 24, 2020 Report Share Posted September 24, 2020 Use a brake lathe to cut the faces from the rims then weld them back in deeper so you get some deep dish steelies. 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted September 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2020 17 hours ago, Lockleaf said: Use a brake lathe to cut the faces from the rims then weld them back in deeper so you get some deep dish steelies. I am actually considering this, but getting them welded back together where they spin true seems like a nightmare? If I could come up with a way to jig them in place while welding them together, I might pursue it... The shape of the barrel doesn't allow much change, about 1/2" max. So I think I could move the front out about 1/2" (change it from a +6 offset to a -6), and then flip the rears for a super deep dish (should be around -35 to -40)... Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted September 24, 2020 Report Share Posted September 24, 2020 (edited) Using the brake lathe and an indicator would allow you to square the edge of the rim so its a perfect spin. Then weld in place on the lathe. Long tacks then turn, constantly checking? That's how i intended to do it, but that project died when i realized i had 4x112 or 110 steelies not 4x114. I was going to flip all 4 and have something like 0-6mm offset, iirc Edited September 24, 2020 by Lockleaf Quote Link to comment
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