[5window]

My '31 Ford coupe has a Panhard bar that extends from the frame to a bracket attached to the differential through several of the cover bolts. Unfortunately, the bracket is a little too tall and hits the trunk floor pan on rough roads. The easiest solution, I think is to remove the bracket,shorten it and remount the Panhard bar. However, if I do that, the bar which is now parallel to the axles will be at an angle. How critical is this, since the bar arcs through a range of angles as the axle and frame move with the road conditions? Can I just ignore the initial resting angle since it will change with movement anyway? Second, I am not experienced in differentials. If I remove three bolts from the cover to take off the bracket is it going to leak fluid all over everything? Any brighter ideas? Thanks.

[Frisco]

Originally posted by 5window
The easiest solution, I think is to remove the bracket,shorten it and remount the Panhard bar. However, if I do that, the bar which is now parallel to the axles will be at an angle. How critical is this, since the bar arcs through a range of angles as the axle and frame move with the road conditions? If I remove three bolts from the cover to take off the bracket is it going to leak fluid all over everything?

You can shorten the bracket. If you have the room; bend the panhard bar (Z shape) to enable it to still be parallel. If you are unable to do that it will still work OK at an angle.

Removing the three nuts to take the bracket off should not result in any leaks.

[proxyjebus]

If you are shortening the bracket remember to relocate it because if your panhard bar is reaching at more of a vertical angle, then that means the bracket needs to be moved over slightly after you shorten it. It may not seem like much but if you just connect the panhard bar to the bracket in the same place after it has been shortened, it will pull your axel over to the one side a bit.


and who said trolls don't know anything