I was planning on boxing my panhard bar and LCA's as a temperary improvement till I get the money to purchase an aftermarket set. I was thinking of going with 1/16" thick steel to weld to them, would this be adequate, I was also thinking about going with 1/8" but I don't want these things to weigh a ton. What do you guys think I should go with?

 

I would say as thick as the existing metal should be sufficient. Although 1/16 and thicker will give you a good improvement over stock.

 

SLP sells stock production control arms and panhard bars that have been boxed with 1/8" steel and poly bushed.

 

I used the strips of metal they sell at lowes. They are the exact thickness and width you need.

 

I'd say use 1/8 or 3/16. the wieght difference on a ~foot long piece isn't going to be much.

 

Is there anyway to stop the thing from rusting away inside? Or will that take 100 years to happen? Just wondering; I've wanted to box mine for a long time, but I always wondered what happens to that rust. Plus, there'd be no way to coat the inside of the weld... well, unless I hunt down that weld-thru coating...

 

Tom P,
Yes just coat it with weld through primer any jobber carries it.


For the rest of you guys, how much of an improvement will I see from boxing them? Will it be noticable or barely at all?

 

Thanks! Maybe the same place will be able to get me a CO2/Argon bottle for my LE MIG... right now it's set up for FCAW, I bought the GMAW conversion kit, but never bothered to hunt down a bottle... haha... okay, thanks!

 

.

 

I doubt that you'll ever notice. A basically stock 305 on street tires doesn't need the additional strength or buckling resistance, especially with a torque arm/PHB suspension (as opposed to the 4-link G-body or Mustang arrangements).

For handling, the unboxed LCA's are actually slightly better given identical bushing material. The torsional flex relieves a little of the bind.

Norm