Where can I get an aftermarket upper panhard rod brace? As mentioned in another of my posts, my rear axle is supposedly sitting at an angle and I plan to replace rear suspension parts to try and fix the problem. If that doesn't do it then I don't know what I will do next. Any ideas on where to get the brace or what to check to figure out the axle issue would be appreciated. TIA

John

you mean panhard bar/rod? if so then check out spohn (advertiser for this site ^) or you can check out ebay. i just saw a tubular one with poly greasable bushings for 68 bucks buy it now.

I am referring to the brace that is at an angle from the driverside angled down going to the passenger side. it is the brace that is above the panhard.

That should not be the cause of your rear end being at an angle. Are you sure it is not sitting right. Does it look like it is angled? DO you have a bent control arm or panhard rod. Your upper brace should not really be damaged unless the panhard rod is. Hitting a curb can take out stock pieces in a flash.

Granatelli motorsports makes one & it comes with the panhard bar.Classic indutries sells it,but i dont see it in their catalog anymore.

i haven't had it up on a rack to actually inspect it and see if it is at an angle, but they told me when i took it in to get the front end aligned that they aligned it the best they could and tried aligning it 3 times. they said that it was sitting at an angle and couldn't get the front end aligned to 0.

correct me if i am wrong, but you are saying that a bent control arm can cause this to happen. i checked the panhard and it looks straight. is the upper brace suppose to have a little bend in it on the passengers side?

thanks for the replies...keep them coming.

john

There is two panhard rods. Not many aftermarket uppers out though.

I'm wondering why my car is sitting crooked now. I did have a run in with a curb last week. But the side I hit with is the side that is higher. I think the strut on my side is dead. Oh well getting new struts whenever I install the new springs and front end parts.

The brace is not entirely straight.It does have some curve/bend to it.How does it sit at an angle.do you mean it doesnt track straight.Which means the rear axle isnt pointing straight ahead.If so your lower control arms may be bent/damaged.Or is it sitting at an angle from left to right.This could mean your springs might be sagging unevenly or something else.

the guy drew a couple of pics for me to show what he was talking about. the first is how it is suppose to be sitting and the second how it actually is sitting. in the second pic he drew, it looked as if the axle was further to the rear on the passenger side. by looking at the wheel well gap from the rear of the tires to the rear of the wheel well, i believe there is less gap on the passenger side.

the guy drew a couple of pics for me to show what he was talking about. the first is how it is suppose to be sitting and the second how it actually is sitting. in the second pic he drew, it looked as if the axle was further to the rear on the passenger side. by looking at the wheel well gap from the rear of the tires to the rear of the wheel well, i believe there is less gap on the passenger side.

hope that made sense

That bend is supossed to be there on the upper brace. It looks like it shouldn't but it does. A bent control arm can pull your rear to one side and sorta angle it front or back depending on how it is bent.

ok...thanks for that information. like i said in my last post it looks like there is more gap between the rear of the driverside tire and the wheel well than there is on the passenger side. is it easy to tell if a control arm is bent just by looking at it?

That means your car isnt tracking straight.Because the Rr axle isnt pionting straight ahead.If the pass side wheel if farther behind its like the axle is trying to steer the Rr of your car to the right.Making your car want to go to the left.Something has caused the axle to move.Since the pass side is farther back its not likely something stretch.So the Dr side lower control arm could be bent causing that side of the axle to move forward.Do you have to steer to the right to keep your car going straight.The lower control arms should be perfectly straight,no bends.

after the alignment, my sterring wheel is turned a little to the right in order to keep the front wheels straight. yes i do have to steer a little right to keep it straight

I would say that your Dr side LCA(lower control arm)is probably bent /damaged somehow.Check it out it should straight,no bends.Also check the mounting points,both sides.Make sure no bolts are loose/broken or ?.

ok...thanks for the help guys. if you can think of any other possibilities, please post them and i will post my findings.

Here is a thought. The front and rear wheels have different offsets. If someone screwed up and placed the front to the rear then it would look like one side is sticking out further than the other. Check to make sure that they are correct. They should be labeled. I'm not sure where they are on a Firebird. I own a IROC.

it is not sticking out though... i don't think, will have to check tomorrow

As you mentioned, a blown shock could cause that side to squat a little more on that side, which would make the axle move up, forward, and to the left. So check them also.

If the alignmet guy told you to replace that upper bar then GO ELSEWHERE immediately...Just look at the brace.... LOOK AT IT>>>it does noting but support the Pandhard bracket......The Pandhard bracket is PART of the REAR supframe....It has 2 holes in it....The upper hole and lower hole.... the upper hole for the upper part does nothing because you are tieing from the FIXED supframe on the DS to the Bracket thats FIXED to the subframe on the PS..... In theory you could remove it altogether....

Lower control arm is the culprit here from the sound of it....

Just Scary to me that an alignment tech would point that part out as being the problem.....

Shocks do not control ride height so a blown one will have zero effect in that respect.

The guy didn't say what the problem was, i was asking because i was checking the panhard bar last night and notice that little curve in the brace. Just wasn't sure if it was suppose to be like that or not.

Seems that the consensus is that i have a bent/damaged lca.

You don't even need to jack it up to look at it, just use a mirror. It's right there in front of the rear tire. If the LCAs are fine (assuming non-adjustable), then your frame is bent, or you had LCA relocation brackets welded on incorrectly, or your axles tubes are bent. Some can be worked around with adjustable LCAs. But if it's a tweaked frame take it to a shop to throw onto a frame straightener first. If it's a bent axle tube, time for a 12-bolt....

The panhard brace does MORE than nothing.As you said "look at it".Its bolted to the frame for a reason.When you place a load(lateral) on the Rr axle.That load is applied to the panhard bar.Which in turn is transfered to the brace.Its there so NOT just one frame rail will take the lateral stress from the Rr axle.In a way the panhard BRACE does for the Rr subframe.What the wonder bar does for the front frame rails.

I was told by one of the techs at work that you cannot tell by just looking at the lca's if they are bent, is this true? he said the only way to check them is by checking the wheel to fender gap on both sides.

Just take them out and rest them on their sides. You will know if it is bowed or not.

You mean like the one in this thread?

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=234134

Ed

If the wheel to fender gap is uneven.That means that the LCAs are probably the cause.Youd want to verify that by visually checking the LCAs to dertermine if they are NOT straight.There should be NO bends,twists,angles,etc on the LCAs.Look at the aftermarket LCAs.You can tell just by LOOKING at them that they are straight.The aftermarket arms follow the factory LCAs lines/dimensions,etc.You should be able to tell if your LCAs are damaged in some way.

By visually looking at the wheel to fender gap, they do look uneven. I got under the car earlier to look at the panhard, and lca's. From looking at the rear axle, I can see that it is sitting at an angle. Could this also possibly be from the swaybar endlinks needing to be replaced? I have the endlinks, just need to get them in. I couldn't really tell from where I was laying, but it kind of looks to me (from a not so good angle point) that the torque arm has a little bend in it. I think it is fine, but it looks as though there is a slight bend.

Also, what are the chances of a bent axle shaft? Pretty sure that is not the problem, but just curious.

From my memory i believe the torque arm had a slight bend on it right before the mounting points to the Rr diff(about the last 6in from the diff end).Right about where the yolk/drive shaft is.This is normal.If its bent any where else(or more than a slight amout by the diff end)) it might be damaged. I doubt the end links needing replacement would effect the positin of the diff.The LCAs locate the positin of the diff(straight ahead).The torque arm places the diff at the correct angle to the Dr.shaft.If the axle shafts are bent your wheel/s would wobble when rotating(jack up the Rr of the car & try spinning the wheels or start eng in nuetral & watch the wheels if the spin correctly),but i doubt too if they are the culprits.Youd probably would be hearing noises by now if not worse.I still think it the LCA that needs looking at.

The bend that I am referring to is just before the mounting point on the diff. I didn't think that was anything unusual on the torque arm. I will have to do a little more in depth check of the lca's. thanks for all of the replies.