I've heard a bunch of hype and read more in magazines about tubular Panhard rods and how they're a must-have for cornering, over the stamped-steel one that comes factory. I understand the flexibility issue between the construction of the two, but is there actually a noticeable difference in the way that the car takes curves, or is it something that is just stronger for extreme situations not encountered on a daily basis?

I've got a V6 car with the F41 suspension, if that may matter.

i bought an adjustable one to help fix a rear alignment problem. I was redoing my suspension--- new shocks and lowering springs.

the lowering springs caused the rearend to kick out 1/2-3/4 inch. LOL so i needed a panhard bar. i went with Hotchis adjustable and it fixed my problem.

since i completely transformed my cars handling abilities, i couldnt really tell how the panhard bar helped/felt as far as performance goes. the rear did feel tighter but smoother around corners and regular driving.

But, by just looking at the stock piece vs the hotchis one, its no contest. the stock rod is very weak cheap stamped material. and by looking how the rod works under the car, i would deffinately invest in one. they are fairly cheap at 120 bucks for my hotchis adjustable one out of summit.

Thanks for the advice; I'll have to put one on my to-do list for spring

do you plan to keep the car, or do you plan to lower it , if you are not going to keep the car forever then dont buy it , you dont need it , i mean it doesnt hurt to have it by anymeans , but you dont need it .

yeah, what are the plans for the car? if you build up all the suspension, it should be one mean handling car, but if your not gonna push it often or whatnot, there are other things that you can spend the money on. Like sub frame connectors, shocks/springs, and a wonder bar. those alone will have a greater overall impact on suspension.

18inchboyds...

what happened to Nolan???? LOL

Oh, I plan to keep the car indefinitely. It may be 21 years old, but I still love to drive it--even with the little V6 in it.

I painted the car at the beginning of the fall, black single-stage acryllic enamel; and with that done, I'm looking at moving on to performance (now that the car doesn't look like a rusty-edged wheezer anymore). The eventual plans are to get rid of the V6 drivetrain and put a 5.7L LS1 motor in there with a 700R4 tranny and a limited slip rear end, and to beef up the F41 suspension to make the car handle up to par with newer and more upgraded stuff out there. Given that I don't have the cash yet to do the LS1 conversion (the painful process that it will be), and likely won't have the cash for some time, I've decided to get a jump on the suspension first....because you can still have a little fun in the curves with a 6-cyl.

When I get the car back out on the road this spring, I'm going to put some new front struts in it (old ones are the originals from '84 and they're HAMMERED), throw a wonderbar in it, get some urethane bushings for the sway bar (maybe a thicker sway bar, too), and the panhard rod--if those things really do make you notice a difference on the road. I don't plan to lower the car at this point....roads around here suck, curbs are steep, and I already have to watch the exhaust on this car as it is when I pull into many places---you know how it goes with these cars.

I have SFC's, fixed control arms and panhard bar from Spohn and love 'em. Corners much flatter and tighter than before. Dunno if it's the tubular bars or the big fat poly bushings, but either way they work well!

Thats not a good thing. None of those modifications should have effected the roll. If it is infact rolling less, that would be the poly bushings binding, causeing the rear roll rate to change.

If you got adjustable LCA's with Dual poly bushings, be sure to check the jam nuts regularly, and binding can cause the jam nuts to loosen. If the tension comes off the threads, you might cause damage, and eventualy failure.

i run a double heim jointed adj phb. I installed it as a single upgrade. I can tell you without a doubt that there is in fact a huge difference in the feel you get going around corners. The stock one gives a vague road feel while cornering the solid heim jointed one practically talks to you compared to stock.