I noticed that my axle in not quite centered. It appears to be off to one side by about 3/8". I have a lakewood adjustable panhard bar. It's the type where you have to drop one end to make the adjustment.

Can I move the axle over 3/8" without too much tweeking of the LCAs, torque arm, driveshaft, etc. If I do, will it have any effect on the cars allignment?

Finally, is it safe for one person to make the adjustment while the car is on jackstands? How hard will I have to shove the axle over to get the bolt hole to line back up?

How hard would it be for one person to make the adjustment?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

As you adjust the PHB, it will move over. Use a long string & tie 1 washer to each end. Hang it across the back hatch, hanging over the fender lips centered on the axles. That will tell you how centered the axle is, at the same time.

Make your adjustment until you get it centered. If you do it on jackstands, make sure they are under the rear end, not under the body. No need to use jackstands though. I do my lowered car with the tires on the ground.

 

Thanks for the reply but it sounds like your bar is adjustable while on the car. With mine I have to disconnect one end, turn it either in or out, and re-connect. So I assume I'm going to have to do some shoving around of the rear axle. I guess I'm mostly wondering how hard it is to shove that axle back and forth in order to get the bolt hole to line up again. Is this a safe one person job?

Good advice on using the plumb lines to make sure the axle is on center. That's what I was planning to do.

 

You have a single adjustable one? So you get adjustment points of every 180 degrees of rotation, of that 1 end, huh?

Mine is yes & no. It can be adjusted on-car, but 1 end has to be dropped to loosen the jam nut, bar put back in place, adjusted, drop that 1 end again, tighten the jam nut, put the bar back in place. Pain in the butt! My axle is about 1/8" off center now, but I didn't wanna go through the whole bar dropping thing again to adjust it 1/16".

Safe for 1 person & takes very little effort to move the car, although to move it into place, then hold it there while you put the bolt back in? Might be tricky. But the effort needed to push the car over is not very much. Just hafta hold it there while the person underneath puts the bolt back in.

You'd have to seriously shove the car to upset it's vertical balance on the springs. Plus the LCAs & shocks will limit just how far it can be moved before "falling"

A second person would be helpful for pushing & holding, while the bolt is put back into place for the PHB.

 

Ah ha. You're suggesting I leave the car on the ground. Drop one end of the bar and adjust, then shove the body over to reconnect. You're saying the body should move over pretty easily while I line up the bolt holes?

That would be a safe way to do it and it sounds like having a second person would be a big help.

Do you think 3/8" one way or the other will have much effect on LCAs (binding, bending, etc.)?