sorry about the description but it's the best that came to mind . a week ago i was helping a friend with an 02-04 dodge durango . we had it on the lift , when i saw the rear suspension i was fascinated . dual coils , dual LCA's , dual trace brace bars running from each side toward the differential . thats what was really different . diff. cover was 1/4-5/16 thick cast , with a pivot bolt in the center of the diff. cover . cover had a pivoting vertical bar going up & down from pivot bolt connecting each end to trace bars . i am by no means a suspension expert but it was unlike any other set-up i was familiar with . wondering how our cars would handle with the same set-up . it would sure help with over axle exhaust clearence . BTW it was a HEMI , any comments welcome . thanks !!!

 

It's called a watts link. Strano makes one for our cars. Basically it keeps the rear end centered as it goes through it's travel up and down. With the panhard, the rear will actually shift left and right as the axle moves up and down.

 

thanks for the info. , i also thought it would eliminate side to side shift . any one here have one ? feelings/comments about it ? would really like to see pics. installed on a 3rd gen . thanks again for info .

 

Here you go...

 

Wow,My ***** just quivered

 

any one have comments on how the car handled with one of these set ups ? seems to me that it should be a large improvement . please comment , thanks . how about it Lonnie P unless that was not your car ???

 

Yes it is my car.

The handling improvement was tremendous.
The car is more predictable & stable at its limits.

I have had it for over 2 years now & am very glad I bought it.

With a panhard, you may notice a "jacking" effect in the rear of the car where the inside rear corner lifts in a hard right turn. Also you may feel the opposide lowering in a hard left turn. The car now feels the same in both directions.

Previous to the Watts link, I was battling an oversteer condition, which caused me to drop the swaybar size from stock. After the watts, I could go back to the 24mm bar with balanced handling.

I also had tire contact issues with the rear inner fenders with a panhard bar. After adding the watts, I cannot get them to touch, so it did remove side-to-side deflection. This was noticible the first time I drove it.

If you want to lower the roll center, you can easily do it by removing 1 bolt.

They aren't cheap, but I would buy one again in a second.

 

The watts link single-handedly jump started the industrial revolution! It was one of the earliest forms of parallel motion, at least the first to be widely used. It's named after James Watt - the guy that the electrical power unit "Watt" is named after... also the guy who defined exactly what a "horsepower" is.

http://web.mat.bham.ac.uk/C.J.Sangwi...ine/index.html

I for one find this stuff fascinating, I may be the only one, but if anyone else is interested...

 

Will the kit he sells only work with stock diff?

 

thanks for the feed back Lonnie . i will be ordering one as soon as i return from my thanksgiving road trip . Porky ck. STRANO website & google "watts link" , (lots of good info.) thanks again , good luck .

 

Strano doesn't make it, it's made by Jim Fay from Fays2. http://fays2.net/

I have one on my 9 bolt rear:

 

first thanks to all who responded . the past few days i have done a lot of research , almost all (99.5%) positive on watts-link . i will be ordering it & new LCA's after thanksgiving. (will be my christmas present to myself) seems like it would also be a great benefit for over axle exhaust clearence . i know the couple of 3" systems & dual's i have installed would have been easier with it . thank's again .

 

There's not more room then with the stock panhard support

 

It will. An inverted Watts linkage, which the Fays2 is, locates the roll center from the chassis, not the differential like a regular Watts link would. This means an inverted Watts mounts to the chassis, not the differential.

 

You'd certain know as you've installed one, but Strano's site would make one believe otherwise:

"Greater clearance for bigger and/or dual exhaust pipes since the PHB brace is no longer needed or used."

At any rate, I'm intrigued with the piece (thanks for the link to Fays2, Twin). One question for those who've installed the piece: How did you remove the upper panhard brace--often the pass side bolt is frozen to the sleeve.

JamesC

 

Its a common problem with fuel pump replacement also.
I use PB blaster twisting/ turning and smacking w a hammer.
Worse case if its super nasty is sucking it up and carefully grinding off the heads and threads..

 

impact wrench and praying LOL.

Should have said not a whole lot more room, there is more room..that's for sure.

Here's a pic of the clearance. I think you can cram 2 3" pipes up there but not a whole lot more and it will be tight. For a single pipe you can go to 3.5 most likely, not sure if 4" would fit. I remember I tried to get 2 3" elbows in there an it was tight in there.

 

excellent that last picture turbo . i know what i'm giving myself for christmas .

 

What did you use to coat your floors in that pic?

 

EZ Liner Bedliner