I am a novice, so please forgive my ignorance. But I was surprised to read this as I installed my spring without using a spreader. I didn't even know they existed. Maybe I did it wrong??? Here are a few pics of it installed. Is it installed incorrectly?
Bob hit it nail on the head. With a properly designed flat panhard bar and the longer the better, movement is minimal. This is the way a frame builder of 40 years explained it to me. Straight driving with a buggy spring panhard bars do little. But when hitting a hard curve all the weight on a suicide front end (called that for a reason) is shifted to nothing BUT the front spring to hold the axle center. If you run a panhard bar, the BAR will take the stress if the weight transfer, letting the spring do the work of a spring, and not double down as an axle locator. Puts much less stress on the spring and shackles making it a safer better design. Sure it will work without one but if I can spend $50 on 2 rod ends and a stick of DOM to make my car safer I'm sure going to do it. Just my 2 cent and would NEVER fault someone else with a different opinion.
No panhard on mine and it has been driven many miles (by PO fitzee and a few by me as well!) on good/bad/indifferent roads. No issues at all with darting or the like.
Reversed Corvair box and a long drag link. Tight spring and shackles.
Not sure if I posted this before...but check out the two ruts in this part of the highway. We have many stretches like that due to a lot of big rig traffic I guess.
65-70mph and a full day to cross the island.
Left "St John's" at 7am, dealing with every possible road style and also road construction along the way, and rolled on the "Port aux Basque" ferry to Nova Scotia at around 11pm that night. (Inc visiting friends and fuel/Tim Horton stops along the way of course!)
No issues at all.
Vid's less than 30 sec long...use 360p for a good quality....
George, a few questions about this... I'm planning to replace all the heims in my front end (including those tying the RRs to the frame) with Speedway's "Precision Rod Ends." Speedway says they have a Kevlar race and Kevlar/Teflon lining, so I'm thinking they'll be an upgrade for the plain ends that are on the car now.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Precision-RH-Male-Heim-1-2-Inch,29635.html
I'm also thinking about installing their rod end seals on each one:
My first question is whether these 1/2" rod ends are the best I can buy at this general price (about $9 ea), or should I be looking at a different supplier or different type of end? You seem to have answered my question about the usefulness of the seals (assuming they're the same type), but I'm wondering also how to deal with external corrosion. All the ends I can afford say they have carbon steel bodies. Does that mean they'll rust, or are they zinc plated? What's typical of these parts?
Jack
Thanks George, that's a lot of good info. I found several rod ends I like at the Aurora and FK links you posted, but I wasn't able to find pricing for either company. I don't think they sell to the public. About Seals It, I visited their site earlier today, and the seals I found for 1/2" ends work out to about $4/end. That adds a lot to the cost of refurbishing the links, and it's almost twice the cost of the seals at Midwest. The rod ends at Midwest are also reasonable; 1/2" rated for 16,000 lbs run about $6.50 ea. for qty of four (drag link + tie rod). The only thing I'm not sure about is the nylon liner. Nylon is a pretty soft plastic, so I'm concerned about longevity. I might want to speak with them about this before ordering. That's a good idea about contacting Speedway, but at this point, it might not be worth pursuing. Their 1/2" Precision ends are $9 ea., and if I add the cost of Seals It seals (because the Speedway seals don't fit), I'm at $13 per end. That's starting to get a little pricey, and I still have to buy four 5/8" ends for the radius rods.
FWIW, I usually don't quibble about spending money on parts like this. However, I've already spent much more since I bought the car than I ever thought would be necessary. Unplanned items over the last three months have included all new wheels and tires (defective), and I just spent over $2K replacing the transmission. By the time I'm done with all the maintenance items - plus the upgrades I originally planned in order to make this more streetable, such as a top - the cost will probably be half again as much as I paid for the car. It's all my fault for not doing more due diligence, but what's done is done. So as not to be misunderstood, I'm not complaining, I really love this car. I drive it to work every chance I get, even when it's 35* outside. I just don't want you to think I'm targeting low cost as the first priority. If there's a valid reason to spend more, especially for safety-related parts like heims, I'll do it. Otherwise, I need to contain the expense as much as possible. So, at this point, I'll probably go to Midwest for these items. It depends on the issue regarding the nylon liners. I don't want to have to do this again for at least 25,000 miles.
Jack
