a friend of mine thinks I could remove my panhard bar and the axle wouldn't slop around that much.. I'm not thinking it's a good idea, but any opinions and such on the subject are welcome, thanks

a friend of mine thinks I could remove my panhard bar and the axle wouldn't slop around that much.. I'm not thinking it's a good idea, but any opinions and such on the subject are welcome, thanks

NOT a good idea. Sure, it won't slop around that much, just until something else stops the movement like a tire, or brake line, or wheel. I would recommend against during that.

-Eric

thanks, I see it as a bad idea as well, my friend who told removing that wouldn't be  bad idea but he hasn't seen the suspension really and was a bit confused when i said I had 5 link.. I was thinking I may just get bored and remove one side and push on it to see how much it moves, but that's only if I get really bored.. don't really want to go down the road like that

thanks though, like I said, any opinions and such are welcome

I would not remove it as we only have 2 points of contact between the suspension and axle.  Removing the panhard bar would allow the axle to shift from side to side...which is exactly what the panhard bar is there to stop.  This isn't like a sway bar...this NEEDS to be there.

I would not remove it as we only have 2 points of contact between the suspension and axle.  Removing the panhard bar would allow the axle to shift from side to side...which is exactly what the panhard bar is there to stop.  This isn't like a sway bar...this NEEDS to be there.

I know, I was just thinking that if I got bored that I could remove it and shove the side of the truck and see how much it moves just for kicks and giggles.. you know.. I don't actually plan on driving around like that.. I know what it's for and all. like I previously said, my friend who said it doesn't need to be there was a bit confused when i said I had a 5 link.. oh well, I'll show him and he'll get it. I do really wish they would have kept 3 link on the 2nd gen vitara's, much better. the panhard bar makes the tire on the passenger side skim the inside of the fender and the tires end up with big slices taken out while the other side just barely rubs and doesn't slice. Stock tires and suspension so it's wierd that it rubs at all, but it takes allot so no biggie

There are poeple running the Calmini lift on there Vitaras and XL-7s. Ask them what happens when the bolt on the Third member panhard bracket comes loose. I think the guy with the lifted white Grand Vitara with all those stickers on it welded his bracket.
He said he was at the gas station filling up and leaned agianst the truck and the back of the truck shifted to one side. 

There are poeple running the Calmini lift on there Vitaras and XL-7s. Ask them what happens when the bolt on the Third member panhard bracket comes loose. I think the guy with the lifted white Grand Vitara with all those stickers on it welded his bracket.
He said he was at the gas station filling up and leaned agianst the truck and the back of the truck shifted to one side. 

tha calmini panhard bracket comes lose? that's madness. yea, it doesn't surprise me a bit that it would shift to the side like that, what I really want to do to my panhard bar is weld on a homade assembly consiting of a hiem joint and some other stuff making it adjustable as far as length. the panhard bar currently makes the axle get closer to the passenger side as it travels up or down, if I were to make it sit a tadd closer to the drivers side it wouldn't do it as much.. anyone see it as a good idea? wanting opinions on it. a friend of mine did it with his grand cherokee to compensate for his massive lift and because he paearently mangled the crap out of the bar and had to repair it anyway because of flexing it so much

tha calmini panhard bracket comes lose?

There was an XL-7 that had this problem at Gonzooken I watched him get under his X on the trail to tighten said bracket. And the story from (the horses mouth) the guy with the lifted white GrandVitara with all the stickers on it. He welded his.
Not saying anything bad about Calmini's lift, just this seems to be something to look out for.

This is the white GrandVitara with all the stickers and the XL-7 I was talking about.





I took the pix and have many more . That white GV is very impressive just sitting parked. 

Not trying to hijack your post but here are some pix from that outing.

Airborn


ARB Locked




This was also the first time I had ever witnessed a live rock crawling event WOW , this guy made it look too easy.

looks like that was a fun outing. don't worry, you aren't stealing my post. when I lift my zuk someday I have a different idea I'd use for the bracket especially after hearing about calmini's bracket. I'll get a pic of it soon on here, saw one that was made for a 4 runner that goes on the other side and I want to duplicate it

here are some pics of the bracket I would want to make instead of using calmini's bracket. It's made for a 4 runner but I looked and it's possible for me to make pretty much the same thing and bolt it right on

Why not just put a longer bar in?

Cause u would start changing suspension geopmetry and when u start hitting big bumps going straight ur rear end would want to push out to the left  scray shit lol

I kind of want to do a combonation of the drop bracket and longer bar. I want to make a bar with hiem joints on both ends that is adjustable on the passenger side. as far as going sideways, it already does, that's what I hate about 5 link. don't notice it from the driver's seat though, if I go too long on the bar I do see how it could actually be a serious issue, I guess I'll have to find a sweet spot