Stock Panhard Clearance Improvement

[digitalfiend]

I did my free travel mod about a month or so ago. I then cycled the suspension without the springs in or shocks attached and installed small bump stops on top of the axle. The bump stops hit before anything else.

The problem is that I want to go lower and still have plenty of travel before bottoming out. Yesterday I pulled my springs out and disconnected my shocks then cycled the rear suspension all the way. The stock panhard bar will hit the crossmember...this occurs before the mounts that the bump stops ride on will hit the metal frame. My wife and daughter were out during the afternoon so once my son was down for his nap I took out my rotary grinder and cut a shape out of the cross member to clear the panhard bar and mount on the axle at full compression...

Hackery detail #1:


Hackery detail #2:


When the rear suspension is at full compression, the metal mount that the bump stops attach to hit first and there's plenty of clearance for the panhard bar and it's bracket:


Cleaned up the cuts and shot it with some black enamel paint (still wet):



I've only driven a couple miles with this done, so I need to put some more miles down first. To sum it up, this gives me the travel to run Tony's 6" drop springs and a 1" spacer (combined total of 5" drop in the rear) while still having great travel to only bottom out in extreme cases or when I'm carrying cargo.

 

[NathanJax]

and you don't need that metal?

I'm asking because I might need to do this soon...

 

[digitalfiend]

and you don't need that metal?

That is a VERY good question. I felt comfortable based on looking the area over closely. The metal isn't that thick...there's not much metal there to begin with...then take into account that there's an access hole for the body mount. I figure that one can get by without it. If someone is doing things such as autocrossing, drag racing, or hauling heavy loads then bracing could be necessary.

I bought some 1/4" thick metal strip that I was planning on using to reinforce. Due to the rounded edges of the crossmember I'm not seeing an obvious way to reinforce it. I'm beginning to think that it may not be necessary though. My first step was removing the metal and testing clearance...which was successful. The next step for me is to have a closer look at adding bracing and see what I can come up with. I'll update this thread with more pics if I do.

I'm asking because I might need to do this soon...

If you do it soon please let me know how you do it and if you brace it.

 

[josueh95]

defenetly interested in finding out more info on this

 

[digitalfiend]

defenetly interested in finding out more info on this

What else are you looking to find out?

 

[nickbaldwin86]

I would recommend boxing it back in... would be really easy and from a structural stand point give you the strength back that you took away.

A couple long pieces of flat stock metal and a welder would do the job real quick
... or maybe a 3"x3" angle iron? would have to see it in person but doesn't look all that hard to make it strong again.

imo I would cut frame without boxing it back in... for safety reasons.

 

[NORCAL SS]

your not running bumpstops on the axle of your truck are you?

also with the springs out its like 3 inches at the spring height which the spring cant compress to. Im surprised it was hitting on yours.

 

[digitalfiend]

It's been a long evening...I got hot embers down my shirt, in my hair, and in my shoe somehow. Welding on your back is not fun...

Here's the 2" wide by 1/4" thick metal stock next to the part I cut out:


The shape that I decided to go with:


Here is a side shot showing the bends that I added to hug the inside of the cross member:


Here it is held in place with my ugly booger-welds that I'm embarrassed of...and a light coating of paint to better hide the ugly:


I'm thinking that this should give me all the strength I'll ever need for this cross member. For those of you that have cut and boxed in cross member sections back in, besides the booger welds, does this look strong enough when considering that the cross member seems to be made of 1/8" to begin with?

 

[nickbaldwin86]

by boxing it in I would have closed off the ends with a square piece and the longer side with a piece of angle....

You just welding a "flat" piece flat on to the cross memeber... sure it is stronger but I don't see it being stronger then a box. a thin box will take the downward force better then a thicker piece of flat stock

 

[digitalfiend]

by boxing it in I would have closed off the ends with a square piece and the longer side with a piece of angle....

You just welding a "flat" piece flat on to the cross memeber... sure it is stronger but I don't see it being stronger then a box. a thin box will take the downward force better then a thicker piece of flat stock

I'm getting the sense that my small reinforcement was more of a band-aid and not exactly the best thing to do. Despite my less-than-ideal-reinforcing-job, I still have a good feeling about the load that cross member can take versus how much load it will be exposed to. I don't think that it's going to be a major issue even if I leave it the way it is. Despite what my gut is telling me I'm planning on reinforcing the other three sides when I do a body drop. I'll be able to get to the top portions of the cross member better when I can move the body out of the way some. Thanks for the feedback Nick.