Post
by tigerguy2 » Tue Aug 07, 2012 8:09 pm
Mal, that looks absolutely beautiful. Thanks.
Mr. Tomaselli, as I understand it the panhard rod is intended to keep the body centered (more or less) over the rear axle in a turn when the rear suspension is with leaf springs. The body will try to move sideways in a turn relative to the rear axle. The axle is attached to the ground so to speak through the wheels and tyres. The body is being slung by the forces of the turning motion. Despite the fact that the spring leafs are wrapped, they will also try to slide sideways one relative to the other in a turn. Since the panhard rod is attached one end to the axle and one end to the body, it holds the body and the axle relatively stable with respect to each other in the vertical plane.
I am no racer so I cannot speak exactly as to why some take the rod off. As I understand it, the rod creates a separate roll center from that of the rear axle. That rod based roll center is higher and is located at the point the rod passes through the fore and aft centerline of the car. The two roll centers are in conflict with each other and creates an especially stiff rear end, which is not good for handling in turns. Also since the factory rod goes up and across that center line, you get different effects in right and left hand turns due to the arc it travels in as the suspension flexes up and down. Thus the ideal location of the rod would be parallel to the ground and as low/close to the axle as possible. So at least lowering the body attachment point to make it parallel to the ground to the ground is a good thing.
BTW, when the rod is removed, usually something else, like a Watts Linkage, etc. is substituted to perform the function the of the panhard rod.
Now you know everything I think I know about the subject!
Cheers,
Gene