pan-hard bar

J

jerry shook

Well-known member
Does anyone have a pan-hard bar on there original (A)?. if so were did you get it and does it help. thanks and HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
 
Well to answer your questions, ...kinda. I had one (--or two) on one of my speedsters. I got it from someone who took it off of their original car however the reason they took it off is because they could not tell any difference. On my speedster it made a big difference but the reason I think it does is the condition of the springs (proper arc or curvature). If the spring hangers (shackles) has the ability to "rock" excessively in the perches due to a sagging spring, then this will offer some control. I am pretty sure AC&R is the ones that made them. Maybe Steve B can confirm? I will look next week and see if I still have mine as the car was dismantled.
 
I bought mine (both front and back) from Snyder's. The rear bar seemed to improve handling a little (hard to tell), but I don't think the front bar did anything. IMO the plate on the frame which anchors one end of the bar is way to flimsy and flexes very easily - so why have the bar at all!!

Dick
 
I have them both front and rear. They are home made.
Yes they definetly help on MY car because I drive it like a rally racer sometimes on
dirt logging roads.
No, you don't need them on a stock model A driven on the street.
 
Hi Jerry, when I redid my 31 slant T/S, a heavy fordor, I installed Panhard rods both front and rear, on the recommendation of 2 friends. I didn't drive the car before it was restored as it had a frozen motor. I like to believe that they help the car when cornering being a heavy fordor.
 
Thanks every one. Herb my car is a 31 s/w also. Pete my wife tells me i drive the crocked roads of north ga like they are a race track. And it does ok in turns, but i think it could do better. I have rebuilt the front end new steering box, all new springs and shackles. Was just thinking pan-hard bars or sway bars. Would help.
 
oldmanandakid said:
Will pan-hard bars replace shocks?
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Nope! Again, it is my opinion that if the springs are properly arc-ed and they are both within specs, they will hold the car in a corner. The biggest thing the Panard bar(s) will do is keep the axle from drifting laterally on the shackles which will slightly affect the steering as the drag link follows the axle as it moves. If the body rolls over in a corner, only strong-enough springs and properly working shocks can alleviate that.

.
 
jerry shook said:
Does anyone have a pan-hard bar on there original (A)? If so were did you get it and does it help. thanks and HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
Click to expand...

A panhard bar is not intended to prevent body lean; they prevent the axle from moving side-to-side. This makes the handling more predictable. Lateral movement at the rear axle will "steer" the car a bit from the rear. That makes the car feel less stable. The lateral movement can come from force of a cross-wind or a passing vehicle (truck) on the big box body, or going around a corner fast, that sort of thing.

The previous owner of my '31 S/W Town Sedan put one on the rear axle. I like how it handles, especially at higher speed. I'm not sure how much that bar is helping, though. As Brent says, I don't think a stock A axle moves that much side to side under the frame. I would not bother with adding one.
 
If you want to try them, we make them. AC&R made them for 20 years, and when we bought them out a few years ago, we also started making both the front and rear panhard bars. We have many customers that love them, but I cannot tell you how well they work, because I have never used them on my cars. Here are links to them.....

http://parts.modelastore.com/show_Product.asp?ID=3444

http://parts.modelastore.com/show_Product.asp?ID=3445

Hope that helps.

Steve Becker
Berts Model A Center
Denver, CO
www.modelastore.com
 
jerry shook said:
Thanks every one. Herb my car is a 31 s/w also. Pete my wife tells me i drive the crocked roads of north ga like they are a race track. And it does ok in turns, but i think it could do better. I have rebuilt the front end new steering box, all new springs and shackles. Was just thinking pan-hard bars or sway bars. Would help.
Click to expand...

You mention one more thing. "Sway bars", sometimes refered to as anti-roll bars. These will definetly reduce body roll or lean.
Again, not needed on a non high performance model A.
 
I noticed a dramatic stability difference when I put a panhard bar on the rear of my town sedan. There was a sudden sense that the car was all one piece, like a more modern car. I had to imagine the difference when I later added the front one.

My theory is that they are most important for heavy bodied cars, which have enough mass up top to wag the dog sideways as all of that stuff bounces and rocks around up on those shackles as you go down the road.

I think I got mine from AC&R, but don't remember for sure.

Steve
 
I found on my slant far more body movement , sway . even feels a little unstable compared to my 29 delux delivery. Both on 16" wheels, The only differance is delivery on cross ply tires & slant on radials, you can rock the slant by leaning on it but the delivery is firm . the movement is in the light side walls of the radials, Friend has 8ply radials & much more stable, Both vehicles are drivers, The answer could be in the tires ??for heavy vehicles. Yes summer is really here in NZ
 
For lateral stability a Watts linkage is ideal. It consists of two bars and a cross arm that allows the car to move up and down without a radial deflection like a single bar. If a Panhard is improperly designed or to short you will feel the car moving laterally when going over bumps. Personally, I prefer a sway bar to either one because I am used to a little shackle swing but I don't like the car to lean in the curves.
 
So far, all pretty good info especially the caution against a short panhard bar. Consider the arc of travel the bar goes through. A sway bar (anti-roll bar) has the added benfit of allowing softer suspension to be used for additional comfort since the bar actually "borrows" some load from the opposite side of the spring for stability in turns. I would agree that a front sway bar combined with a rear panhard would be the best upgrade overall. The front wouldn't lean and the rear would essentially remain "under" the car during heavier turning loads. Then again, there's how many Model As runnin around that have neither?
 
After all that suspension modification you still have high, narrow, bias ply tires that react poorly to lateral load. Even modern tires suffer from deflection woes. A well designed suspension actually over corrects to compensate for deflection of a specific tire mated to that vehicle. Your Model A will never be a formula 1 car.
TireDeflection.jpg
 
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