Adjustable Panhard Bar recommendation- 2014 GT

[crjackson]

It will have to be adjusted with full rear weight on the rear tires.

Might be best to adjust the PHB on an alignment rack with the front tires on unlocked turn plates. That way, none of your adjustment will end up as lateral preload on the rear tires and the possibility of a small error in centering still occurring.
Norm

The plan is to let the Dyno-Shop do the install and adjustment. The build-out suspensions all the time, and only work on Mustangs. I will ask that the adjustment be done with the wheels loaded, and passenger weight simulated. I'm sure they already know and do things this way, but I’ll stress the need for this on that day. Since I’ll be there on site when the install takes place, I’ll volunteer to be the dead-weight in the car when adjustment takes place.

I also expect that by the time I drive my car home, articulation of the suspension will have changed the settling spot somewhat, and I made need to tweak it a little at home. I have no issue with that.

My major worry has been damage caused by the incident. I may be wrong, but I don’t think there was any actual damage after all. Hopefully I’ll be proven correct. Time will tell.

Here is the actual alignment spec-sheet they gave me. I humbly submit this for recommendations if any are needed.

 

[Juice]

Front was toed "out" slightly. They set it to slight toe-in, which helps with stability, mostly under braking. Not enough to cause tire wear (before adjustment)
Ps: I run more toe-out and way more negative camber (track biased alignment)

 

[crjackson]

Do the rear settings look normal?

 

[GlassTop09]

The Ford Racing Adj PHB has IMHO 2 things going for it over the others (I have both the BMR & Ford Racing parts).............
1.) The FR PHB bushing housings are offset attached to the bar on each end to accommodate installation in tandem w\ using any FoMoCo 8.8" diff cover design (clearance) & also to better align the PHB parallel to the rear axle housing (set DS axle offset outboard, PS unibody offset inboard if desired) w\o needing any additional DS offset bracketry\hardware. I have the Ford Racing 8.8" Girdle installed....the BMR did clear it but only by 1\8". The FR clears it by 5\8" mounted in the same OEM brackets w\ the PS offset turned inboard towards the axle for parallel alignment....would gain another 1/8" clearance if this end was turned outboard.
2.) The PHB is made from 1 1\16" chrome moly steel to also help w\ diff cover clearance (smaller dia), reduce overall weight (easily 1\2 the unsprung weight of the BMR equivalent) but maintain/exceed equivalent strength/rigidity.

Now whether this is worth the extra costs is up to the individual to decide....but if you're into corner carving (more of this tech will seamlessly transfer to street operations) where increasing power to weight ratio to increase overall agility is a more important factor then this part IMHO would have more appeal (was designed by Ford specifically for use on the S197 FR500 series & later Boss 302R factory race cars).

FWIW, this is why I switched my BMR PHB setup out for the FR Adj PHB/later MY S197 OEM PHB brace (reduce weight, gain clearance from my FR 8.8" Girdle, realign PHB parallel to rear axle & to clear my over-axle exhaust piping....the BMR PHB brace was too close due to it's size\shape & would rattle up against my exhaust due to where I wanted my tips to sit & rubber padding wasn't cutting it so I went back to the OEM PHB brace as well but from the 13-14 S197 MY due to better stamping process to improve on brace rigidity so an "upgrade" vs the OEM 05-09 part).

 

[Juice]

Do the rear settings look normal?

Yes.

 

[crjackson]

The Ford Racing Adj PHB has IMHO 2 things going for it over the others (I have both the BMR & Ford Racing parts).............

Okay, so I obviously have an 8.8” SRA, and since my car is a Track-Pack, I also have the finned aluminum cover. So are you telling me I’m probably going to have trouble with this banging around and making a bunch of noise? Yours is the first report I’ve heard of this, but I don’t want that issue for sure. I can send the order back when it arrives if I need to, but I can’t believe that clearance issues are a common problem. Are they?

 

[Pentalab]

I believe my BMR PHB was 1 1/8" OD, thick wall DOM. It was heavier than the lead shot filled oem PHB. Originally it was installed, along with the BMR brace, on a 2 post lift... which of course is fubar. Once on the grnd, with suspension loaded, the left rear stuck out past the fender. No big issue to fix..after the short screaming match. I had one of the Ford techs slither underneath, while I eyeballed the left rear and right rear fender wells, factoring in the parallax. The car either has to be on the ground, or on a drive on lift.

Zero clearance issues anywhere, with oem differential cover.

When the entire mess was replaced with the whiteline watts link, whiteline supplied a super thick aluminum differential cover, to take the 4 x 60mm long bolts. The 5th bolt is only 40mm. The whiteline version of a... 'brace' is massive, made from tubular chromolly. Everything clears nicely, with rear lowered 1.25".

 

[Unexplodedcow]

Mine (2010 GT) was off a little bit at stock height, and lowering made it worse (sticking out the driver side).

I went with a UMI adjustable Panhard bar. Urethane on one end, roto-joint on the other (delrin lined spherical bearing, essentially).

So far it's been good, though I haven't put many miles on the car since installing it about 5 years ago, but the quality seems solid. Yes, it makes more noise than the stock bar, but is significantly stiffer. I'd thought about doing the brace, and imagine it would help, but didn't care enough. The rest of the car is poly / roto-joint stuff as well. Quite a bit louder than stock, but I don't mind.

 

[crjackson]

Hopefully mine won’t be obnoxiously louder, or any louder at all.

The BMR Panhard bar arrived today, but I still have to wait 3 weeks for delivery of the brace. I hate waiting, but it’s all good. Car drives well, except that I’m a bit annoyed that my steering wheel is ever-so-slightly canted to the right when driving. This seems to be the result of having a wheel alignment. I don’t suppose there’s any chance it would be corrected when my Panhard bar has been replaced/adjusted properly.

 

[Rugermack]

Both my 05's and my son's 2012 axles were shifted towards drivers side when wider tires added

 

[Pentalab]

Both my 05's and my son's 2012 axles were shifted towards drivers side when wider tires added

The axles were already shifted when brand new..and oem. The wider tires just make the issue blatantly obvious.

 

[GlassTop09]

Okay, so I obviously have an 8.8” SRA, and since my car is a Track-Pack, I also have the finned aluminum cover. So are you telling me I’m probably going to have trouble with this banging around and making a bunch of noise? Yours is the first report I’ve heard of this, but I don’t want that issue for sure. I can send the order back when it arrives if I need to, but I can’t believe that clearance issues are a common problem. Are they?

You might have clearance issues... Mostly will depend on the cover design used as all these PHB's are designed around the OEM Ford 8.8" stamped steel diff cover using the stock mounts. Most aftermarket diff girdles\covers are also designed to increase the amount of diff fluid volume used thus they will protrude further back somewhat.....this isn't made widely understood\known. But BMR does make a DS Axle PHB Relocation Bracket to extend that side approx 2" rearward to give the needed clearance & to better align the PHB parallel to the rear axle........so BMR definately knows that their PHB designs won't clear all aftermarket diff girdles\covers w\ PHB mounted in the stock mounting brackets....but most folks aren't aware of this so just assume that they'll fit regardless.
I was in this camp as well until I found out differently then did the research afterwards........

I got lucky when I got the BMR Adj PHB but the amount of clearance (1/8") between it & my Ford Racing 8.8" Girdle was too close for my comfort level. The Ford Racing Adj PHB is the only 1 I know of now that is designed w\ the intent to provide adequate clearance for Ford Racing diff girdle\cover usage mounted in the stock PHB brackets. I would assume that would also include Ford's finned diff covers as well since they were used on the FR500 & Boss 302R series race cars.
So when I became aware of the design characteristics\benefits of the Ford Racing Adj PHB around their diff girdles\covers (and it's a Ford built part.....) that was enough for me. All else was extra.

For your situation, the BMR PHB Relocation Bracket is the better value from a total cost standpoint since you've already bought the BMR Adj PHB.......if the costs are a major concern, if you do run into clearance issues.

Now using another brand's 8.8" diff girdle\finned cover w\ the FR unit? Will depend on the design intentions\parameters of the part but if they're patterned after the Ford Racing parts from a dimensions perspective then I would believe they should adequately clear.

Since I've gone this far, might as well put this out there as well......we should also pay attention to the aftermarket rear LCA hole center lengths vs the OEM units when it comes to the PHB to aftermarket diff cover clearance as using rear LCA's that have wider hole centers vs OEM units WILL move the rear axle further back thus close the PHB\diff cover clearance gap....not all aftermarket LCA's have the exact same hole center lengths as the OEM units.....found this out by accident--also w\ BMR LCA's (the BMR ones I had measured 1\4" wider hole centers vs the OEM FoMoCo 07-14 GT500 LCA hole centers I replaced the BMR's with). Now this isn't a lot but this can make\break PHB to aftermarket diff cover fitment as well as throw off DS pinion angle so be aware.

Little differences can add up & create unforeseen fitment issues w\ these S197's due to their compact design parameters.

 

[Juice]

Okay, so I obviously have an 8.8” SRA, and since my car is a Track-Pack, I also have the finned aluminum cover. So are you telling me I’m probably going to have trouble with this banging around and making a bunch of noise? Yours is the first report I’ve heard of this, but I don’t want that issue for sure. I can send the order back when it arrives if I need to, but I can’t believe that clearance issues are a common problem. Are they?

I recently installed the trackpack finned diff cover.
No issues clearing the J&M adjustable panhard bar. I was worried at first that it may not clear, but after install, there is plenty of clearance.

 

[crjackson]

Thanks, the PHB arrived today, but the brace is 3 weeks out. Based on @GlassTop09 description, I'm considering sending everything back and just driving with the drivers side tire poking out. So many raved about the BMR I never expected so many problems. What a bummer… I thought I had this licked.

 

[skwerl]

Thanks, the PHB arrived today, but the brace is 3 weeks out. Based on @GlassTop09 description, I'm considering sending everything back and just driving with the drivers side tire poking out. So many raved about the BMR I never expected so many problems. What a bummer… I thought I had this licked.

You don't have a problem yet, except maybe in your head. I had an aftermarket cover but not finned. It had reinforcements for the carrier bearings for hard launches. My BMR panhard bar fit just fine without the relocation bracket.

You may need to swap the grease fitting for a 90 degree fitting. See pics.

 

[crjackson]

You don't have a problem yet, except maybe in your head

Ha Ha … No doubt. I’m disabled and can’t pull wrenches anymore, so bad fittment is a bigger issue for me. I’ll have to pay someone for the install, and if the fittment is a problem, I’ll have to pay again to fix it. So yeah, I obsess to avoid issues like this. I was pretty confident I made the right choice until GlassTop chimed in. Not so sure now.

Not to concerned about swapping grease fittings. If the thing clears everything and presents no problems, I’ll be happy to swap those out…

 

[GlassTop09]

Thanks, the PHB arrived today, but the brace is 3 weeks out. Based on @GlassTop09 description, I'm considering sending everything back and just driving with the drivers side tire poking out. So many raved about the BMR I never expected so many problems. What a bummer… I thought I had this licked.

Now I wouldn't necessarily call it a problem to use the BMR Adj PHB or any other brand's PHB w\ these S197's....it's just that all these little lesser known items can add up if folks aren't aware of them or assume that all parts are created the same......cause they're not.
That's why I made the suggestion to you to consider buying the BMR PHB Relocation Bracket to install along w\ the BMR Adj PHB you've already bought cause when you do this the axle side PHB mount is moved back a full 2" so there won't be any PHB\diff cover clearance issues regardless of cover design\LCA hole center length differences going forward. This is the only way that I could be sure (thus ensure you) that you wouldn't have any clearance issues w\ your Ford 8.8" Track Pack finned diff cover w\ the BMR Adj PHB since I don't have any 1st hand knowledge of your car's setup but I do have knowledge of BMR's Adj PHB, PHB brace & LCA's w\ their dimensions (at least the parts I had bought....these are mass produced parts so the dimensions can be off spec within an acceptable tolerance level) thus know of where they could incur clearance\fitment issues depending on other circumstances.

This should be an expectation to run into at some point when using aftermarket parts to mod these S197's.

The Ford Racing Adj PHB is the only adj PHB available that is specifically DESIGNED to provide adequate clearance when using non-OEM Ford 8.8" diff covers (specifically the Ford Racing parts...like your Track Pack finned diff cover or my Girdle) mounted in the S197's OEM PHB brackets so no relocation brackets required....but it ain't cheap (actual cost @ $252.49 + tax from CJ Pony Parts) cause it's made from chrome moly steel (allows the PHB shaft to be smaller dia to provide extra clearance & reduce mass but not sacrifice rigidity\strength to hold up under actual hi load racing conditions).

But in the end it's for you to decide what's best for you & your car.

Hope this helps.

 

[GlassTop09]

Sorry double post..............Internet is flaky.

Here is the BMR PHB Relocation Bracket I mentioned:
BMR Mustang Panhard Bar Relocation Bracket 2005-2014 | CJ Pony Parts

 

[crjackson]

Well, I decided to do the install myself today. Ended up putting back to the stock PHB. There were no clearance issues at all. The problem is that at it’s shortest adjustment, the BMR is 3/4” longer than stock. So that doesn’t help me.

 

[Pentalab]

Well, I decided to do the install myself today. Ended up putting back to the stock PHB. There were no clearance issues at all. The problem is that at it’s shortest adjustment, the BMR is 3/4” longer than stock. So that doesn’t help me.

WTF ? To get the car body shifted over to the driver's side, the PHB has to be shortened, not lengthened. Driver's side of phb goes to the axle. Pass side of PHB goes to the car body. Axle doesn't move, the back end of the car body moves side to side, depending on length of phb.