wishbone or panhard bar

i have the panhard bar on my ladder bar deal ... would the wishbone be a better way to go ? what is the diff ?

no need for a wishbone on a ladder bar deal.

maybe i should have diagonal bar instead of panhard (because thats not what it is called)

i just notice a slight amount of play in the rear ..only in one direction with the diagonal bar ...so what about an x bar set up like these

http://www.cachassisworks.com/c-86-track-locaters-x-style.aspx

here is the wishbone deal

http://www.cachassisworks.com/c-89-wishbone-locaters.aspx

I have just the diagonal bar and she is solid, we did ditch the one that came with the kit and make a bigger diameter one though. Also the tabs are welded to the front of the ds bar and the rear of the ps bar, good fitting bolts..................all equal no slop.

bruno wrote:........i just notice a slight amount of play in the rear ......

A diagonal link that's brackets are bolted to the chassis/housing brackets is going to feel "looser" than a diagonal link with brackets welded directly to the front/rear of the ladder bars. This is because the "bolt-on" diagonal link by design has to be a longer bar (more material to flex) & it sits installed at a steeper angle (between the ladder bars) offering less side loading ability.

A weld-on diagonal link design uses a shorter bar length (less material to flex) & installs at an angle (between the ladder bars) that is much closer to the "ideal" side loading angle of 45*.

richter69 wrote:no need for a wishbone on a ladder bar deal.

I like the wishbone and ladder bar combo myself. We could tell a BIG difference on Larry's little ChevyII with the stick shift especially on the slow down after a pass. Car did not wander or walk around while on the brakes after the wishbone install. JMO

Travis

I should have stated no need for one if the diagonal link is done right lol.

richter69 wrote:I should have stated no need for one if the diagonal link is done right lol.

Yeah, we probably f-ed up that diagonal link. If the ladder bars are 32" long ,big tire and only 22-24" apart, it is a lot harder to make a diagonal link work properly compared to a small tire wide spread say 30 -32" separation width. The angle changes dramatically between the Two no matter if you are bolted through the hiems front and back or welded tabs on the bars theirselves. I personally don't care for the welded tabs on the bars for the simple fact you are side loading the tubing ( on the ladder bars ) and have the possibility of bending the ladder bars more so then bolting through the hiems . Again JMO not that it really matters, ( LOL )

I am using a bolt in diagonal link on my car , the only thing I do not like about it is if I move the bottom 4 link bars I have to re - center the rear end , on the other hand the bottom bars are seldom moved unless you make a big power adjustment so its not that big of an issue.

In comparison it should be mentioned that a diagonal link's mounts/pivot points must fall on the same plane (when viewed from the side) as the ladder bar's (and also 4-link's bottom bar's) pivot points. A wishbone doesn't need to fall on the same plane because of it's slip-joint. And with an X-link it depends on the design used. With a slip-joint X-link it's not necessary, and with a non slip-joint X-link it must be on the same plane.

A wishbone can at times also have some problems dealing with side loading on ladder bars that are mounted real close together. The long length combined with a narrow width really loads the wishbone's slip-joint on one end & the two rod-ends/brackets on the other. So in this situation using bigger tubing & rod-ends for the wishbone is a good idea.

But in my opinion the best choice for really narrow mounted ladder bars is one of the X-link designs mentioned.

Witch one is best if the car is mostly street driven.
ive heard ether or, but not both, but also have heard of a few street and track cars running both with no problems
looks like they would bind.
OH! with ladder bars.

res0rli9 wrote:Witch one is best if the car is mostly street driven.
ive heard ether or, but not both, but also have heard of a few street and track cars running both with no problems
looks like they would bind.
OH! with ladder bars.

If by "best" for ladder bars on the street you mean "strongest" (for dealing with corner turning/side loading street use) then the only real choices are a panhard bar, or a Watts link.

A panhard bar is the least complex & strongest for dealing with side loading, but they do pull the housing to the side a small amount during suspension travel. How much a panhard bar pulls the housing to one side depends on total suspension travel distance, it's installed length (shorter bar pulls more, longer bar pulls less) & how equal both it's pivot point heights are off the ground at car ride height.

A Watts link doesn't/shouldn't pull the housing to the side (if correctly designed/installed) like a panhard bar can. But a Watts link is much more complicated & takes up much more room under the car.


You never use multiple/different housing centering methods/designs on any given car. You pick one method & only one.

A few door cars around here have started using an X welded into the bottom 4 link bars in place of a wisbone or diagonal link. They also figured out that this replaced the need for an anti-roll bar as well. It seems to work pretty good. The 4-link rails have been doing this for a while and these guys adapted it to their door cars.

BigDave65 wrote:A few door cars around here have started using an X welded into the bottom 4 link bars in place of a wisbone or diagonal link. They also figured out that this replaced the need for an anti-roll bar as well. It seems to work pretty good. The 4-link rails have been doing this for a while and these guys adapted it to their door cars.

On dragsters they call that a "swing-arm" setup (for some damn reason) even though it's just like you say really just the bottom bars of their 4-link welded together with an "X". Using the name "swing-arm" for the welded 4-link bars makes no sense to me cuz a true swing-arm design "swings/rotates" from a single front pivot point (each side) like some Pro Mods used to have & also like what motorcycles use.

Supposedly Murray Anderson has also tried the welded 4-link bottom bar layout as his next evolutionary design step to take the place of his older traditional P/M swing-arm design since the "true" older swing-arm design does lack any real amount of adjustment.