The rear end on my 00gt seems loose. It seems to float from side to side or at least it seems like that. Will a panhard bar fix that? Does any one have some pics of one installed. What does it take to install one?
The car has slide into a tree side ways and I had to do some welding to get the rear end back together. Its all back in one piece looking good but seems like there to much left to right play in the rear.
thanks for any help you can give me.

 

Where did the tree strike? Did it torque the body? Have you aquired the Ford shop manual and made sure that the Rear Control Arm attachment points are square with the front end? What you are describing could be due to damage caused by the impact. If the floorpan is bent, thereby changing the position of any mounting point, the rear will do some odd things. Also, bent L or UCA's will cause wierd handling issues.

A Panhard Bar (PHB) is designed to stop side-to-side axle movement and aid in locating the axle at the center of the body. This is the only picture I have of mine installed.



This is from my EvM Tri-Link install on my 1996 Cobra. Your's will look similar. Installing a PHB isn't to hard, you just have to measure and measure then remeasure to make sure it's square with the chassis. Here are the instructions from MM:

Maximum Motorsports Install Instructions

An alternative to a PHB is a Watts Link which is also made by EvM. A Watts Link does a little bit better job of keeping the axle centered though the entire range of suspension motion. To see it in action, click on this link and scroll down to the bottom.

 

Nathan's answer is pretty straight forward and correct. The purpose of the Panhard is to limit lateral movement by the axle and keep the axle located through suspension movements.

I also share Nathans concerns about the control arms and their mounting points in the pan. Check that first and foremost to make sure that is all square, otherwise you could have some serious issues down the road (both literally and figuratively)

I have several pics of my PHB installation, but they are on my computer at home. When I get home I'll get those and post them up for you to see.

 

everything seems to be where it is supose to be. It was on the frame straighting machine. The car goes straight down the road .... it did before I took it in for repairs. Checking the rear with a tape measure from several points it seems to be in the right place. Seems to be!!
One of the mounting points for the upper controll was pulled away from the mounting point. I pulled it back into place and welded it.

 

Here are a few pics of my set up.

 

One warning about running a PHB with stock Ford UCA's:

Because of the arc that the PHB travels in, at extreme compression or extension the UCA's "ears" can come in contact with the axle housing. This makes for a very nasty corner exit. If you are seriously considering installing a PHB you'd better be ready to pull the trigger on a Tri-Link or Torque Arm. As far as I know, this is not a problem in vehicles equipped with a Watts Link because the bell-crank keeps the axle centered throughout the range of motion.

 

I replaced both upper and lower control arms when I installed my PHB, used all Kenny Brown parts. I've not had any issues with unwarrented contact.

 

I have not run into any problems using factory control arms with a panhard bar and I have installed quite a few. There may be other factors contributing to that problem described by Sendero but I have not seen it with my installations/useage. I have also installed the EVM tri link and EVM watts link...the tri link is much nicer now than it used to be and the watts link is nice but it does cause problems with running exhaust out the back on the passenger side...this clearance issue is much more of a problem if you are running larger than stock exhaust. There are other watts links out there that do not interfere with exhaust such as FAYS2 which is also a much beefier unit than the EVM version. I have not yet installed a FAYS2 system but plan to here in the near future.

If everything in your rear end is OK and measures out correctly then your control arm bushings could have been damaged in the accident...that is if this is a problem you did not have prior to the accident. The 4 link rear end does move side to side so if this has always been something you didn't like then the above options are a potential fix...but if this is something new you noticed since the accident then you have another problem related to that accident.

 

 

My comment was not an attempt at contradiction, merely a statement that I had changed those components and have not had any issues.

I fully realize that stock vs aftermarket components is not the same arguement, I was only pointing out that by changing those components I had not experienced any problems.


Don't bang your head to hard!

 

Thanks Folks control arm bushings may be a good call in this case. The car has 40k miles on it and it was cold out when I wacked the tree. I would think bushings would be a little less forgiving when its freezing out.

 

If your serious about a panhard bar think about changing the control arms while you are at it. It will all help locate the axle better.

My reason for getting my set up was pretty much the same as yours. I didn't like the feel the car had at certain speeds and over certain road conditions. It always felt like the rear was floating.