Hey guys, still learning a lot about my car but I wanted to know the difference between a panhard bar and lower control arms. They seem to do the same thing so which one do I choose?

 

To put it simply a Panhard bar runs sideways and connects the axle to the chassis. This helps prevent the axle from moving horizontally while still allowing full verticle motion.

Lower control arms hold alot of the forces while the car is accelerating and stopping. OEM ones allow excessive deflection, mostly due to the bad rubber bushings, which lead to poor traction due to axle movement.

What exactly are you wanting to do, or prevent?

 

The two components are not the same. They work in two different planes of movement.

The PHB prevents the axle from having lateral movement, as in side to side. This also provides the benefit of being able to locate the axle where ever you want it (adjustable PHB)

LCAs position the axle front to back and provide some degree of caster adjustment if equipped to do so.

 

Well I wanted to lower the car 1.25" on all four wheels and tighten up the suspension. So I didn't know which of the two I should get for these two purposes

 

Neither will lower your car, I believe for that amount of lowering it would be recommended to get an adjustable PHB so that you can recenter the car. Might as well also get a nice set of LCA's, I have yet to put mine on, however I would suggest Whiteline based on others impressions and because they look really stout.

 

If your goal is to account for and optimize suspension after you lower the car. A adjustable pan hard and LCA's while they certainly will help don't by themselves correct for the change in suspension geometry.

If you really want a tight handling stang. I would recommend the following...

Rear suspension: Get traction brackets to move the rear connection point for the LCA down. Its a cheap part. $80-100. Replace the bushings on LCA's, also v.cheap. You could buy after market ones if you really want. But I can tell you that my stock LCA's with upgraded bushings seem to work as well as the Boss 302S LCA's I used to have. Skip the panhard and buy a watts link set up. Panhards still allow a small amount of deflection. A Watts link costs a bit more but is worth it and lets you adjust the rear roll center on the car to be just right.

Front Suspenstion: At least get a beefer sway bar and if you can replace the stock LCA bushings and get extended ball joints...or replace the LCA's completely if you can afford it.

Last, get an alignment!!! Ask for as much negative camber as they can dial into the front...you could install a camber kit to help here..also cheap.

 

I forgot to add the part about lowering springs haha. So basically since I'm on a budget just get either LCA or a new adjustable PHB or both and an alignment right? It Will help a lot with tightening up the suspension?

 

If you get lowering springs, depending on how low you go you MAY not need a PHB. With the questions you've asked I would highly suggest just reading up a little more on what specifically each component does on these Mustang. Don't forget that lowering your car will degrade OEM components a little faster. Time depends on your driving style and road conditions.

 

I'm gonna lower it 1.25" on all four so would I need a PHB? And I heard if its not a low drop then my OEM components won't degrade as fast. And from my reading it says I need an adjustable PHB or LCAs