front panhard bar, yes or no

i've seen some model A hiboys using the front panhard bar and some without.. how necessary are they.. will i regret it if i don't put it in now.. i posted a thread a while back regarding a panhard bar in the rear and most of the H.A.M.B.ers thought it was not necessary with the rear setup i have.. so i didn't install one

 

I put a front one on my last Model A, it helped the handeling

 

Yes put one in. Mine made a big difference. In my 32.

 

I put one on my car , I figured it was better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have one. mine runs from the left side frame rail to the right side split wish bone.

 

Biggest improvement you can make on the front of these cars,,,dive in a curve without a panhard bar and when you try to straighten out you will realize instantly what bump steer means,,,

I won't have a car without one. HRP

 

forgot to add the pictures of the build

 

I agree you should.

 

If the spring is right and you had to use a spreader to install it a Panhard bar is not necessary. Ford didn't start using Panhard bars until the cars didn't have springs mounted in tension anymore...1942.

 

A panard rod is a device used to contain lateral movement. To determine if a panard rod was needed it would be necessary to know what the design of your intended locating linkage is. Generally on vehicles that have non triangulated front linkages a panard works well to contain side to side movement. They can be used with a cross steer application to take some of the suspension reaction off the steering feedback and on a side steer application to maintain central location. Your panard rod should be as long as possible to eliminate any bind that may develop between conflicting arcs of operation.

 

Is this from your experience? HRP

 

I've never had one and probably never will. If you have cross steering it might be needed, but with traditional steering I really see no need. I do use a SoCal steering stabilzer on all our cars, and those are great IMO.

Just today I put on about 100 miles over some VERY bad roads and the car didn't even know the road was rough.

Don

 

I will say that when my roadster first hit the street it scared me to death,,I had cross steering and no panhard bar,,I tried a So Cal steering stabilizer and it didn't help at all.

Driving on a road with switch backs the spring would unload coming out of a curve and the car just bump steered bad,,the panhard bar cured the problem. HRP

 

I could not have said it better myself,,,,

 

Yes. And the experience of the owners of 28-41 Ford owners as well.
When Ford stopped "pre-loading" his springs front and rear to soften the suspension he found the resulting swing in suspension needed Panhard bars to correct it yet retain that softer ride to compete with the IFS cars.

 

i figured this was gonna happen, some yes, some no.. i am putting this car together in bare metal (frame anyway) hoping to get it to the nsra east (york, pa) in a couple of months.. if i don't add it now, i can always add it this coming winter when i tear it down for paint... so, my question now is, if taking my time driving, will i be alright

 

Sure,I drove mine for several months until I found out everybody roadster didn't drive like mine. HRP

 

thanks for the info fellas

 

If you are running a cross steering (Vega style box) You really should run a panard bar or at least a "dead perch" to prevent the side movement from the steering. BILL

 

Stand in front of your car and with someone else turning the steering wheel back and forth pretty hard look to see if there is any lateral (side to side) movement in either the body or chassis. Any lateral movement means you probably need a panhard bar. Ive seen some cars that REALLY need one and others that maybe could use one. Very few don't need one at all.

 

My experience is I've built 2 A's with no front pan hard bars and they both drive and handle just fine and with no bump steer.

 

Put on on my 39 coupe, improved handing a lot, along with other improvements...........sandy

 

If anything in the front-end breaks or lets go a panhard bar will give you a better chance to steer the vehicle to a safe stop.

 

I'm running spring behind and f1 box should I run one?

 

I don't have one in my 28 and handles great without bump steer. This is with a drag link steering and four bar system. But i'm sure it would be a notch better if it had one because after looking at it i'm sure there is a certain amount of swinging back and forth on the shackles under road force in the corners especialy.

 

I noticed my old roadster handled more like a sports car when slicing through the mountains. HRP

 

I have a model A I built 30 years ago with drag link steering and a 4 bar set-up. I've never had a panhard rod on it and it steers and handles just fine. But my '32 has cross steering on it and I would not drive it without a panhard bar. It really depends on what your steering set-up is IMO.

There are those who say a four bar front end needs a panhard bar but mine seems to work fine without it and I've put a ton of miles on that car and a lot of those miles were on curvy mountain roads here in and around the Shenandoah Valley.

 

Or you could fit a Watts linkage

 

i am running cross steer.. i'd like to add pictures but sometimes i can and sometimes it fails

 

I believe in controling the axle, so I used a dead perch like I had on my modified race car. Also I dont care for the looks of a panard bar on a fender less car. Gary

 

how can the spring work with this setup. the spring can't move when hitting bumps, no?