My car is lowered and I thought it would be a good idea to get the axle back in line. I bought the adjustable panhard rod a couple of months ago and just to look at it, it is impressive. The actual rod is a larger diameter, which probably makes no real difference. But, I suppose, they did it that way to accomodate the large diameter screw at the adjustable end. You wouldn't want some wimpy little screw holding things together down there. The oversize poly bushings were the real attraction though.

I set out to determine the offset of the axle with the stock rod. As suggested by someone else here I hung a plumb line and measured the distance from the center of the wheels. I figured I needed to have the car level and the weight of the car on the axle. My garage floor slopes off to one side so I jacked up the low side under the trailing arm and used a spirit level. To my surprise the measurements were only about 1/8" different the longer being on the driver's side. It almost seemed like too little to worry about. But I wanted those poly bushings on the car so I removed the original and got the adjustable unit to what I thought was the same length as the stock and then adusted it in by that 1/8". After installing it and checking the distances it was out on the driver's side by more than 1/4". I wondered at the start if I was doing this right and at that point I really began to question myself. I blew it off for a couple of weeks.

Last night I set out to adjust the damn rod again. In my earlier attempt I had supported the chassis on stands at the jackpoints and had moved the axle. This time I thought I should support the car under the axles and try to move the chassis. This was a bad idea. With the weight of the car on the axle I didn't have room to remove the left hand bolt for the rod. So I switched back to supporting the body on the jack points with the axle suspended. Time wasted.

I pulled the rod and adjusted it in. Then I had to get the bushing to line up with the bracket. It needed to come back to the left. By lying on my side and pushing the right rear tire/wheel with my thighs I was able to get the bolt in. But it was an effort. After tightening/torquing I put the car on the ground, leveled it up and saw that I had adjusted the rod by too much. Now I had to bring it back the other way. It was getting close to dark and I wanted to quit but I forced myself to go ahead and pull the rod again. I adjusted the rod again, got it back in place, finished up and checked the distances. There was maybe 1/16" difference. I said, "That's close enough," and put the tools away.

My gripes:
First off, IPD has been selling lowering springs since the beginning of time yet it seems that only recently have they offered the adjustable track rod (correct me if I'm wrong). Now it had not occured to me when I installed the TME sport springs a year ago that the axle would be off center after lowering although a moments thought would demonstrate that it is. So why has IPD been letting people buy their springs for years without mentioning this or offering a product to correct the situation until now?

I was disappointed that this part was shipped with no instructions of any kind. No matter. It's a pretty straightforward procedure. I did contact IPD to ask why there was no literature with the part since the catalogue states that instructions are included. I have never heard back from them. It would probably not shed much light on the situation anyway.

The rod itself, as I said earlier, is an impressive hunk of metal and polyurethane. But the welds at the business end are sloppy and are such that you can't get an open end or adjustable wrench cleanly on the flats of the fixed part of the rod, causing some interference when tightening the set nut. Another couple of minutes spent in the shop would rectify this situation. If, in the future, I take it off for some reason I am having those welds smoothed down. But I really feel it should already have been done.

The real killer here is the effort which one has to expend to connect the rod to the chassis bracket. I wonder if it would be easier with the sway bar removed? And if you miscalculate, as I did, you have to yank the thing off and do it all over again. It really seems to me that it would have been better to design this item with a turnbuckle so that you could install it and then do the adjustment. Then, if you miss, you wouldn't have to pull the whole thing off again. Lock plates along the lines of the ones used on old VW front axle nuts would keep the lock nuts in place after the correct adjustment is made. There would have to be a slot down one side of the threaded lengths.

I don't know. Maybe it's just me. But the more I deal with IPD the less impressed I am with them. This is a good product. But it could be a little better.

Anyway, using my wholly unscientific and less than professional methods, the adjustable rod is on. And my back hurts.
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'80 DL 2 dr