Panhard rod - a cautionary tale

[hayesbd]

I had a recent "adventure" when Michigan roadways decided to do their best to destroy my rear suspension. South Michigan interstate roads (I-75, etc.) are currently in a dismal state and are being worked on gradually to improve, but the 15-mile stretch just north of Ohio is particularly punishing to drive on these days. On a recent trip to headquarters, my panhard rod decided it had had enough and broke near the driver's side attachment point. This created a rather uncomfortable oversteer condition and some excitement for the last portion of my trip. I was able to apply some Scouting tricks to lash things back together which worked remarkably well as a temporary fix, but you may want to closely inspect this component and replace it just gain some confidence. I'm not a big fan of the design of the ends of these rods and both the original and replacement seem to be of equal quality. It's a good thing that I wasn't in the middle of a high speed tight left turn when this happened.
Anyway, if you have an old rusty one, please inspect and replace if needed.

Brian

[AndyVAS]

Wow That must have been quite the ride. Glad you kept it on the road.

I can understand the view that the OEM design is rather weak, and it is. That said, I have seen even more pathetic pan-hard bars and watts links on heavier cars. Definitely an item to replace if it looks damaged at all via rust or dents.

[ORFORD2004]

Mine snap in 2 pieces in the middle on gravel road at around 45 MPH. Not fun at all. The back swing like hell.