Incorrect rear suspension arms?

[FiatRunner]

Hello,

I realized today while working on my car that my panhard rod wasn't the correct one.

I have a '74 car, but the panhard rod is bent in two places, which I believe is incorrect for my year. According to AutoRicambri, mine should be straight.

But here's the thing: If the panhard is incorrect, who knows? The other suspension links could be incorrect for all I know. Could someone possibly provide some measurements of the correct rods, or is there an easy way to see a difference between the pre-79 links and the later ones?

[davidbruce]

The bent panhard rod fits the late model differentials with the rear cover. The panhard rods are different lengths. So not interchangeable. You must have the late diff. The early trailing arms use different style bushings than the later ones but are interchangeable.

[FiatRunner]

The bent panhard rod fits the late model differentials with the rear cover. The panhard rods are different lengths. So not interchangeable. You must have the late diff. The early trailing arms use different style bushings than the later ones but are interchangeable.

Are you sure the later one won't fit? It is definitely the early diff. No removable rear cover, and the drain plug is in the middle on the bottom.

The incorrect panhard drags the whole rear axle to the passenger side of the car, and there is a large visual difference.

Edit: after looking at more photos of later spiders, I've come to the conclusion that my panhard rod has been used as a jacking point to lift the car up, and this bent the whole thing. I'll still be replacing it, but I still would like to know if the other ones are correct or not.

[bobplyler]

Differentials are interchangeable. You need the rod that matches the differential.

[davidbruce]

The early trailing arms have the hourglass shaped bushings. The later ones have the straight ones with the steel sleeve on the outside. If you look at the ends of the rods and they taper towards the middle (like your old style panhard rod) then they are old style as well. My 80 has new style trailing arms and an old style panhandle. I cut the ends off the panhard and welded new eyes on. Machined to accept the new style bushings.

[davidbruce]

Out of curiosity I looked at AR's and Vicks early panhard rods. Vick's shows the early style ends while AR shows the new style ends.
https://www.vickauto.com/FIAT-PARTS/FIA ... KU-63-7308

https://autoricambi.us/panhard-rod-1966-78-save-20/

[FiatRunner]

It appears that I have the correct trailing rods.

I will purchase and install a new panhard. Hopefully the bushings in the trailing rods aren’t ruined, I wouldn’t think that being pulled sideways like that is good for them.

This also explains why the car has always turned left better than right… but this probably means I’ll need another alignment once I install the correct parts. Oh well.

I’ll post an update when I get the new panhard installed. Is it a difficult link to replace?

[redcars]

The panhand rod is one of the easiest to change. I believe that the rods are the same length, just the newer ones are bent to make room for the newer diff.

[davidbruce]

The rods are different lengths as the mounts are in different locations. Changing the rod is fairly easy. The manual calls for 130 pounds in the trunk and 300 pounds in the passenger compartment when the suspension bolts are torqued. With the car sitting on the tires or blocked under the axle and front suspension.

[FiatRunner]

I ordered a new panhard rod from AutoRicambri and installed it in less than an hour! The most difficult part was torqueing the bolts with all the weight in the car.

Went super smooth, and I spent a few minutes cleaning up the factory bolts, the old panhard looked to be the original one. I had no idea that the factory bolts say FIAT on them! What a cool little detail!

The old panhard rod was really really bent. I can't believe that I was able to drive the car for more than 1000 miles with it that way.

Here's a photo comparing the old and new ones: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jrlFPB ... sp=sharing

Thank you all for your help!