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As the title says I want to cut my panhards up to put some threaded bar in and weld some nuts on either end. The question to anyone on here that's already done it is.....what diameter bar did you use? I can't chop it up until I've got all the bits but I can't get the bits with the car in bits, hence the question. Any help greatfully accepted.
For a 2" lift, the arc of the pan hard rod will only displace your axle sideways by a couple of mm. I seriously doubt that on a lifted vehicle you would be able to tell the difference in handling.
If you are determined to make it adjustable, the force on a pan hard rod is considerable, particularly cornering whilst braking. Ordinary threaded rod, even in big diameters is not suitable as it's made of pudding. High tensile studding is better but it's still not an ideal solution from a safety point of view.
Strength wise I would go for M20 (or bigger, fine thread) and use heavy wall CDS tube. Probably something like 30mm OD by 5mm wall. Welding nuts on the end is not a suitable solution. The weld is strong enough in itself, but it tends to harden the steel which can lead to fatigue failures down the line.
There is a reason that most pan hard rods are forged rather than fabricated. If you go down the fabricated route - make it stronger than it needs to be.
It's getting lifted 3" when the bigjimny shop re-opens and I can order the lift kit. I saw biggaz did the threaded bar approach but there was no mention of the size bar he used. I was also planning on adding some angle iron to strengthen the panhards. I was led to believe you had to change the panhards when the jimny gets lifted I just didn't want to spend £100 on a job I could easily do myself, I'm a tight northerner.
A 3" lift will move your axle to the side by 2.8mm. It's one of those things that people with 4x4's think they must have - but even those with them fitted rarely adjust them accurately. I think it's something that retailers love to sell - but are completely pointless.
People who say they can feel the difference in the handling are the same people who think painting red lines on the sides makes it go faster! There are plenty of things that will improve the handling and/or off road performance - but sadly, these ain't one of them!
