Elisa Coon takes this Steeda Mustang around Sebring International Raceway.[/caption]Panhard Bar for 2005-2014 Mustangs
While Ford did an outstanding job with the 2005-2014 Mustang, enthusiasts are always looking to dial in performance to their liking. The S197 chassis provides a much-improved platform when compared to the Fox and Fox-4 it replaced, but like most production vehicles, the manufacturer made concessions for comfort and ride quality. No problem, Brothers Performance is here to help you add power, improve handling, and stop shorter. The first step is to get your hands on an aftermarket Panhard Bar for 2005-2014 Ford Mustangs.
All S197 2005-2014 Ford Mustangs are equipped with a MacPherson strut suspension up front, and a three-link rear suspension with coil springs and a Panhard Bar (also called a Panhard Rod or a Track Bar) out back. This suspension works great for street performance, as well as for drag racing and road racing—but you can make it better with aftermarket springs and shocks designed for your specific driving style. It's just natural to swap in performance suspension links and polyurethane bushings, better brakes, and any type of power adder you give you more “GO!”
The Panhard Bar is a critical component of the rear suspension. It's mounted laterally and connects between the Mustang’s body and rear-end housing to limit side-to-side movement of the rear end housing in relation to the body of the vehicle, while allowing the rear to move up and down through the designed range of motion. Vertical movement is necessary to keep the tires in compliance with the road or track surface. If you made your suspension too stiff, the result would be like a skateboard hitting a rock, and your tires would bounce off the surface. As you can guess, this is not good for handling or even basic control. Dropping your Stang and adding some stiffness is actually good for handling, thankfully the factory leaves room for you to lower your Mustang and install parts to improve steering response and overall handling, without sacrificing ride quality.
Recently, the BrothersPerformance.com team installed an adjustable Panhard Bar from Steeda, which carries part number 555-2551A and sells for about $170.00. Adjustability in a Panhard Bar length is useful—as it allows you to properly center the rear housing under the car. This is important in any Mustang, but especially lowered Mustangs. If you have the stock bar in place, as you lower your S197 Ford Mustang, the rear will slide to the left. Lateral movement of the rear as well as the adjustability feature of the Steeda bar is shown in our attached video.
Steeda’s Adjustable Panhard Bar is built from lightweight 4130 chrome moly steel (making it four pounds lighter than stock), and it has high-durometer bushings in place of rubber bushings. As we mentioned, its length is adjustable, even when it’s mounted in the car—we really like this feature. It also looks pretty racy.
You can expect easy installation using basic hand tools, plus the ability to easily set your rear perfectly under the car, and of course enhanced handling with better response.
