On the subject of the panhard rod, I'd love to, but my design plate is very
full. When I get some of my projects finished up, I will get back to that
one. I recently towed a vehicle from Detroit to LA and wished I had a
panhard rod. We probably will work on panhard rods for other
fullsize trucks first, since the biggest improvement is seen when towing
(not that many people tow with compact trucks).
In torsion, the center of the circular cross-section does not contribute
substantially to the stiffness of the sway bar, so by eliminating it
you can retain a significant portion of the sway bars rate. This allows you
to remove a lot of dead weight from the bar without affecting
the performance of the bar. Unfortunately with hollow bars, you are limited
by the manufacturing processes used to make the bar. You
cannot have very sharp bends in the bar without driving the costs through
the roof. The front bar of the Dak 4x2 is fairly complex. We're
looking into hollow bars for the Dak, but I'm not optimistic. The 4x4 bars
will be solid, as the factory design in not a very efficient bar.
We've made prototypes for the 4x4 Durango (which uses the same front
suspension as the 4x4 Dak) and a solid 1 7/16" bar is not
big enough, so we're trying to package a 1 1/2" bar. Both the Dak 4x4 and
Durango 4x4 are very heavy vehicles for their class.
p.s. the Durango 4x2 has the same front suspension as the 4x2 Dakota
Sincerely
Gary Pinkley
-----Original Message-----
From: AJRoss50@aol.com <AJRoss50@aol.com>
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net <dakota-truck@buffnet.net>
Date: Wednesday, August 26, 1998 10:40 AM
Subject: Re: DML: Dodge Dakota Suspension Upgrades
>Gary,
>I have seen the Hotchkis suspension on the full-size GM in Sport Truck
>magazine I believe ( may have been Truckin'). Very impressive. The kit
for
>the Chevy came with a Panhrod bar for the rear. Is the setup for the
Dakota's
>going to have one? Also, what are the pros and cons of a hollow sway bar
vs. a
>solid one? I am an engineer also by the way.
>
>Alex
>97 CC Sport V8 5spd
>
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