Hey, guys, Stephanie with AmericanMuscle.com here with the BMR adjustable panhard bar for
all 2005 to 2014 Mustangs.
This panhard bar from BMR is going to be a good option for the '05 to '14 owners out
there that are looking for the benefits of a panhard bar for a lowered S197 that sees
a lot of street time.
In general, panhard bars are a great suspension mod.
They can offer a lot of benefits.
And as such, they tend to be one of the first suspension mods that owners tackle.
There are a lot of options when it comes to panhard bars, and you're gonna want to choose
which type you go with based off of your car and what you plan on doing with it.
I'd say that a panhard bar is a must-have upgrade if you're serious about improving
the suspension on your S197, and that's because the purpose of a panhard bar is to keep the
rear axle from moving side to side.
The side to side movement in the rear axle is created by chassis flex and twist and it
will have an impact on the consistency of the handling.
The stock components are weak and they're designed for comfort, which is why they allow
for these twists and the movements.
If the rear axle is allowed to move and it doesn't stay centered, you'll experience rear
steer and your ability to corner will be reduced.
A panhard bar is going to center your rear, which will not only be an issue if the rear
is moving during cornering from chassis flex, but once you start doing other suspension
upgrades and lowering your car, the panhard bar will help keep the geometry correct.
The BMR panhard bar is made to stop this movement, which will help with traction and handling
since the rear will be forced to stay centered.
There are a few features that are gonna make the BMR panhard bar here different than others
on the site.
I'd say that this is a good choice for lowered cars simply because it's adjustable.
We all know when you lower your car the geometry changes and so adjustable suspension components
tend to work best in these situations.
The BMR is on-car adjustable, which means that you can fine tune your suspension with
the bar installed.
You don't need to remove it to make any adjustments.
Now, that's not to say that you shouldn't run an adjustable panhard bar if your car
isn't lowered, but you really should consider an adjustable bar if you are lowered.
This panhard bar will work for both street and track applications, but I specifically
say that it's great for a car that sees a lot of street time due to the bushing setup
and the material that it's made out of.
Bushing setups and suspension parts are very important.
They're going to create a different type of performance from parts that are made the same
way.
So the bushing setup is always important to consider.
This panhard bar is great for a car that sees a lot of street time because it has a spiral
fluted greasable polyurethane bushing.
The poly bushings are stiff enough to reduce deflection and add stiffness, which is what
you want here, but it's not going to add so much rigidity that it causes a terrible ride
quality for a street car.
Bushings have a big effect on ride quality and NVH, and a lot of times choosing a suspension
setup comes back to finding the perfect combo that will stiffen up the rear and stop unwanted
movement, enough to improve traction and handling but not so much that you hate driving a car.
The amount of NVH and stiffness in the ride all comes down to personal preference and
what you use your car for.
The fact that they're greasable means that they will be easy to maintain with the bar
still installed on the car.
And the adjustable ends are Chromoly CNC machined with rolled threads.
These are nice components that are going to make the adjustments easy and keep the bar
highly functional as well.
The bar does have a steel tubular construction.
It's a thick diameter as well, one and a quarter inch, so that's going to make it rigid, a
lot more rigid than the factory bar is.
It's then finished with a black hammer tone powder coat.
And while you won't necessarily see the color of the bar when it's installed, the powder
will give it some corrosion resistance, and that's only going to benefit an under car
suspension component.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is that while a panhard bar can and will make a difference
by itself, it definitely pairs great with other suspension mods.
It'll help with traction and handling by itself, but keep in mind that there isn't just one
part that will fix all traction and handling issues, but a good combination of upgrades
can totally change a Mustang's performance.
As far as price, at the end of the day a panhard bar isn't necessarily all that expensive.
This panhard bar costs a little under $150, which is more expensive than the non-adjustable
panhard bars but less expensive than some of the more complicated and track-ready options.
If you're not worried about NVH, there are some more radical choices that are available.
And one is not necessarily better than the other at face value.
It all depends on what you're building and what you're building it for.
They have different features that will give different performances.
The install for this panhard bar does require a little bit of knowledge, but overall it's
not difficult.
So I'm gonna call it a solid one out of three wrenches on the difficulty meter, but mostly
just because of the adjustment process.
It'll take about two hours to complete.
If you tackle this install yourself, you need a few different sockets and wrenches and a
way to get the car in the air so you can work under the rear.
There are covers covering the factory panhard bar bolts but they're easy to remove.
The factory bar is held in by two bolts, but you will need to loosen the panhard bar support
brace in order to get the stock bar out.
There will be a little assembling of the new panhard bar before you can install it like
the bushings, the ends.
And since this is adjustable, you wanna make sure that it's the same length as the factory
bar before installing.
The actual install of the new bar will be the same as the removal of the factory bar.
Once the bar is installed, it'll need to be adjusted.
The panhard bar is adjusted by twisting the bar by hand to adjust the body of the car
over the axle.
You can accomplish this by measuring each side after you adjust the bar, and there are
a few different ways that you can do that.
Once everything is adjusted, all you have to do is lock everything into place.
Wrapping things up here, the BMR panhard bar has a tubular steel construction and it's
on-car adjustable with poly bushings that will be more forgiving to a street car.
It's a great option for lowered cars and will work to improve traction and handling, especially
in corners, therefore tightening up the rear end.
You can check it out more online along with all of your other rear suspension upgrade
options right here at AmericanMuscle.com.