Replace
the factory's weak, stamped steel, flexible panhard
bar with
one of our heavy duty set-ups! Allows for centering the rearend after
lowering. The best component for serious handling performance. Allows
alignment of the rear for clearance when running larger tires. Greatly
increases rear's lateral stability. This combo ended panhard bar will
still wipe out most bind yet keep
the road noise increase minimal for
a street
driven car. The Del-Sphere pivot joint provides for "bind-free"
handling performance. The fluted polyurethane bushed end is mounted
onto the chassis (floor) mount for maximum road noise insulation.
The panhard bar bushings on
F-Body
vehicles have a significant impact on your vehicle's ride,
comfort, handling, acceleration, noise and vibration. When the vehicle
leans (rolls) in a turn, one side of the chassis moves up relative to
the rear axle and the other side moves down. The panhard bar must twist
to allow for the axle to articulate, this causes the panhard bar
bushings to bind. If this bind becomes excessive, it will raise the
rear wheel rate and produce sudden and uncontrolled changes in handling
such as snap oversteer.
The factory minimizes this suspension bind by
using compliant
rubber bushings. These soft bushings help accommodate the
necessary motion of the panhard bar during body roll. However, the
rubber bushings do not provide much in the way of
positive lateral
support.
It is common to replace the stock rubber panhard bar
bushings
with polyurethane bushings to resolve the shortcomings of the
factory's soft rubber bushings. The downside of polyurethane
bushings is they prevent the necessary movement of the panhard
bar
during body roll, which in turn produces significant binding in the
suspension when the vehicle is cornering. The polyurethane bushings
also place high stresses on the panhard bar mounts on the
vehicle.
Polyurethane bushed panhard bars do not allow for rotation of the
panhard bar during cornering because of the stiffness of the bushings.
Del-Sphere Pivot Joints:
The Spohn Performance Del-Sphere
pivot joint solves the shortcomings of the factory rubber and
aftermarket polyurethane bushings. Our Del-Sphere
pivot joint
incorporates a spherical ball which is surrounded by delrin bushing
cups. This combination allows the panhard bar to articulate like a
spherical rod end (28 degrees of available rotation) during cornering
but the spherical ball does not allow the bushing to deflect. Therefore
the panhard bar remains completely bind free like a spherical rod end
during cornering for predictable traction in the corners.
Think of the Del-Sphere pivot joint as a Delrin bushed
spherical rod
end. After over a year of R&D testing here at Spohn Performance
on
a streetable spherical joint the Del-Sphere pivot joint is the final
result. Designed and manufactured exclusively by Spohn Performance, we
have taken street suspension performance to the next level. Our
Del-Sphere pivot joint features a one piece forged and heat treated
chrome moly housing, a heat treated and chrome plated chrome moly
spherical ball, Delrin bushing cups, heat treated retainer washer and
snap ring, heat treated and chrome plated chrome moly threaded adjuster
ring, an external grease fitting and a beautiful silver zinc plated
housing finish. The delrin bushing cups absorb shock and road noise so
you get the quiet and smooth ride of a bushing as well as 28 degrees of
rotation! Our Del-Sphere pivot joints will always ship to you fully
assembled, however, we also offer an optional adjusting tool that will
allow you to do two things. First, you can disassemble the Del-Sphere
pivot joint for cleaning, inspection, etc. Second, you can adjust the
amount of friction on the spherical ball. Do you want a very low
friction pivot joint or a very tight pivot joint? It's up to you, the
amount of tension can be easily adjusted by using our optional
adjustment tool
to tighten or loosen the end retainer ring. What that also means is if
over time and miles the tolerances open up you can simply re-adjust the
retainer ring and have your pivot joint as tight as it was the day it
was brand new. We doubt you'll ever need to replace the Delrin bushing
cups, but they certainly can be. Unlike a spherical rod end,
the
Del-Sphere pivot joint is 100% rebuildable.
What is Delrin,
and why
did you choose to use it?
Delrin is an acetal homopolymer made by DuPont. It is
characterized as having an excellent combination of physical properties
that make it suitable for numerous applications. With extremely low
moisture absorption and a low coefficient of friction
(self-lubricating), Delrin is uniquely tailored for wear applications
in high humidity or moisture environments. Delrin will maintain
constant physical properties under high moisture conditions and
out-perform nylon or polyurethane under these conditions. Delrin has a
10,000 psi tensile strength and a 120 Rockwell Hardness rating making
it ideal for our Del-Sphere application.
Build Specifications:
- 1.25" x .095" wall DOM tubing
- Stronger, yet lighter than stock
- TIG welded 4130N chrome moly threaded tube adapters
- 3/4" Del-Sphere
Pivot Joint
- CNC
machined through sleeve and zinc plated steel spacers keep Del-Sphere
end perfectly centered inside of the vehicle mounting bracket
- Polyurethane bushing (fluted) with grease fitting for easy
lubrication
- Right hand and left hand threaded male/female CNC
machined 4140 chrome moly adjuster provides for easy on-car adjustment
- Ships to you jig set at OEM length
- Reuses OEM mounting hardware, no need to drill out your
car's mounting brackets
- Available powder coated in your choice of the
above colors
4130N Upgrade:
The ultimate in
bullet-proof lightweight
strength, 100% TIG welded chrome moly construction! Same as
above, but constructed entirely from 4130N chrome moly tubing.
