A Panhard rod (also called Panhard bar, track bar, or track rod) is a

suspension link 300px, 5-link live axle suspension In automotive suspensions, a suspension link, control link or link is a suspension member, that attaches at only two points. One point being the body or frame of the vehicle and the other point attaching to th ...

that provides lateral location of the

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...

. Originally invented by the

Panhard Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of the first makers of automobiles. It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks Defense, was formed ...

automobile company of France in the early twentieth century, this device has been widely used ever since.

Overview

The purpose of automobile suspension is to let the wheels move vertically with respect to the body. It is thus undesirable to allow them to move forward and backwards (longitudinally), or side to side (laterally). The Panhard rod prevents lateral movement.RPM Net Tech Articles: Understanding Coil Springs - Powered by: AFCO
The Panhard bar is a simple device, consisting of a rigid bar running sideways in the same plane as the axle, connecting one end of the axle to the car body or

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

on the opposite side of the vehicle. The bar attaches on either end with pivots that let it swivel upwards and downwards only, so that the axle can move in the vertical plane only. This does not effectively locate the axle longitudinally, therefore it is usually used in conjunction with trailing arms that stabilize the axle in the longitudinal direction. This arrangement is not usually used with a

leaf spring A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, i ...

suspension, where the springs themselves supply enough lateral rigidity, but only with coil spring suspensions. However, Ford used a similar connected ''rear axle damper'' (fifth shock) on some

Explorers Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and light trucks with rear leaf springs. Jaguar also used a Panhard rod to locate the rear axle on its unusual cantilever leaf sprung Mark 2.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantage of the Panhard rod is its simplicity. Its major disadvantage is that the body must necessarily move in an arc relative to the axle, with the radius equal to the length of the Panhard rod. If the rod is too short, it allows excessive sideways movement between the axle and the body at the ends of the spring travel. Therefore, the Panhard rod is less desirable on smaller cars than larger ones. One exception to this is

Mitsubishi Pajero Mini The is a kei car produced by Mitsubishi Motors from December 1994 until June 2012. Overview Based on the platform of the Minica, the Pajero Mini was styled as a miniature version of the company's successful Pajero sport utility vehicle, in r ...

and

Suzuki Jimny The is a series of four-wheel drive off-road mini SUVs, manufactured and marketed by Japanese automaker Suzuki since 1970. Originally belonging to the kei class, Japan's light automobile tax/legal class, the company continues to market a kei- ...

. Both are small vehicles (they fall in the light vehicles category in Japan) that has a Panhard rod, but the off-road nature of these vehicles mean that the lateral movement between axle and body is not important. A suspension design that is similar but dramatically reduces the sideways component of the axle's vertical travel is

Watt's linkage In kinematics, Watt's linkage (also known as the parallel linkage) is a type of mechanical linkage invented by James Watt in which the central moving point of the linkage is constrained to travel on a nearly straight line. It was described in ...

Applications

Some vehicles with live-axle suspensions, where Watt's linkage is not an option, e.g. a number of Land Rover models use a Panhard rod as a component of the front suspension. The Mercedes G-class was redesigned in 2018 to include a Panhard rod on the rear axle to improve its on-road handling characteristics.

References

{{Chassis control systems Automotive suspension technologies Linkages (mechanical) Panhard

Overview

Advantages and disadvantages

Applications

See also

References