Factory panhard bar/arm

Is it normal to remove the factory stamped bar when you have an aftermarket panhard bar? I was changing exhaust and couldn’t get the drivers side muffler out. I had to drop the bar to get enough movement. In looking at other pictures of our cars with an aftermarket panhard bar I don’t see that stamped bar.

You should have that brace installed, I believe aftermarket kits either re use the stock one or have a brace that comes with the kit.

BlownPony306 said:

Is it normal to remove the factory stamped bar when you have an aftermarket panhard bar? I was changing exhaust and couldn’t get the drivers side muffler out. I had to drop the bar to get enough movement. In looking at other pictures of our cars with an aftermarket panhard bar I don’t see that stamped bar.

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It is a little bit hard to see, but the Black stamped steel brace/bar is above the Shelby installed panhard bar on my 2008 Super Snake. I also have full mandrel bent 3" pipes snaking through that area with no contact.....



R

Man the underside of that car is clean clean clean Robert. Kudos to you.

HKusp said:

Man the underside of that car is clean clean clean Robert. Kudos to you.

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^^^^^Thanks.

That was a 8.8 de-rust and restore project that I did a few years ago, and then sealed everything in a Satin Clear so it would look right and keep that "new looking" finish. All assy. line markings and paint daubs were documented during the de-rust process and reapplied in their correct Markal paint marker colors once the rust was gone. I also had to replicate some/most of the assy. line labels/decals that were attached to the axle.........It was a pain in the butt project, but I hated seeing rust on the bottom side of my then 5-6 year old 2008 GT500!

I believe the 2007-2010 8.8 axle rust is referred to as a "rusty butt"......I did not want a rusty butt......

R

Here is a blurry picture of the underside of a car that gets driven a lot of miles a year. Currently 151K+ miles.

Man I have some serious undercarriage envy on that one Robert. I need to freshen things up to keep up. I love how you painted the spare tire well too.

BlownPony306 said:

Man I have some serious undercarriage envy on that one Robert. I need to freshen things up to keep up. I love how you painted the spare tire well too.

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Thanks!!

Yes, it was a lot of work to get that 8.8 looking nice again, and to be honest, I did mine early in life so the rust had not yet pitted the axle tubes. Most people just get under the car, tape a few things off and start spraying, and that would look ok if the car is a 2011-2014 since those axles got sprayed at Ford, but for us 2007-2010 owners who want to keep it looking right/correct, it is quite a project.

No spray added to anything else under my car, the spare tire well is "as it came" from Ford, Torch Red on the bottom floor/trunk area from the assy. line. The only restoration was done on the 8.8 itself, and I had to remove it from the car and put it on jack stands in my garage to do it properly.......Below is a pix taken just before it was rolled back under the car for the reinstall.....



At least my center section was painted Black at Ford, some were not. It was easy to get the Black looking nice again, but as shown below, everything that was not painted had started to rust.

Before.....



After.....



To look right, the machined surfaces need to be Silver and the axle tube welds Bright Silver........and of course the Yellow paint daub on the pinion yoke had to be replicated.

The Yellow paint on the Black housing was also left in place. At some point when the axle was being marked during assy., Yellow paint got spilled on the Black, I left it there.......




Maybe one day my car will roll across the floor camera at an auction..........and then they will roll the car back across again for the TV viewing audience and say WOW!!!........LOL!!!

R

Mine isn't rotted out or anything but nowhere close to that level. Luckily mine was one that was either painted from the factory or had it done early. I plan on cleaning it up and putting a new cover on.

BlownPony306 said:

Mine isn't rotted out or anything but nowhere close to that level. Luckily mine was one that was either painted from the factory or had it done early. I plan on cleaning it up and putting a new cover on.

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What year is yours?

I don't see the axle wrap barcode on the right axle tube? I wonder what happened there?

That will clean up fairly easily if you can get it up where you can work on it and spend a little time with some cleaners, brushes and touch up.

R

Mine is an 08. It has had a fair amount of work done to it before I bought it so maybe the previous owner removed it for some reason. I am currently working on a custom exhaust system with a 3" x with electric cutouts and some mid mounted Dynatech Splitflow mufflers. Once I get the exhaust done I am going to upgrade the rear end gears to 3.73 or 4.10 with a Truetrac and better axles. I will tackle the rear end cleaning at that time.

BlownPony306 said:

Mine is an 08. It has had a fair amount of work done to it before I bought it so maybe the previous owner removed it for some reason. I am currently working on a custom exhaust system with a 3" x with electric cutouts and some mid mounted Dynatech Splitflow mufflers. Once I get the exhaust done I am going to upgrade the rear end gears to 3.73 or 4.10 with a Truetrac and better axles. I will tackle the rear end cleaning at that time.

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Ok, then that explains why it is painted Black, and why the barcode sticker is either painted over, or no longer there.

Shelby installed 3.73's in my 8.8 when my car went through the Mod Shop in Las Vegas, I installed a True Trac and Moser Street Axles when I had the axle assy. out of my car.

R