Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
#1
Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
I purchased my Granatelli upper panhard brace on sale for $125 plus shipping, for a total of $144. The brace is essentially an OE piece which has been boxed and powder coated. If you have fabrication skills, save your money on this piece.
JamesC
JamesC
Last edited by JamesC; 02-26-2009 at 01:25 PM.
#2
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Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
Basically I should wait until I can afford the BMR piece? I'm still debating the need for it at all. I haven't heard anyone speak up in support of it and none of the suspension books I've read make any mention of upgrading it.
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Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
Just do what Granatelli did & save $100...Weld a plate on your stock one....Not sure if they could make any measurement difference anyways, except in FULL-RACE applications.
#4
Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
This kit replaces the upper panhard rod support and relocates the panhard rod allowing enough room for up to dual 3" exhaust routing over the axle. Heavy duty tubular upper panhard rod support mounts in the original panhard rod location. New heavy duty brackets bolt to existing mounting holes and lower the panhard rod while maintaining the correct geometry. No welding or drilling required.
#5
Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
JamesC
#6
Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
After several months of putting off the install, I finally got around to it. Long story short, the piece in question--at least the one I had in my possession--simply won't fit a thirdgen. The OE sleeve is designed to accept a stepped bolt from the spring side; the sleeve in the Granatelli piece (see the first pic) seems to be reversed and as a consequence wouldn't allow the bolt to be inserted from the proper direction. That said, Granatelli's return man mentioned that the brace was installed in a 90 Camaro that they had. At any rate, the piece wouldn't fit my application without modification. A restocking charge is part of their return system, so be sure that this is a piece you desire and that it'll fit as advertised.
JamesC
JamesC
Last edited by JamesC; 06-12-2009 at 10:50 AM.
#7
Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
Just wanted to add a couple thoughts to this...
First off. Granatelli is making a KILLING off these..... You can get a brand f'in new brace for $45 from GM... And back when I built my 87, I got one for $8 from an online parts distributor. NOT a typo...it was only $8.00. So...lets say they pay $45 a piece, willing to bet they get em for less. Then what...few dollars in steel. Couple bucks worth of welding wire/gas and time. Im sure they send them in bulk to get coated..so MAYBE $10 a piece for coating. Yikes...
Second...these braces have been the same from 82-02. Same part number and all. So whether it was on a 90 camaro or a 97 formula..it should theoretically fit your car. The overall rear suspension of these cars hasnt changed since 82. The one on my car now is a brand new one that was looked up for an 02 Trans AM. The sleeve, unless they modified it, is a straight through sleeve. Its the holes in the bracket that are set up to accept the tapered bolt. Its possible that they amount of powdercoating caused the bolt to not fit, because its a VERY close fit. Otherwise you'd have clunking. There's no bushing there...so it has to be almost an interference fit. Add a tiny bit of powder coat and you'll cause the bolt to not run through.
Third and lastly... The BMR piece (or UMI). If you install it, i can almost assure you that you will not notice the lowering of the passenger side mount. It drops a couple inches at most, and that bar makes such a large arc, that there is a good bit of room there before you see adverse effects. I would MUCH rather have the tubular relocation bar from BMR than a stock one with plate welded to it.
That being said...if you dont need the room for exhaust, as was stated, you are better off burning on some metal to your stock brace. I will say, the stock brace isnt as flimsy as the stock panhard bar itself. You cant twist or deflect it nearly as easy. But its still pretty weak. So if you have a welder, grab a strip of metal and weld it on up. Done deal.
Thanks for the review James. I noticed this bar awhile back and kinda thought that it might be a stocker modified.
J.
First off. Granatelli is making a KILLING off these..... You can get a brand f'in new brace for $45 from GM... And back when I built my 87, I got one for $8 from an online parts distributor. NOT a typo...it was only $8.00. So...lets say they pay $45 a piece, willing to bet they get em for less. Then what...few dollars in steel. Couple bucks worth of welding wire/gas and time. Im sure they send them in bulk to get coated..so MAYBE $10 a piece for coating. Yikes...
Second...these braces have been the same from 82-02. Same part number and all. So whether it was on a 90 camaro or a 97 formula..it should theoretically fit your car. The overall rear suspension of these cars hasnt changed since 82. The one on my car now is a brand new one that was looked up for an 02 Trans AM. The sleeve, unless they modified it, is a straight through sleeve. Its the holes in the bracket that are set up to accept the tapered bolt. Its possible that they amount of powdercoating caused the bolt to not fit, because its a VERY close fit. Otherwise you'd have clunking. There's no bushing there...so it has to be almost an interference fit. Add a tiny bit of powder coat and you'll cause the bolt to not run through.
Third and lastly... The BMR piece (or UMI). If you install it, i can almost assure you that you will not notice the lowering of the passenger side mount. It drops a couple inches at most, and that bar makes such a large arc, that there is a good bit of room there before you see adverse effects. I would MUCH rather have the tubular relocation bar from BMR than a stock one with plate welded to it.
That being said...if you dont need the room for exhaust, as was stated, you are better off burning on some metal to your stock brace. I will say, the stock brace isnt as flimsy as the stock panhard bar itself. You cant twist or deflect it nearly as easy. But its still pretty weak. So if you have a welder, grab a strip of metal and weld it on up. Done deal.
Thanks for the review James. I noticed this bar awhile back and kinda thought that it might be a stocker modified.
J.
Last edited by ghettocruiser; 06-12-2009 at 08:19 AM.
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#9
Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
Here are pics that show the problem better. Note the dimple in the first pic. The holes in the bracket that you mention, of course, won't accept the bolt, as shown in the second pic.
JamesC
JamesC
Last edited by JamesC; 06-12-2009 at 09:53 AM.
#10
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Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
will the BFH take care of it?
#11
Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
Unsure, frankly. Granatelli suggested using a round file to eliminate the dimples, but IMO the part simply wasn't correct, for whatever the reason, so I returned it.
JamesC
JamesC
Last edited by JamesC; 06-12-2009 at 12:01 PM.
#12
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Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
No trying to be a whiner, but when you photograph something like that, put it on the ground where there is plenty of light, get back at least 6 feet so the camera can focus on the subject, and use your zoom to get a tight shot. The camera is focusing on the background because you are just too close. If you have plenty of light, you will not need a tripod.
The other option is to use the cameras' "macro" setting, which changes all the settings and allows it to focus on objects under 6 ft away, then make sure the subject is well lit. Trust me, I learned this the hard way.
TA
The other option is to use the cameras' "macro" setting, which changes all the settings and allows it to focus on objects under 6 ft away, then make sure the subject is well lit. Trust me, I learned this the hard way.
TA
#13
Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
Huh... I never noticed dimples in them. Neither thirdgen part that I had, or my donor 4th gen, or the new one I ordered had dimples.
Does it look like they removed the stock sleeve and welded in something different? Thats always possible I guess. Either that, or its a defect from GM or something.
Either way...you returned it so there isnt much need to figure out the problem now haha. I think you'll be fine if you are boxing in your stock piece. I dont really see much need to screw with that brace at all really, but it never hurts to beef things up.
J.
Does it look like they removed the stock sleeve and welded in something different? Thats always possible I guess. Either that, or its a defect from GM or something.
Either way...you returned it so there isnt much need to figure out the problem now haha. I think you'll be fine if you are boxing in your stock piece. I dont really see much need to screw with that brace at all really, but it never hurts to beef things up.
J.
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Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
james, if you would like, i can gusset your stock piece. or u can use my tools if you wanna do it ur self.
#16
Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
Not sure what you mean here. The bolts from both my thirdgens and my donor came right out. Im actually using the 4th gens bolts for the entire rear end because they were much nicer. I generally put a good bit of antisieze on all those bolts to. Since they have lock nuts.
#17
Re: Review of the Granatelli Upper Panhard Brace
Not sure what you mean here. The bolts from both my thirdgens and my donor came right out. Im actually using the 4th gens bolts for the entire rear end because they were much nicer. I generally put a good bit of antisieze on all those bolts to. Since they have lock nuts.
Thank you for your kind offer.
Ghetto,
From the research I did in advance, many members experienced hair-pulling misadventures in attempting the remove the bolt. Mine seemed welded in place.
JamesC
Last edited by JamesC; 06-13-2009 at 06:50 AM.
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