I unhooked one side of the sway bar (AKA rear lateral bar) and was able to get the coil springs to seat again and drive around the parking lot. It's still a few inches off center, though. I wonder if the stabilizer bar needs to be replaced too- it doesn't look like it mounts firmly enough to the frame to be causing that kind of problem, though. Could the coil springs themselves be bent? I hope the frame isn't.

Let me first say, I am no expert.

Check to see if the rim, axle shaft, lugs, and other stuff on that side of the axle is bent. Check if frame is bent. You knot the panhard bar is bent. If it was mine, I would ditch the sway bar for now and find another panhard bar since that is what locates the axle from side to side. Put that on and see where axle is. If centered I would drive it around to see if I had any vibs. If not, keep dirving it. I dont think the coils are bent, they are kinda springy.

Okay, good to know. I guess what I have been calling the sway bar is actually the panhard bar. It's quite bent:


I'm thinking about either getting a new one from a junkyard, or cutting the ends off of this one and welding in a new section of bar stock. I the passenger side off no problem, but the driver's side is difficult because the head of the bolt that holds it in is very hard to get at. I suppose I need a 15/16 open-end wrench. Anybody got tips for that?

With the panhard bar disconnected and the coil springs seated where they should be, the axle is still 1-2" off center. What would cause this misalignment? What else might be bent? I drove it around the parking lot with the bent panhard bar disconnected and I thought that would help to center things out. Any ideas what else might need replacing?

I would get a panhard bar from the junk yard. It's made of tube rather than stock rod. To get the driver's side panhard mounting bolt out you have the first remove the driver's side trailing arm. Once the trailing arm is removed you will be able the get a socket on the panhard bar bolt.

Good luck <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

from your pictures it looks like the trailing arms are a bit twisted. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

I broke my breaker bar today trying to loosen one of the bolts on the trailing arm. 190k+ miles in the salt belt has made those nuts hard to remove. Discussing it with my accomplice, we are thinking about trying to repair the problem without actually removing (all of) the panhard bar. We talked about sawzalling off the end + 6 inches, straightening it, welding on some angle iron with an overhang, then slipping a piece of rod into the middle, and welding where it was previously cut.

What do you all think of that idea? The trailing arms don't look too bent to me- I mean to take a yardstick to them at some point.

try apply some heat to it or PB blaster. My montero was from NY and was rusting bad but some liberal applying of PB blaster and heat worked for my panhard bar. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

That's good advice and a lot less hassle that cutting and welding in a tricky position. Plus straightening out that tube will not be easy. Get a propane blow torch and heat that puppy up. Also autozone has a good 3' breaker bar you can borrow for free <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Edit: I also recommend getting some axle stands to reduce the chance of your Montero falling on your head <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Another thing to think about is if you plan on lifting the Montero soon, extending the lateral rod by 1/4- 1/2" might be cool. Considering when you lift a Montero, the axle will be straight with the body. But not too many people are concerned, its not very noticable at 2".

Thats only incase you cant get the exact length. Its better to be slightly longer than shorter if you plan on lifting. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drunk.gif" alt="" />

A little experience. Your axle tube is likely bent. Even if you replace all these parts, you will likely still have trouble. I expended a ton of effort on a 1999 that hit a curb sideways after being T-boned and it burned up axle bearings every few months. Finally, just did an entire rear end and it has been fine since. Rather then get all those parts, just get an entire rear end assembly for little more and simply bolt it up. The trailing arms will come with the rear end, but you may still need to convince them to give you the panhard rod.