I'm new to this car-so please bear with me My car is a 94Z m6. Looking underneath the car I noticed some serious rust on what I believe must be a rear subframe connector.

It is above and behind the rear end. It is connected to the car by 3 hex bolts which go vertically into the car on the passenger side. On the other end of the bar there is one bolt holding it to the car. this bolt runs parallel to the ground.

The connector? is about 3 in. wide and 3 ft. long. a smaller bar is right below it(swaybar, perhaps?)

I need to replace this piece because it's about to break in half with rust

How hard is this to replace, and how much will I have to pay for it?

 

Hello, the first bar you mentioned (3 bolts and 1 bolt) is the upper panhard bar brace and the one directly below it is the panhard bar/rod itself. They are both connected to the same mount on the right side of the car. The sway bar is mounted on and under the axle with links going towards the front mounting on the frame rail behind the rear tires. Back to the brace and bar/rod. You can obtain either of these thru a local junkyard in your area that have 93-02 f-bodies and possibly 82-92 f-bodies as well. It should not cost too much for these items, depends on the yard. TIP, when you get replacements, clean, prep, and paint them before you install them to prolong their life, Hope this helps you, good luck.
Allan.

 

Thanks, that's what I needed to know. Are they hard to install? I have the tools, I'm sure...

 

as long as u put the car on jack stands and u jack of the rear too, it should be fine

if u plan on attacking any rusted suspension components i recommend liquid wrench as a penetrating oil,

if your description is correct then i dont think u can use a 3rd generation part (82-92) because the 3 bolts that go up on the panhard rod brace is on the drivers side, and the one bolt that is parallel to the ground is on the passenger side

i think its easy stuff to work with, but not everyone wants ot get down and dirty

if you gonna end up buying a new panhard rod look into an aftermarket tubular panhard rod, a non adjustable version isnt more than $110 or so, and i think bmr has a "panhard bar relocation kit" that is essentially a pandhard rod brace and a panhard rod, only it allows more room for dual pipes

 

Getting dirty is ok, it's the busted knuckles I have problems with I assume that doing this job with the rear wheels up on ramps is a no no since the suspension would be under load..am I right about this? Is this upper panhard brace a part I can still buy from gm, or should I be able to nail one at a junkyard? I would really like to spend very little at this time-just want to have a solid piece under me...

 

The brace is not under much, if any, load from the suspension. Its just a "brace" to prevent the mounting arm that is welded to the body from bending under high loads, like cornering at high speeds. You should be able to unbolt it whether the suspension is loaded or not. Some drag racing fanatics actually remove that piece for weight savings, since their cars generally don't go around many corners.

If you will pay the shipping, I'll give you the one I removed fomr my Formula about 6 years ago.

 

Injuneer, I sent you a PM. Thank you for the generous offer!

I've looked around on the forum, and it seems like a daily driver car might be better off having that brace intact. I'm guessing that the drag racers don't worry too much about side to side forces, which(I assume) is what the panhard assembly braces against? I may go to a different setup in the future, but for now I just want to be on the safer side.

 

Be generous w/ the WD40/PB Blaster or whatever you use. I had to use some heat to get a bolts off a high mileage cars before. Try disassembling used turbochargers. Sometimes heat doesn't even work.

The bar itself is easy to remove. For an everyday driver, I'd definitely keep it on.