quote:Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
My experience with the doors hitting means that something in the rocker panels is either rotted through or disconnected.
It is more common in a convertible but I have seen it in 4 door sedans also.
When you change the anti-sway bars to larger ones, the issue is accelerated/exasperated and can break the spot welds or actually crimp the rocker right next to the dimple welds in the rockers as well.
It doesn't always show to the naked eye though on the exterior, strange as it may sound?
The rockers are usually just either 18 or 20 gauge steel and the shape is what adds the rigidity.
Where the striker post in the Pantera connects to the rocker panel is always suspect.
When Hall built the "T" top, he ran a reinforcing tube inside of that rocker. The first try of driving the car without them showed the car flexed and twisted so badly the T tops broke.
You may think you are imagining a change in handling and a change in feel in the steering.
In a Pantera you might not notice the change in feel. Cars with power steering will tend to show that particularly with computer controlled variable assist power steering.
Sometimes the door on the side that is effected will squeak?
I would examine those rockers further to eliminate this as a possibility. If the structural integrity has been compromised, it will only get worse.
After all, the Pantera itself is not known for it's rust resistance.
Hello Doug,
I do get your point, and rocker problems would make flex more apparent in the body.
The point I was trying to make was that the doors missed the B post when on wheels but didn't when on Jacks. My inner and outer Rockers are sound.
Pics of the inner rockers are on provamo, car 3840 Pete