Chassis stiffening - which parts are good?
#1
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Chassis stiffening - which parts are good?
Everyone seems to have differing ideas about what the good items are as far as chassis stiffening goes. Rather than just bolt on everything on the market (like the jdm Honda guys seem to love to do), I'd like to use as few parts as possible so as to keep expense and weight down. My car's a '93, so it didn't come with much bracing in the first place. I already have a rollbar and a hardtop, and I am not going to put a cage in this car.
Some of the pieces I can think of off of the top of my head:
frame rail reinforcements
butterfly brace
front subframe brace
rear subframe brace
triangle brace
f/r shock tower brace
f/r LCA brace
underfender brace ("frog arms")
PPF support
door bars
That's all I can think of. See? Which to choose?
Some of the pieces I can think of off of the top of my head:
frame rail reinforcements
butterfly brace
front subframe brace
rear subframe brace
triangle brace
f/r shock tower brace
f/r LCA brace
underfender brace ("frog arms")
PPF support
door bars
That's all I can think of. See? Which to choose?
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Having over half of those, I would have to say the ones I would stick with would be roll bar, door bars, frame rail brace and frog arm. I would also like to see what seam welding would do, cheap (or free) and fairly easy. I wish I could start over and do it right. I view this car as sort of a trainer car to learn what works best, and what route to take to my ultimate goal. If I could do it again, I could do it for half the cost and twice as good. I would start with seam welding, add roll bar, door bars, and frog arms and be done (if it were an R package and already had the sub frame braces, if not, add those too).
My frame rail braces helped a good bit, but not the wow factor I hoped for. I would imagine the butterfly section would help a bunch. From what I have heard, door bars are also a best bang for your buck part. Frog Arms seem like they would work well too. I will be trying them out very soon. Decided to put the turbo on hold yet AGAIN so I could make my car more comfortable for daily driving (reduce cowl shake and all of the shuddering over bumps). So suspension and chassis will be getting more attention.
My frame rail braces helped a good bit, but not the wow factor I hoped for. I would imagine the butterfly section would help a bunch. From what I have heard, door bars are also a best bang for your buck part. Frog Arms seem like they would work well too. I will be trying them out very soon. Decided to put the turbo on hold yet AGAIN so I could make my car more comfortable for daily driving (reduce cowl shake and all of the shuddering over bumps). So suspension and chassis will be getting more attention.
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Forgot about the seam welding. IIRC "The Pass" has seam welded some and is local. Maybe I'll give him a shout..
Where can door bars be purchased anyway?
Thanks for the feedback dudes, keep it coming.
Where can door bars be purchased anyway?
Thanks for the feedback dudes, keep it coming.
#6
Bethania for door bars. I just installed my frame rails last weekend and Im pretty happy with the difference. I think with better front and rear sub frame braces and a 3 point tower bar in the front it should be stiff enough for my liking.
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I wish so much that I could overlook the bar in the hip factor with the door bars. I know that any side impact in our cars would be bad, but adding a hardened steel bar next to my hip just makes me uncomfortable on a daily driver. Would really love to though, just can't. I may feel more comfortable with racing seats, which will probably find their way into my car soon.
#9
I wish so much that I could overlook the bar in the hip factor with the door bars. I know that any side impact in our cars would be bad, but adding a hardened steel bar next to my hip just makes me uncomfortable on a daily driver. Would really love to though, just can't. I may feel more comfortable with racing seats, which will probably find their way into my car soon.
I've been thinking about that and I think that if you were hit that hard on the side to cause the bars to actually hit you then you might have more than that to worry about. Can someone measure how far the bar is from the outer skin of the door? Without being next to my car I'm thinking about 10"s. I could be wrong but with that kind of impact Id be more worried about head neck injuries.
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I've been thinking about that and I think that if you were hit that hard on the side to cause the bars to actually hit you then you might have more than that to worry about. Can someone measure how far the bar is from the outer skin of the door? Without being next to my car I'm thinking about 10"s. I could be wrong but with that kind of impact Id be more worried about head neck injuries.
#12
I have a HDHCDD, door bars, carbing trans brace, beatrush triangle brace and beatrush STB. That's it. No factory bracing.
I've tried the butterfly brace w/ frame rails, frog arms, factory bracing and ppf brace.
If you want less weight for less money and the same stiffness, run the door bars instead of the butterfly brace.
Frog arms are nice, but I don't need them with the door bars.
The trans and triangle brace seriously reduce drivetrain movement and i have superpro diff bushings. Throttle response is seriously improved and drivetrain movement is very minimal.
The PPF brace is a good mod for horsepower cars. The PPF will bow under heavy torque loads and the brace does a good job of reducing all of that flex.
The beatrush STB is pretty.
I've tried the butterfly brace w/ frame rails, frog arms, factory bracing and ppf brace.
If you want less weight for less money and the same stiffness, run the door bars instead of the butterfly brace.
Frog arms are nice, but I don't need them with the door bars.
The trans and triangle brace seriously reduce drivetrain movement and i have superpro diff bushings. Throttle response is seriously improved and drivetrain movement is very minimal.
The PPF brace is a good mod for horsepower cars. The PPF will bow under heavy torque loads and the brace does a good job of reducing all of that flex.
The beatrush STB is pretty.
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I think you will like them. They surely helped me out a lot with cowl shake, but there is still a lot left too, so don't expect a miracle from them. I think the butterfly section would improve the effects by a lot, but I'm scared to get them because of fitment and making new rattles for myself.
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^ yup.
I wouldn't be doing all of the crazy "rotisserie" welding, just touching up some of the spots around the windshield frame and doors, possibly the floor beneath the carpet.
I haven't heard of the Carbing trans brace, and google got me nowhere. Pics?
I wouldn't be doing all of the crazy "rotisserie" welding, just touching up some of the spots around the windshield frame and doors, possibly the floor beneath the carpet.
I haven't heard of the Carbing trans brace, and google got me nowhere. Pics?