Body Bracing Checklist?
 

Hi everyone, I am new to the miata world. Just got a 1993 Red Miata with a turbo setup from the last owner. I was wondering what's on everyone's must-haves for body bracing to reduce body shake (I live in dearborn - horrible roads).

So far, The miata has for bracing
- M1 Hard Dog Roll Bars
- GAB Front Upper Tower Bar

I am going to order
- FM Butterfly Brace
- FM Rear Cannon Brace

Anything else I should add to my list? Rear upper Tower? Front/Rear Lower Ties? Any recommended brands?

Thanks for the help!

make a intro post!


You could add things like a Rear Upper Tower, the lower ties, I'd recommend the Racing Beat Sway Brace to the front end.

There's a "transmission brace" that is good because it not only stiffens the car but keeps the shifter where you need it.

I don't know if you would want to stiffin your car to much if the roads are bad. It might make your drives a little rough? The stiffining your looking at is for track use that causes chassis flex, not so much DD.:cool:

I drove a stock (shocks and springs) 91 NA ( has no bracing) and it felt so nice compared to my 91 that has some bracing upgrades and suspension work.

If the roads are rough, stock is the way to go. Your car is still very nimble and you get the comfort

Hey MX_Eva,

Do you mean this?
http://www.racingbeat.com/resultset....rtNumber=54121

Do you know where I can get that transmission brace?

I have been trolling this forums for weeks, forgot to introduce myself. I'll make a post asap.

I have been reading that stiffening the chassis will improve overall ride quality. Stiffening the suspension will probably make ride worse. But I am planning to track it too! Waterford Hills Track Day MAY 10th!

FM frame rails are pretty awesome. I plan on getting the butterfly brace to accompany this later one.

Check it out at Flyinmiata.com

Yeah, stock would be best, but the miata isn't really stock. It's lowered with some light blue colored springs and some hp tokicos i think. I am not sure what brand the spring is. The old owner said it was "Progress", but that company never made miata springs, so I'm not sure. The rates are
pretty soft, comparable to the RB springs.

I'm just trying to lessen the shake over bumps as I ride it to the track and back.

haha, the springs that came with my car were said to be "progress" springs and were light blue.. lol...

Got rid of those ASAP.

haha, yeah, it's pretty getto, planning to but it's ok for now. Rides pretty good. The guy that sold me the car races in Spec Miata, so I sorta trust this judgement. He built the motor up, running 18 lbs atm.

So back to this question....where do we find a "transmission brace"???

i believe cusco made a brace that utilized a few bolts on the trans bell housing, however I heard it really transfered vibrations to the cabin. I dont know if its still being made

I'd get rid of those "progressive" springs. He may race spec miata, but what he faces there isn't the same as on the street.

I checked into the brace...it used to be made by "cobalt" aka. Moss motors. It was in the most recent catalog i got sent by them for miatas, but its not on their website. Don't know why they'd discontinue it. Did the same as the Racing Beat brace, or even the brace they sell, with the added benefit of helping keep the drive train from rocking too much.

The door bars from Hard Dog made a big difference on my -99. They do hinder you from getting in and out a bit, but the difference was clearly noticable.

Door bars reminded me of the Boss Frog Frogarm braces. I heard those are good, but I worry about reinforcing the crumple zones

I'm assuming Dearborn MI? Lots of locals popping up now. I'm not alone anymore!

Butterfly brace probably made the single best addition to mine, other than the turbo. Gets rid of all the flex and doesn't sound like it's all going to fall apart when you go over railroad tracks anymore. I didn't care much for the price tag for it though.

I think the next addition to my car in the chassis stiffness category will be frame rails, similar to the FM ones. The rollbar stiffened up the car a ton, I underestimated the difference and was gladly surprised.

Got a link? I'm having trouble finding it.

Look here

http://www.bethania-garage.com/door_bar.htm

get the RB front hollow sway bar and the RB sway brace from Brian at goodwin racing, i think they are a sponsor here

i have always wanted the FM butterfly brace, its not very high on the list though
other than that, dont waste your money

I like my Beat Rush rear platform brace quite a bit, and for the $100 that it cost, I think it's worthwhile.

Not sure if anyone else is carrying them these days, but I ordered mine from the now-closed Metro Motorsports back in the day. Quick install (especially if you have access to a lift), and looks good, too.

I have the BSP front subframe brace,FM Cannon rear subframe brace & the FM butterfly brace.The FM butterfly brace made the biggest difference.

Got any links to the BSP front?

^ I'm pretty sure BSP stopped making them.

I'm pretty sure BSP no longer exists...

dang

Do you guys think the RB Front Lower Brace is worth it?

http://racingbeat.com/resultset.asp?PartNumber=54008

Or is the cheap Moss Motor one enough.

http://www.miatamania.com/Shop/ViewP...eIndexID=36458

So far, I have on my list to order:
- FM Butterfly
- FM Cannon
- Harddog Door Bar
- A Front Lower Tie Bar (RB or Cheap Moss)

I think this will give me a good stiff chassis.

I drove my buddy's miata with the Front Lower Tie Bar, and the Rear Cannon, and it feels pretty good in terms of impact aftershake.

Well if you really wanted to splurge on front sub frame bracing you could go find a Carbing brace. It's pretty beefy looking, but I might be inclined to ask someone with little ground clearance how often it catches on stuff.

rippl-what kind of tires do you have?

I got 15x7 Kosei K1 with 205-50-15 ra1 30 psi

Ha, I just looked under the car. It already has a front and rear subframe brace. It looks like the cheap moss motor one, so I'll pass for now.

too stiff = bad

Hold off, isn't the advantages 100 percent by building a more rigid chassis?

I'm running both RB front end components you've linked to. Zero problems and tightened things up reasonably well. (Especially w/o a shock tower brace.)

If (when) I build another Miata, they will be on my purchase list.

- L

that's not what she said...lol

you do need some flex, but all this bracing will not nearly eliminate all the flex...

bashing the fuck out of your knee on that bar in an accident could cripple you. even if you just hit a guard rail it would el suk

... i beg to differ.

what do you do with your car?

Wat?

it sits pretty low and not near your knee. besides if the bar is hit hard enough to cripple you because it bent in, you'd be meeting some part of the door panel or something even harder. It mimics roll cage door bars. which generally help to prevent from things protruding into the cabin.

Ah therein lies the answer to your own question, what one does with there miata another might not, and yes you can be to stiff, my doctor said to call an ambulance if that happens again lol.

I have the rb cannon and fm butterfly but I wouldn't really buy those things before basic suspension upgrades and ofcoarse boost goodies.