Custom Strut Braces

[Simple]

Ive been looking at a few strut braces & there doesnt seem to be too much to them
a long bar attached to mounts?
Am i missing something with these, or am i correct in thinking that with good materials, welding skills and a decent tape measure, you could make your own?

[Cool1]

Yep they are pretty simple. You can make them easily.
You just have to make sure that the car is not preloaded. In other words make sure the car is on nice flat ground and that the car is not flexed at all.

[oldcorollas]

or get an expensive reverse tap and die

[Simple]

Well thats good, I wonder if aluminium would work?

[Simple]

or get an expensive reverse tap and die

are you saying i might need this if it stuffs up? please explain

[Hen]

Making your own strut braces is very easy. Cool1 is on the money.

1. Park your car on flat, level ground
2. Make some plates to fit the strut tops (or whatever you are bracing)
3. Attach the plates
4. Weld some bar between them
5. ???
6. Profit

Taps and dies are only needed if you want to make it adjustable. Only needed in my opinion if you want to ensure they fit every car so you can mass manufacture and sell them.

Hen

[Wanabe_Garage]

i guess if they dont sell one for your car then making it is the way to go. but braces are fairly cheap to buy off the shelf and will save you the headache.

hey, if you have got the tools and meterials, go for it

[edit] Hen is great

[Big T]

He means for adjustability... so if you happen to make it to the wrong length the a few screw turns and it'll be right. Them tap/dies are bloody pricey though... almost $250 a set

Eddie.

EDIT: beaten by the Hen!

[jonchai]

i got some custom aluminium ones made for my rear. very exxy....very good!!!

[mullett]

Is there any reason not to simply make one adjustable side? With a normal thread...Of course, you can't adjust it fitted, but if you take it off, thread it out, and play with it until it fits perfectly...

RM.

[Hen]

I think threading it adds extra parts, work, weak spots and weight (ok, bugger all weight).

Its easier to just weld it while its attached to the car. Ensures a perfect fit.

Hen

[Norbie]

What he said. A solid bar works just fine, and as long as you get the dimensions correct the first time there will be no dramas.

Note that while fabricating a strut brace is very easy in principle, it can get a little more complex when you have a tall engine and fark-all bonnet clearance, as with my MA61. In my case the crossbar had to be bent up to clear the engine, and back to clear the bonnet. For other cars a straight bar will suffice, but that's something you'll need to eyeball for yourself.

[YLD-16L]

Is there any value in triangulating your strut brace? Towers braced and then traingulated to the firewall? The concept seems quite valid and many cars do it, is it worth the effort though on a streeter?

Is there considerable gains in bracing between towers and only minimal gains (comparitively) in then bracing to the firewall???

Discuss.

[takai]

Im 99% sure that all of the questions in this thread can be answered with this other thread...
http://www.toymods.net/forums/showth...ht=strut+brace

Do we have to go back to the old forums where cries of Search were commonplace?

[Cool1]

Do we have to go back to the old forums where cries of Search were commonplace?

Why would we have to do that when your here to remind everyone?