My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok) - Suspension and Brake Forum

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My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Friday, April 25, 2008 10:20 AM
Hi everyone, i would like to show you guys my last proyect, is a front strut bar for my 95 cavy 4dr.

on to the pics.

firts, some random designs, im keeping the bases, but the bar final shape is not the one in the pictures.




then some fabrication






the bar itself is a 1/2'' sch40 pipe ( 22mm OD and 3 mm thick ) with some little bends.





i tack weld it wit the bases mounted on the struts towers.






then took it off the car and weld it completly, and also add some reinforces, put a nice coat of paint, and we gottt...............
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something like this.










and looks like this when is bolted on the car.























so thatīs it guys, any comments and critics are welcome.

bye

Re: My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Friday, April 25, 2008 10:39 AM
Hood clearance looks tight, and you probably could have bought one off e-gay for 1/4 the cost of building that.....

but it looks sturdy. no adjustment though
Re: My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Friday, April 25, 2008 10:53 AM
thanks, but the cost was very low,

6mt of pipe = $14
1 can of dupli color paint = $6
the rest is just scrap metal i had.

i use only 1.3 mt of pipe, and about 1/3 of the paint.

and also i can make more bars and sell them XD.

and finally im not in the U.S im from chile, south america, all down to the south hahah, so buy on ebay is not cheap for me (shipping).
Re: My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Friday, April 25, 2008 2:29 PM
I have a suggestion.

Make it a 4point bar.

Add 2 bars to the firewall from roughly the center of the bar. That should help out a lot.

But overall, sloppy welds, but you did it your self, and it turned out pretty good. Nice work.


...

Re: My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Saturday, April 26, 2008 6:29 AM
Double posting FTL.





Re: My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Saturday, April 26, 2008 6:53 AM
not bad at all. ive been trying to get around to building my own to but no time anymore. the welds dont look all that bad for stick either, the welds are bit on the cold side(needed more voltage to it). dont let any of these guys put you down, anytime a person can MAKE something rather than BUY it your jus as farther ahead. i built my own front k-brace and paid not even a 1/4 of what they go for. Good Job!
Re: My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Sunday, April 27, 2008 7:18 AM
John Benham wrote:no adjustment though


Not needed on a STB, unless you want to make it easier to get on and off for some reason...

Nice fab work! I second adding some tubes to the firewall, they'll really tie it in.




Re: My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Sunday, April 27, 2008 12:18 PM
James Cahill wrote:
John Benham wrote:no adjustment though


Not needed on a STB.


i beg to differ... just yesterday i adjusted a buddy of mine's brace on his grand am that he had never tightened up or adjusted at all, he was simply amazed with how much better the front of the car felt.

i noticed a difference on mine as well when i tightend it up.

well i guess you could say no.. its not 'needed' but having the option does help.





Rollin' on question marks since 07.
Re: My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Monday, April 28, 2008 4:44 PM
If its the right length to begin with, it doesn't need to be adjusted. There really shouldn't be any "adjustment", since you'll never be able to apply enough torque to move the towers in or out unless maybe you use a 6 foot bar on the wrench you're using.



Re: My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 6:29 AM
too me it seems like being able to pull the towers in a little bit with the adjustment (im talking mm's here) it just seems tighter and more rigid.

ive never had a chance to try out a steel bar or a gm bar... ive always had the ebay adjustable ones so i really dont know how the other's are. if they do they're job, great. all i know is that mine when adjusted correctly works 10X better.



Rollin' on question marks since 07.
Re: My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 7:20 AM
^^^ i dont know about your bar, but the way to adjust mine is to turn the ends until they match up w/ the other holes. it wouldnt pull in the towers at all since you cant turn the bar after its bolted up. A) because its not straight and B) because one end would have to be reverse threaded. the only reason they make them adjustable is beacuse there can be a slight difference between cars.

Re: My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Saturday, May 03, 2008 6:33 PM
I built a strut brace right after I bought my car using two "C" shaped plates bolting to two of the strut mount bolts and 1/2" box tubing. Later on I bought the Ractive iirc front and rear strut bars and the Ractive can be flexed where the 1/2" (which I thought was a little small at the time) is a lot more solid. Homemade strut brace evolved into a jig to hold my motor up when I need to drop the tranny otherwise it would still be on the car.

Nice work Rodrigo.




Re: My homemade front Strut bar (56K........itīs ok)
Sunday, May 04, 2008 8:03 PM
not bad , but you could use some more experience in welding


adjustable bars flex alot more , someone needs to find that art work WW did along time ago







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