I want to put one of those upper chassis stiffener bars on my camaro. I don't know the proper name for the bar, but it's the pipe that goes across over the engine and connects to the body next to the strut towers.

I don't even know where to buy one or the cost since I don't know the proper name for it, but from the pictures I've seen it looks like a pretty simple design and I think I could probably fabricate one myself.

With that said, would anyone mind taking some close up pictures of theirs (particular at the mount points and bend points) and tell me the dimensions of them? Length to bend from mount, length between bends, and length between mounts should give me enough information.

I'm guessing the pipe itself is not a real heavy duty pipe, probably something around 1 1/2" 40 schedule pipe I'm guessing?

Thanks!

 

Go to Hawks Third Gen Performance and order the strut tower brace from them. They are great to do business with. I just ordered a ton of items from them and most of the stuff was here the following day. Talk with Steve.

 

Strut tower brace.

 

http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/ca...dercoated.aspx

This one almost looks like it might be meant to bolt on with the strut bolts? The ones I've seen always look like they are bolted in front of the strut towers.

I might consider buying one, but I could fab one for much cheaper. That thing only has about 20 dollars worth of material in it, and I could probably fab it in around a hour.

 

Hey Steven.

We sell strut tower braces and have some nice install pics.

http://www.umiperformance.com/catalo...roducts_id=126

Let us know how we can help with your project.

ramey

 

You might wish to consider after market strut mount, those with spherical bearings, before adding an STB.

JamesC

 

what he said.

the stock mounts have rubber inserts, that deflect. They will continue to deflect with a STB installed, so its benefits will not be fully realized.

 

I will do that when I replace my struts and springs (which will be in the near future). The strut brace is just a simple quick addition for a little gain for now.

Plus as I said, with it being something I can easily fab myself with some spare material I have laying, was thinking about working on it some this weekend.

 

I was working on a design upgrade for our caster/camber plates today. I had forgotten how cheesy the rubber mounts are when you're used to working with the spherical.

The cool thing about the suspension business is how modular everything is. Strut tower brace one day, sphericals another. Throw in a subframe connector or two, maybe a heavier rear bar to help the car rotate. Pretty soon you have a party...

I need to get to sleep.

 

I agree. It's like taking two bowls of jello and connecting them together with a bar. The trouble is that the car will still bobble going around a corner with the bar attached.

But start with the spherical bearing strut mounts (Founders, UMI, Hotpart, Spohn) and then you have a solid foundation to connect to.

 

Home-made STB under $25 easily if you can weld. Practically free if you can pick up scrap pieces of steel from work or have friends that can.

http://www.austinthirdgen.org/forum/...779&hl=tbi+stb

 

Yeah, that is what I'm probably going to end up doing. My Dad owns a steel fabrication shop so getting the metal is no problem. And I know how to weld from him teaching me and me working for him for a while when I was younger. I'm even AWS Certified. Not a skill I use very often anymore as my profession now is computer programming, but I can still do it

 

It's hard to tell in the pictures I have found and can't find measurements anywhere. Can anyone please tell me if these things are typically 3/4" or 1" pipe.

Thanks.

 

This beautiful piece is 1-1/4" OD.

http://www.umiperformance.com/catalo...roducts_id=126

 

Thankyou,
And yes it does look nice but I'm not willing to spend 170 dollars on something that I can make myself for less than 20 dollars. Granted mine will not have the fancy bushings in it, but even if I decided to add them I'd still be well under 170 dollars.

Not saying anything is wrong with your price, you are just matching what everyone else sales them for and probably only make a small profit from your suppliers price, but someone out there is making a killing in profit on these things lol

 

Hey Steven.

I gave you the OD so you can make your own plus the option of taking a look at ours.

Keep us in mind for your other suspension needs!

ramey

 

If Schedule 40 is your first guess for fabricating these, I'd highly suggest buying the UMI pieces.

You should be asking whether they're HREW or DOM and what wall thickness?

The UMI piece, while it would probably work in my app, wouldn't look as clean without the TPI tucked up underneath. I will be fabricating my own when I get to that stage.

would 1 1/4" 10ga be sufficient, or should I step up to 3/16" wall DOM?

 

1-1/4 10 ga should be 1.875 OD, correct? That makes each wall .032". Worth a try...

 

10ga. is .134"

1 1/4" 10ga ERW is 1 1/4" OD, ID would be .982". Or am I not recalling this right?

 

Lol that was just a guess having never seen one in person.

I plan to use 1" .120 pipe on it. My Dad is the steel fabricator, I just picked up a few welding and fabing skills working for him while I was in school. So I'll make sure he checks it out.

I'll probably be fabing my own subframe connectors as well considering how easy those are to make as well.

I'm sure UMI products are great for people that don't have the skill sets to fab their own, and I will probably be buying a panhard bar and lower control arms from them. But for the easy to fab pieces, I don't see any reason to pay more than the material costs and use my own free labor to make them.

 

I fully agree with you. No sense paying a lot for what you can make yourself.

But have you checked the prices of high quality tube lately? How bout rod ends? Got a shop in mind to do the powder coating? Once you start adding it up, I think you'll come close to what the UMI ones cost. Or at least just as much as some of the cheaper non-adjustable ones cost.