Just finished my strut brace today and figure I would get some input on it. Let me know what you think.


I used 1/2" thick walled steel tubing and then welded those together with the plate on the top, there is also one on the bottom. They are not just tacked on like you see on alot of the ones from Ebay. I welded 1" strips ever 1" down the whole bar. The ends are 1/4" plate that the bar was welded to. I reinforced the plate to bar welds with smaller plates welded on the sides of each joint. The drilled and tapped the body of the car to hold in all on. Bondo and paint.

Hope you like it. I will be posting plans and a full DIY on my website soon. I will put a link to it here when I get it done.

 

very nice man nice engine compartment every thing looks great nice work

 

i also got to say the engine bay is very clean.

 

Not trying to be an *** but that does not provide any purpose at all. A strut bar generaly connects the front struts to provide a stiffer suspension and all you did was bolt a bar between the inner fenders. Props on the effort but you may wanna research the reason for a part befor trying to duplicate it.

 

I was just thinking the same thing as i was looking at it,, i just recieved my cheapy ebay strut braces yesterday .. ;-).. waiting to get them on..

 

looks nice and I was saying the same thing as everyone is saying not the fender wall. STRUT TOWER

But have fun fabbing all your parts if you choose that route.

 

I haven't had the fun of playing with my shocks yet, but it seems like his setup would work. The brace bolts on within a couple inches of the strut towers. It seems to be a pretty solid connection so whats the problem? I'm not saying its an ideal setup but it isn't useless. The brace will still keep the towers a set distance apart as long as the sheet metal holds. THAT is what I'd worry about since it's not really supposed to be a load bearing part.

 

Well, first thanks for the positive replies. As to the "that does not provide any purpose at all" reply. Why is it that there are many very nice strut bars that use this mounting point. Example :

The main reason for using the strut bolts as a mounting point is because its an easy way to do it. Not better, just easier for the 16 year old kid to do on a sunday afternoon. I am not saying that you dont know what your talking about but I did do alot of research. I spent 4 months making sure that this would work. Also as for the "all you did was bolt a bar between the inner fenders" isn't that what a strut bar is? Where else are you going to mount it? It doesn't not matter if it's in front or behind the strut tower. The whole body flexes when you take a hard corner. At the most my setup may not be as efficient as one that was mounted to the inside of the strut tower. But even if it is its a very small margin.

Now on to the sheet metal holding. The is a peice of 1/4" flat bar under the mounting point for extra strength. If it breaks free I have a feeling II will have more problems than my strut bar to worry about.

Again thank you for the input. I like constructive criticism. I also like to know what think even if it's my ideas suck.

 

I did not mean to come off as an *** but a strut bar gets it's name because it mounts to the struts thus keeping them in shape and fully aligned under suspension loading and unloading in turns. I was wrong though as it may serve a purpose but it IMO is not as affective as mounting to the struts themselves. It's great that you are atleast doing this kind of stuff as it has it's plus's. You get a good feel and idea why parts work which is ghreat to know. I see to many just buying parts because they see other people that have them but do not actually know how they work. If you really want a upgrade try a rear sway bar as our civic's tend to be a bit sloppy in the rear. That is the best upgrade I ever did suspension wise to my 98 sedan. Also if you are lowered a set of Omni Power LCA's are great to have.

 

The rear sway bar is my next project. I have a guy at the junk yard trying to find me one. Just so you know I know you were not being an ***. You saw something that didn't look right and you said so. And you right we are all so sick of seeing people putting parts on their cars because the are brainwashed into thinking they have to to be cool. Also There are too many people making their cars go fast without thinking of anything else, i.e. handling, braking, saftey. That is why there are many that end up wrapped around trees. I started with the handling, then will go through braking and then on to making it go faster. Again thanks for the input. And for the sway bar tip.