Write-Up: Installing a Rear Strut Tower Brace

We might be able to get our hands on more sprinkler pipe, but if not would you all be happy with 1.00" x .120" Round D.O.M.?

based on the effects the front STB had on my ride, i am very interested in getting a rear bar installed.
Only challenge is having it work with the subwoofer box. Should be a fun project....someday...

charlieRobinson wrote:

based on the effects the front STB had on my ride, i am very interested in getting a rear bar installed.
Only challenge is having it work with the subwoofer box. Should be a fun project....someday...

Mine fits around my box with plenty of room. Unless yours is stupidly big it should be fine. I think this would go well with stiff rear springs/shocks. I'm thinking I want to keep stock parts up front minus the FE3 bar and Gabriel struts with F41 rear springs, new shocks (Ranchos?) and an even bigger bar than the FE3 (Addco/Custom?). Basically I want the rear end as stiff and solid as possible to help bring it around in corners. I feel like that will be harder to do if I make the front any better.

matt270avian wrote:

Mine fits around my box with plenty of room. Unless yours is stupidly big it should be fine. I think this would go well with stiff rear springs/shocks. I'm thinking I want to keep stock parts up front minus the FE3 bar and Gabriel struts with F41 rear springs, new shocks (Ranchos?) and an even bigger bar than the FE3 (Addco/Custom?). Basically I want the rear end as stiff and solid as possible to help bring it around in corners. I feel like that will be harder to do if I make the front any better.

No way your bar would fit over/around my sub box. It goes damn near all the way to the magnets on the 6x9's (2 x 12" subs).

The rear suspension is quite stiff with the F41's, ESPECIALLY since I took my subwoofers out (my Amp went *poof*). Damn that box is heavy. I wouldn't put stiffer springs in the rear and not change the front. It'll ride like shit.

Sorry, I posted this elsewhere but forgot to post it here. This is what "production" bars would look like. For mine we welded 2 bars together, but for anyone else it would be 1 bar all the way across. Obviously you have to do a bit of carpet trimming. All OEM hardware is reused to bolt this down. The nuts still have plenty of thread left on the shocks WITH the metal brackets that come with the car still installed. Even the little rubber dust cover goes on just like it should. I'm thinking $100 + shipping for us to make a bar for whoever wants one. It will be created and test fit using my car. Out of the $100, $40 of it would be to cover materials (piping, steel plates, and paint), $20-$30 of it is to cover consumables such as welding wire, cutting discs, drill bits, etc.

Robo, do you have one of these crafted up? With the OEM setup placing the spring on the chassis vs your coilover with the spring placing tension on the shock top mounts I can imagine you saw a pretty hefty improvement.

The making of Z-Type's brace. We can make 1 more with the materials we have, and if need be we can go out and get more pipe if more than 1 person is interested. The pipe is 3/4" with ~3/8" walls.

The template.



The metal thingy that goes between the nuts and the body on top of the template.



Drilling holes.



Fit first time (we called BS too).



End result.

This brace is one of the best purchases I've made for the car thus far. The only thing that beats this in noticeable handling improvement is the wheels and tires I got a couple years ago. It just need two holes elongated ever so slightly, then it sat right in. Even with my snow tires on, the car will NOT roll anymore, and the entire car feels more solid, even the doors shut nicer somehow.

Very cool, Thank you Matt!

Woo, glad it worked out for you. Our shock geometry is probably just a hair different, so that's why you had to open up the holes and I didn't. We'll use a larger drill bit on future bars.

dang, nice review. Whats the price on one of these shipped to 43551?

$100+ ~$15 shipping, orrrrrrrr a nice shiny plog. Either way I'll throw in that twilight sensor/harness since I don't need it.

Even if the plog isnt shiny, has weld around a runner, and still has some crackage?

As long as it seals it's fine.

Charlie and Tyler, your bars are ready. Just need to slap some primer/paint/clear on them.

Charlie (top bar) and Tyler's (bottom bar). We might have to make a new bar to fit around CharlieZachinson's sub box, so who has first dibs on it if we have to do that?

matt270avian wrote:

We might have to make a new bar to fit around CharlieZachinson's sub box, so who has first dibs on it if we have to do that?

You want me to take some better pics of mine so you can get an idea to go up and over?

Abaddon wrote:

matt270avian wrote:

We might have to make a new bar to fit around CharlieZachinson's sub box, so who has first dibs on it if we have to do that?

You want me to take some better pics of mine so you can get an idea to go up and over?

Nah, I've seen yours. I just like having one bar going straight across better than one that goes up and over. Sure, yours allows for more trunk space and all.

Matt, did you just weld the bar on top of the mounts or did you notch the bar first and slide it on the mount then weld giving the bar a straight parallel position?

It looks like there is an angle between the mount and the bar position. Actually its quite obvious seeing that the mounts arent laying flat on the pic above.

We just weld the bar on top of the mounts because they have to have a slight downward angle, and if we notched the bar like you're talking it would hit the shock towers. Not the prettiest way of doing it, but the welds are still stupidly strong.

I looked this evening and I think I am going to need a bar that goes more like =\____/=  than =_____= preferably right against my sub box to maximize space and secure it.

Measure how far back your box is from certain points around your trunk and let us know what you get. We'll make you a bar accordingly. How tall your box is would also be nice.

Charlie and Tyler, can you all pleeeaaassseee get back to me?

NO....hahaha

Tyler's bar is in the mail, and it looks like Charlie doesn't want his, so does anyone else want it?

Trade for RivPerformance calendar?

AA