Solid rear brace?

[assassin10000]

NoHachi Wrote:I have those floor braces, rear shock braces and C-pillar braces in my Trueno. They do exactly what I expected, which is absolutely nothing. You can buy them off me if you want.

One member made an under car brace that looked like it might actually work *mr. Gud? You might want to take a look at that one.

You must be lucky enough to have a really well put together 86...

I agree with you on the c-pillar brace, it seemed to do very little. The only thing I ever noticed was in my previous 86 it quieted all my sunroof rattles, and that could be simply because it changed the harmonics of the car.

BUT I have to disagree on SOME strut/rear floor bar braces. I definately noticed large differences in how well/predictable the car handled with them, than without them. Especially when it came to feeling/knowing how the car would react. Much better driver input, less chassis noise/flex, better cornering/drifting. I've actually worked with a relatively new friend of mine who is going to start producing something similar to the UEO rear bar, but with improvements. Anyways, heres my post from another couple of forums.

Quote:In the last couple months a friend of mine met up with a local guy who is interested in making braces & brackets, and maybe other cool stuff for S13's, maybe S14's and after talking to him the AE86.

I spent some time getting ideas. And as I used to have a UEO rear brace in my car and liked it, I decided to base a new design off of it. BUT, I felt there was still room for improvement. So, within the last couple weeks we've built and I've personally tested a prototype rear brace which is stronger, stiffer and possibly lighter (haven't weighed them yet to verify).

We are gearing up for a production run (number's actually made will be depending on the response/desire) for these which will definately be sub $200 (shipped lower 48 ). Once we figure out all the costs involved with laser cutting, hardware, possibly powdercoating, etc. We will be able to give the actual price. I'm a corolla guy, so I know price DOES make a difference, especially since I'm a cheapskate at times myself (but not at the expense of getting crap, just to get the best deal & part I can for the money).

I'm sure there are a few members here who are active on the nissan forums, if your an active member on Zilvia.net you can check out his reputation/vouches. His name is Jonnie Fraz & he has been putting out his own design front tension rod braces for the S13 for 2-3 months now.

Anyways, I have an AMT rear tri-bar which is nice in and of itself, as well as an Aerodyne rear hatch bar. I felt a big difference in the stiffness of the rear chassis just installing the prototype "Stealth FAB: Rear AE86 brace" ON TOP of already having the other two braces installed! I personally recommend this brace... As some of you know I don't mind sharing good info, tips, write-ups, etc. And I'm also not willing to put whatever name/rep I have in the 86 community behind something unless I believe it is/will be worth it. (And I don't even get anything for promoting this... except to have created a part/design I like.)

These probably won't be available for at least 2 weeks, and if your interested post up.

Anyways, now on to the fun stuff... you get to see us putting the prototype together here:

Quote:

Cool shot of Jon tacking the coped/notched ends of the main arms.



A couple more cool shots, of the diagonals (triangulation is good!) being tacked in place.





Welding it all together



Nice looking MIG welds, can't wait to see what he can do once he get's his TIG... If you hear these welds in person you realize how awesome of a welder he is. You can HEAR the penetration and smoothness of his welds. Of course, since he is a professional welder I would expect some decent skills (FYI: these are his 'dirty' untouched welds, no cleaning or wire brushing here at all.)

Also, this is just a prototype, not a production piece so it's not a nice as the real ones will be - afaik.



Fully welded.



Painted.



Installed. (note: missing 1 of the 3 front bolts on both sides in this picture, forgot to bring them with me)

Andrew