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  • #1

    Fender Braces

    I made these awhile ago and figured I would share.



    They made a pretty big difference in how the car turns in for tight corners. I can feel the rear of the car flex and twist more now so I need to figure out some type of rear brace work to help keep the ass end stable.

    I Think Im going to make a triangulated rear strutbar, Nismo style front tension brace and maybe one of those subframe braces I've seen.

    C/C welcome.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    What about a "triangulated" front strut bar? I use quotation marks because I'm not sure how doable this is on a S-chassis. Seems to me I've seen one before, but I'm too lazy to dig it up right now. Almost quittin time!

    Looks like poo, works like glue.

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    • #3
      Lol yea its not pretty, but I could care less how it looks since there is a fender covering it.

      I already have a front strutbar atm, but I will probably use the brackets and make my own one. You can make a triangulated one by welding a bracket onto the fire wall then just bolting on the rest. Thats my plan atleast.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Longfellow View Post
        I already have a front strutbar atm, but I will probably use the brackets and make my own one. You can make a triangulated one by welding a bracket onto the fire wall then just bolting on the rest. Thats my plan atleast.
        Good plan.

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        • #5
          What exactly is this bracing?

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          • #6
            It's bracing the strut tower from the backside to the door/firewall structure. I have the bolt-in Nagisa Auto ones and they definitely improved my S13. It's funny that the S14's are so much stronger in that area and there's still improvement to be had there. Nissan has weld-ons for the S13 there as well that they put on the convertables.
            She's built like a Steakhouse, but she handles like a Bistro.

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            • #7
              I had attempted to make mine similar to the Nagisa one, but I couldnt come up with a feasable way to copy the front bolt on part. So I just welded mine straight to the frame. It is still bolted on to the door hinges though.

              Oh yea forgot to mention it helps with braking alot also. Seems more stable when I really stomp on the brakes at higher speeds since the front dosnt squat as much due to flexing. I think they have made a considerable difference over all.

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              • #8
                These things really make a difference?

                Sorry, I'm not trying to be difficult, I just have a hard time seeing how they help?

                I'd like to be convinced since I currently have my fenders off the car and now would be a good time to weld in some bracing. I don't want to just add dead weight though.
                Last edited by jmauld; 09-12-2008, 07:20 PM.

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                • #9
                  Well you have to consider that half the front weight of the car is suspended by that one front strut tower. Then think about it in a turn with 75-95% (or more) of the front weight focused right there. That's a bunch of force for a stamped 16ga spot welded collection of sheet metal that's a 10-20 year old design. You don't have to run Wildfire 3.0 in your head (or whatever you ME kids use these days) to accept that it's probably deflecting under those loads. So now you just need to brace it to the nearest strongest point... where the rockers and firewall meet. Now the interaction between your vehicle and the tire is more approximated by what's happening in the suspension.

                  This leads me down a tangent about chassis stiffness. I wanted to build a TE27 Corolla. My dad said the chassis were really weak. I thought that it would be fine if I stuck some Opera-style gussets in there and some subframe connectors. Then I read about people with only 250ft-lbs doing 1/4 mile runs... and thier doors don't open when they get back in the pits... because the chassis is tweaked from "all that" torque. That car would probably fold itself in half with coilovers and sticky tires.
                  She's built like a Steakhouse, but she handles like a Bistro.

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                  • #10
                    Whoa, don't confuse me with an ME, I'm just a cynical skeptic.

                    edit: who really doesn't want to add weight to the car if it's not going to help.
                    Last edited by jmauld; 09-12-2008, 07:30 PM.

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                    • #11
                      Speaking of tangets, I used to autocross a '89 Mirage Turbo. That car flexed so much that the roof was wavy after a year of autocrossing on sticky tires.

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                      • #12
                        They work similar to a cage going through your firewall and tieing into your front shock towers.

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