Custom Front Strut Tower Brace

[Vapor]

I decided tonight that since I left my amp at home (which I had originally intended to install), I decided instead to get to work on my front upper strut bar. Used 1inch square tube, made cuts at 10 degrees, twisted it 180 and welded it back together. Welded some 7/16'' bolts in the end and made some feet for it to attach to.

First impressions are better than I expected. When I installed the lower brace I thought I could feel a difference but it seemed slight. With the upper brace there is a definite noticeable difference. She feels way more anchored in the turns. Winding on ramps become less precarious as you drop the pedal early to pick up speed before merging. This is the way the car should have felt originally.

I did however seem to notice that the ride was not quite as forgiving on bumpy terrain, but I guess that is to be expected when you stiffen things up a bit.

[Pete]

Nice very nice indeed!

[Vapor]

Fixed the pictures.

[Johnuk]

Great!

[Daox]

Very nice!

I added this to the mods list.

[NUBNUB]

Looks fantastic! What does something like this cost to make with hardware if I wanted to have a go at this? Or what would you charge to sell me one ?

[Howie]

Wow! Wicked job man!

[Vapor]

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone. This is exactly the type of work I love the most and get to do on a daily basis. I'm very proud of the things I build but hardly ever get feedback unless it's from coworkers so this is nice.
As for materials there's probably less than $30 worth of steel. Where the cost comes in is the welder & supplies, band saw and tools. I'll tell you trying to slide your hand up inside the strut tower to put on washers and a nut is not happening. I had to super glue the washers to the nut, then set them inside a socket on a 10 inch breaker bar and gently slide it up over the wheel to where I could push the stainless bolt in and thread it on. With stainless you need to use anti seize or the nut could just stop half way welding itself to the bolt and it will never move again. Took me about an hour all together to build and install. So an hours labor and $30 in supplies makes it about $130 or about $100 if you install it yourself.

[MetroMPG]

Hey Vapor - see:
Thread: West coast front tower strut

Playing matchmaker here.

[MetroMPG]

Feel free to advertise on here... couple of inquiries this week! Maybe a little side business for you.