Rear AE86 strut brace question

[allsecretlove777]

I bought a AE86 rear strut bar for my AE85 but there are no holes to mount it Im just wondering do I have to drill it and mount it myself Some pictures below descibe my situation











Thanks for your help

[ezy10s]

Well you could just get a hammer and a nail and bash it through!!
But yeah drill the holes.

[Rick]

Or you could weld the red plates onto the car.

[allsecretlove777]

Ill be getting out the drill then, thanks for your ideas

[d1 mule]

yeah just get it as centered as possibble, i had that exact one im my old 85 made a massive difference over stock, then a half cage made hardly any differencs over the strut brace, bloody good value for money mod

[Rick]

Or for an even cheaper option I used a piece of rollcage bar and welded it in between the rear shock towers

[NZ_AE86]

Or for an even cheaper option I used a piece of rollcage bar and welded it in between the rear shock towers

Where will you be mounting your belts to? Or is the cage not finished?

[Rick]

Where will you be mounting your belts to? Or is the cage not finished?

Cage finished, belts will be mounted off the horizontal bar, just behind where the seats are going to be mounted.

[allsecretlove777]

cant really complain for $80 new plus i guess it will save some welding work

[Mr Revhead]

sell it and recover your $$
it doesnt do anything.

[Xylotrope]

So are you saying that rear strut bracing does nothing or that particular one does nothing .. what about the red car with the welded pipe between the rear struts .. is that effective ? ..

More information please ..

Thanks

[d1 mule]

trust me it made a MASSIVE difference in my 85. the front made bugger all difference and the HALF CAGE made only a slight improovement over the strut brace.

if it could be measured in % id say the rear strut brace was a 100% improovement over stock and the half cage was a 50% improovement over the strut brace, and for the price $80 for the strut brace V $800 for the cage its def a worthwhile mod

[Mr Revhead]

how can it do anything?

its not bracing anything that can move the suspension...

AE86s have a live rear axle with a 4 link and panhard rod.
the suspension mounts are under the floor forward of the shocks.
any deflection of the shock mounts is minimal at most (ever seen an ae86 crack there?) forces going up are spread amoungst the shocks and springs which mount at different points, therefore spreading the loads much more widely. if they did need strengthning there, a bar between them wouldnt work that well, some brackets or double skinning would work better.
of more importance would be the arm bushes and mounting points.


in a car with say a macpherson strut where the camber etc could be altered by deflection of the strut tower a strut brace will make a difference. but in a live axle car, movement there (if any) wont be felt by the driver.

as for claims it makes a MASSIVE difference, if it did then i would be having a hard look for some SERIOUS issue with that car.

in a rollcage situation it changes a little, as then apart form the safetly aspect, you are also (often) trying to stiffen the car as a whole, not in a specific area. in some designs a bar there can help with the overall stiffness. depending on where the other bars are.
but on its own, no a bar there doesnt do anything worth while.

have a good think about how forces are transmitted through bars and structures. ie not just the individual bar, but the structure the bar is part of.

[NZ_AE86]

Where will you be mounting your belts to? Or is the cage not finished?

Cage finished, belts will be mounted off the horizontal bar, just behind where the seats are going to be mounted.

Are you not worried about that bar moving in a side impact? I would want some bars off that bar. In a hard side impact that bar has nothing to stop it moving which will either tighten your belts or loosen them, either of which could cause a big problem.

On topic - Revhead is right as to the amount of difference that strut brace will/could make.

[d1 mule]

all i no is the car felt much stiffer after fitting the rear brace.

[Dell'Orto]

Placebo effect?

[allsecretlove777]

The reverend makes a good point. However I would of thought adding a rear brace would help the light flexible chasiss become rigid? ill take d1 mules experience over others theories for the fact that i might get a massive improvement