Pierce Motorsports strut bar group buy!

[Tishock]

I'll talk with Jim about the tie bar clearance. It would help to have the bisi header dimensions so we know how much room needs to be kept for everything to fit.

Alright, i'll hold off on adding your name to the brace lists.

The 2 point front will look extremely similar to the ones i posted pics of earlier with the 2 cross bars and the dimple died brace plate, with two bolt points per side.

This design isn't yet set in stone and we have options to add a third bolt point to the flanges or make it a 3 point that attaches to the firewall instead, or maybe even having him base it off my neuspeed bar so that it's 2 angled half bars leading into the main cross bar, if that design is most effective.

I'll have pictures of the rear 4 point and c-pillar bar when i go in on the 25th.

I can't wait to see how my car is going to feel with all this extra bracing and some of the refresh parts i have going on! Got my Neuspeed front strut bar on already. Adding c-pillar bar, 4-point trunk brace AND Progress rear sway in one shot!

I'm in L.A. and would bring my car over if I could. But I can't drive my car yet because of my below the knee amputation. I can remove the bisi header this weekend and drop it off at the shop if that helps.

[Lucien]

I'm in L.A. and would bring my car over if I could. But I can't drive my car yet because of my amputation. I can remove the bisi header this weekend and drop it off at the shop if that helps.

Thanks for the offer, man. My car won't be available for a mock up of the tie bars this weekend and Jim's booked out for a while. I'll still pursue these though, if there's enough interest.

[Lucien]

Sway bar is done.

Rear trunk cross bar is welded in. Almost have the cross bars in.

C pillar will be last.

[19dabeast85]

Yeah, the Progress rear sway hits the exhaust when the suspension is unloaded, clears when you load the suspension back. It is much easier to install that bar, after the holes are drilled in the trailing arm, with the rear tires fully loaded. In fact, it's necessary to get all the linkage angles lined up!

Not trying to bring up ESP again but there is only 1 thing about their upper strut bars I dislike: crazy heavy. I felt a tremendous performance difference with my old Nuespeed front upper bar and that thing is light as a feather. I'd recommend these guys consider something similar to the Neuspeed brace (especially with attachment directly to the UCA where the cornering forces directly push). So yeah, glad to see a tubular design and tell them to keep the weight down. The last thing you want is unnecessary weight up that high!

Question on the rear 4-point. Is it removable or once it's there, it's there?

[keepinitclean]

I'd love to see pics of that 3 point strut bar.

[tommi]

Must clear swapped cars before more interest is gained. Need more pics of the bars mocked up

[Lucien]

Beast_I have a neuspeed front strut bar and i did plan on having them base their design off of it as it really is the most effective strut bar i've tried. There is no design yet.

Keepinitclean_Once we have enough interest and input, we can put something together. Since i have the Neuspeed already and have other suspension parts needing replacement before i move onto other things, i'm not going to pay to have one made just for me as Jim's braces aren't cheap, given their quality.

Tommi_making sure these braces are swap compatible is important but also time consuming as we'll have to coordinate with a local H owner to go down to Pierce for measurements. I'm working on it, but i'm thinking it might be a better idea to prioritize the traction bar instead as their seems to be more demand for those.

I'll upload pics a bit later today. If you follow me or the cb7 groups on instagram and fb, you'll see i posted some already.

[dj_ender]

It is much easier to install that bar, after the holes are drilled in the trailing arm, with the rear tires fully loaded.

There is no drilling required on the trailing arms, they are there from the factory.

[sonikaccord]

I think he meant the sub frame.^^^

In for pictures

[Lucien]

Pictures incoming...

Cross bar installed. I think you can see the tube joints he used in this pic. As this is a rough draft, we reused the original rear strut tower mounting plates but he cupped and boxed in the attachment points for strength. The bar comes out via the hex bolts in the tube links.


First rear cross bar with shot of rear attachment point. It's cupped with bolt/washer/locknut hardware. The cross bars are almost 5 feet long from end to end!


Far shot of the full brace in the trunk for reference. It's super stiff and straight. Looks cool, but now you can only fit things in the holes between the bars. lol


Closer shot of complete bar. I think it looks cool raw, but i plan on painting or powdercoating it. The bar comes out in one piece. Unbolt rear pickup points, Unbolt front hex bolts, lower front of brace down and forward, angle rear leg up and out of trunk then wiggle out the rest.



Please excuse the dirty car and lack of photography skills. The plan is to drive it daily for a bit and use my observations for refinements before the production form is finalized. I know the shock tower flanges will be improved to a much beefier design.

Anyway, i've driven it for a day and a half now and along with my progress rear sway, it's a HUGE difference. The car doesn't lean at all. The rear feels so much more solid and stable it's laughable. It's improved turn in, lessened understeer/push and made the car behave better on my local 22 fwy which is lined and usually tramlines you around.

The bad side is it's made other, older suspension parts on my car extremely apparent in their need for replacement. Now i really want to upgrade my shocks.

We ran out of time to fab the c pillar bar.

[sonikaccord]

One piece eh? Not bad.

It mounts further back than the ESP one, so it should be a bit slimmer width wise. The piping is pretty substantial! What size is that? and will the c-pillar have the same?

[af_1132]

Oh man, I wish I had found this thread when you first started it!

With ESP down and not sure how long they will be before they come back on the scene, I was really depressed. This is bringing my spirits up again. I would love to know the weight of that 4 point rear strut bar and see some pics of a 3 point front upper strut bar.

[Lucien]

One piece eh? Not bad.

It mounts further back than the ESP one, so it should be a bit slimmer width wise. The piping is pretty substantial! What size is that? and will the c-pillar have the same?

Yep, one piece. I'll get the diameter from Jim as i don't remember it. The c pillar bar will be same materials/hardware and probably same diameter.

Oh man, I wish I had found this thread when you first started it!

With ESP down and not sure how long they will be before they come back on the scene, I was really depressed. This is bringing my spirits up again. I would love to know the weight of that 4 point rear strut bar and see some pics of a 3 point front upper strut bar.

Hmm, never thought to weigh it. I can weigh it when i take it out to paint or powdercoat it.

You can check out the pics in this thread of the veloster strut bars to get an idea of what they'll look like. The design hasn't been decided yet as interest is nowhere near what i thought it would be. I already have a Neuspeed front strut bar, so i'm reticent to spend another couple hundred dollars to have Jim make me one and have no one buy a unit.

I'll probably cross post this thread in the offtopic section for more traffic to see if that helps.

[johnl]

It's nice to see braces designed by someone who obviously understands that the rigidity of the part of the brace that attaches the brace to the chassis is just as important as the rigidity of the bracing bar itself. Something that can't be said for the great majority of braces I've seen (at least fitted to road cars).

My car has several robust 'home made' braces. A front tower brace, which definitely makes a difference (I was reminded a while ago when I drove the car without it fitted). Some inner fender braces, which make a noticeable difference in chassis feel. A rear tower brace, worthwhile.

And, an 'X' brace that is located directly behind the rear seat back, and braces what is otherwise an open space directly behind the rear seat (well, there are two factory braces each side of the opening, but they are laughable). This brace is a good thing, quite a noticeable improvement. Unlike other rear 'X' braces it doesn't protrude rearward into the boot and so doesn't limit cargo space.

This unbraced space behind the rear seat only exists in order that the rear seats can be folded down to allow long cargo to protrude from the boot into the passenger space. It's a product of the marketing department, and will significantly weaken the chassis stiffness. Before some genius decided to make rear seats fold down, this space was always braced with a sheet metal panel (all marques that I'm aware of), which I'm sure would be the chassis engineers' preference.

Maybe Pierce could look into something along the same lines?

[sonikaccord]

Ahh. I almost forgot about the fender braces...hint