(OTHER) How To: Make your own strut bar
01-23-08, 08:03 PM
#1
(OTHER) How To: Make your own strut bar
Hey all,
I was planning on making a bunch of these and selling them on E-bay, but I have since lost interest, and it would also appear that there isn't much profit to be made. I actually lost money on the first one I made, which tells me that it isn't worth my time to keep making them. So, I thought that I would put my plans out in the open for everyone to use if they were interested. You should be able to have this strut bar made for about $30-40 if you go about it right. The drawings will tell you everything you need to know.
It is made from 1/4" steel plates (I would recommend you have a fab shop or a machine shop make these). The bars connecting the plates are made from 1" square, 0.125" wall steel tubing. It can be purchased for about $1-2 per foot. I bought mine from my local recycling center, as they stock new metal. It could also be made out of round steel tubing very easily using these same plans. I chose to use square tubing because I couldn't find ANYONE in my area who could sell me a 6 foot round piece for less than $50. I was appalled to say the least. Anyway, here is what you will need to finish the job....
Materials
-1/4" steel baseplates (machine shop)
-1"x1"x1/8" steel tubing (steel supplier)
-2" long 3/8" diameter grade 8 bolts
-4 washers and two lock washers for your bolts
-Two 3/8" grade 8 nuts for the bolts
-Plastic end caps for the main tube (McMaster Carr part #9565K12)
-Spray paint (Ford Blue Duplicolor Engine Paint matches the stock air cleaner GREAT)
Tools
-Angle grinder
-Welder
-Wire brush
-Hand drill or drill press
-Chop saw (or something else to cut your steel tubing)
-Other misc. hand tools
Basically this isn't too hard. Have the machine shop or fab shop make the 1/4" steel baseplates for you. I have included PDFs for all of the parts that you will need to make or have made.
After you have your baseplates made, bring them home and bolt them on to the strut towers. You are ready to begin making the main steel tube. And you are about half done already!!
The square tubing pieces are easily made by hand. The only tricky part is putting the angled cut in the two end pieces of the main bar. I used a chop saw for this, but it could even be done with an angle grinder, a jigsaw, or a hacksaw for that matter! Cut the angled end pieces, and then locate the 3/8" hole in each one. Drill the holes into the angle pieces. They are done! Use your grade 8 bolts to mount the angled end tubes onto the strut plates. If you mitered the end of the tubing right it should be perfectly straight up and down when it sits on the baseplate. On to the main tube!
This is the easiest piece to make by far, if you did a good job on the angled end pieces. All you have to do is cut it to length! Since you have your angled tubes mounted it might be a good idea to measure the distance between them. Every car is different, which means your main tube may end up being longer or shorter than mine is. However, just for reference I cut mine to a length of 53-7/16". This gave me a perfect flush fit which made it easier to weld. You're ready to weld!
Assuming that you have a welder or a friend that can weld, it's time to finish the fabrication part of this project. I prefer to make some tack welds while the strut bar is actually mounted on the car. This helps to keep things from getting distorted due to heat and ensures that it will fit on properly after it has been welded. So use your clamps to somehow clamp the main tube to the angled tubes. I used a c-clamp on each side and tightened it down against the front and rear portions of the bar. After you get the bar secured how you like it, make some tack welds on each side of the bar.
Remove the bar from the car after you have it tacked in place. Finish your welds, grind them down and clean up the bar for paint. Paint the bar and insert the plastic end caps when it is dry. You're done! Yeeehawww! I hope that this was a rewarding project for you and the prints that I made worked out okay.
Thanks for all the help that everyone on the forum has provided! This is a small way for me to return some of the favors that have been done for me.
Jamie
I was planning on making a bunch of these and selling them on E-bay, but I have since lost interest, and it would also appear that there isn't much profit to be made. I actually lost money on the first one I made, which tells me that it isn't worth my time to keep making them. So, I thought that I would put my plans out in the open for everyone to use if they were interested. You should be able to have this strut bar made for about $30-40 if you go about it right. The drawings will tell you everything you need to know.
It is made from 1/4" steel plates (I would recommend you have a fab shop or a machine shop make these). The bars connecting the plates are made from 1" square, 0.125" wall steel tubing. It can be purchased for about $1-2 per foot. I bought mine from my local recycling center, as they stock new metal. It could also be made out of round steel tubing very easily using these same plans. I chose to use square tubing because I couldn't find ANYONE in my area who could sell me a 6 foot round piece for less than $50. I was appalled to say the least. Anyway, here is what you will need to finish the job....
Materials
-1/4" steel baseplates (machine shop)
-1"x1"x1/8" steel tubing (steel supplier)
-2" long 3/8" diameter grade 8 bolts
-4 washers and two lock washers for your bolts
-Two 3/8" grade 8 nuts for the bolts
-Plastic end caps for the main tube (McMaster Carr part #9565K12)
-Spray paint (Ford Blue Duplicolor Engine Paint matches the stock air cleaner GREAT)
Tools
-Angle grinder
-Welder
-Wire brush
-Hand drill or drill press
-Chop saw (or something else to cut your steel tubing)
-Other misc. hand tools
Basically this isn't too hard. Have the machine shop or fab shop make the 1/4" steel baseplates for you. I have included PDFs for all of the parts that you will need to make or have made.
After you have your baseplates made, bring them home and bolt them on to the strut towers. You are ready to begin making the main steel tube. And you are about half done already!!
The square tubing pieces are easily made by hand. The only tricky part is putting the angled cut in the two end pieces of the main bar. I used a chop saw for this, but it could even be done with an angle grinder, a jigsaw, or a hacksaw for that matter! Cut the angled end pieces, and then locate the 3/8" hole in each one. Drill the holes into the angle pieces. They are done! Use your grade 8 bolts to mount the angled end tubes onto the strut plates. If you mitered the end of the tubing right it should be perfectly straight up and down when it sits on the baseplate. On to the main tube!
This is the easiest piece to make by far, if you did a good job on the angled end pieces. All you have to do is cut it to length! Since you have your angled tubes mounted it might be a good idea to measure the distance between them. Every car is different, which means your main tube may end up being longer or shorter than mine is. However, just for reference I cut mine to a length of 53-7/16". This gave me a perfect flush fit which made it easier to weld. You're ready to weld!
Assuming that you have a welder or a friend that can weld, it's time to finish the fabrication part of this project. I prefer to make some tack welds while the strut bar is actually mounted on the car. This helps to keep things from getting distorted due to heat and ensures that it will fit on properly after it has been welded. So use your clamps to somehow clamp the main tube to the angled tubes. I used a c-clamp on each side and tightened it down against the front and rear portions of the bar. After you get the bar secured how you like it, make some tack welds on each side of the bar.
Remove the bar from the car after you have it tacked in place. Finish your welds, grind them down and clean up the bar for paint. Paint the bar and insert the plastic end caps when it is dry. You're done! Yeeehawww! I hope that this was a rewarding project for you and the prints that I made worked out okay.
Thanks for all the help that everyone on the forum has provided! This is a small way for me to return some of the favors that have been done for me.
Jamie
Last edited by Glazedham42; 04-16-08 at 07:04 AM.
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