Chassis stiffening?
 

what are some ways to stiffen the chassis in the rx7 other than the usual strut bars. im willing to make anything i need, id rather make it than spend the money on overpriced pieces. anyone have any suggestions? subframe connectors? rollbars? anything?

Most people just stick with the strut bars with the occasional roll cage, although if this is a street car I wouldnt reccomend a roll cage and its been dealt with to death why not. I think these cars are relitivly stiff already so must people dont put to much energy/time into it. I suppose you could go for the not to expensive foam filling the chassis if you are looking for cheap things to do, but other than that with a couple of strut bars you should be pretty much set.

what he said...

plus you could seam weld the chassis, but how much extra good it'll do (and how it'll hold up to the street abuse) I don't know.

what do you mean by seam welding the chassis? procedure? thanks..

im not too worried about anything streetable, im prolly only going to drive the car every other weekend or so, and that would just be to the local meets and races...

a v8 is going in the car, i just purposely left it out of my first post for probably obvious reasons...

There are many ways to do this but for most people the bolt-ons will make the chassis stiffer than they would have wanted it to be.

I have the JIC upper strut tower bar, Cusco lower bar, Cusco rear carbon strut tower bar and an autopower 4 point cage and with the JIC FLT-A2's it handles like a slot car on the track but it feels like solid suspension on regular roads (damn pot holes).

- Dana "I need an icy/hot patch for my back :)"

Get a urethane bushing kit for $100. Stiffens up the car a lot.

someone recomended some kind of foam in another thread, i dont remember all the details.

Anit-sway bars. Forget strut bars, just get anti-sway bars. If you think a stiff chassis is one that doesn't bodyroll during turning, then anti-sway bars will be the best bang for the buck for you.

8 point rollcage.

hehe

Seriously, what are you trying to do?

PaulC

A rear strut bar makes a huge and noticeable difference.

Cage it - screw everything else.


-Ted

try looking at this site http://www.itwfoamseal.com/automotive.htm

when I put a 4 point roll bar in my car it stiffened it alot. Then the frount strut bar helped me even more with taking really hard turns.

anti roll bars don't stiffen the chassis though they just prevent it from rolling

when the chassis flexes though it can cause camber/toe/caster changes and stuff
generally by making the suspension stiffer (springs/shocks/tires/anti roll bars) can make the problem worse

also with anti roll bars you also come into losing independence between the left and right sides so in my eyes they are not the best thing to go for first for handling
springs shocks would be better then use roll bars to help with fine tuning

but agai nthat is just the way I see it

thanks all for all the info :)

what companies sell cages?

Dumbkid - There is a big difference between stiffening the chassis and stiffening the suspension. Stiffening the chassis will provide a better platform for any suspenion upgrades to work. Things like rollcages are unpractical for street use and dangerous in some situations. Stick with strut tower bars and lower braces for street use. They certainly don't hurt and do provide some stiffness if properly made.

Kirkracing.com sells bolt in cages as well as autopower.

ioportracing.com. That is where I got my Auto power from :)

- Dana

This may not directly relate to your question but let me share an observation. I have a '90 GXL and a '90 vert I recently purchased. While changing the oil and fuel filter on the vert, I noticed that access to the lower fuel filter line was not as easy on the vert as the GXL. Took a second to realize that the vert has a lower cross member that I assume is to stiffen the chassis in order to make up for the loss of the strength of the roof and side pillars.

Do not recall if they are bolted or welded on but maybe you could get some front end stiffening from a vert cross member?

I heard someone mention using the Vert's subframe on a coupe to stiffen it up.

It weighs somewhere around 50-60 lbs and it is bolted in.

Rob

Most definitely check this out. click here . enjoy:)

thanks alot!! :)