Where to do chassis reinforcement?

[Serbj]

I'm fascinated by the ideas in this article:
http://www.jdm-option.com/eng/feature/05_10/bodyup.html

And I have been preparing to reinforce Galant's chassis for a while (fender bars, front strut bars, floor bars, etc.). However, I've asked several tuning shops in New England and it seems they're not really into welding jobs.

Any suggestions? If there is really no one doing chassis reinforcement in New England, I can drive to Buffalo or south anyway.

[gtx]

I know there's a lot to be done yet on our platform when it comes to stiffening up things, but did you max out your off the shelf options yet? I'm just asking bc a proper setup goes a long way, and if it's a street car, you might not want to go all out. Also, if you like to mess with things yourself, this would be a good time to get a welder, bc you'll spend a fortune on labor unless you know someone. Just my 1 penny. (Only 1, bc these are hard times.)

[Serbj]

This is going to be a track car actually.

The problem with me is that I'm no engineer, and thus have no idea how to do it right. So at least I need to consult an expert to learn where and how should I stiffen it up. And about the material, is chrome-manganese steel good for this purpose?

In addition, would you please list one or two off the shelf chassis reinforcement bars that I can go for?

[Stewi]

What type of track car? Road racing? If so, just put a roll cage in the car and call it a day. A roll cage drastically increases the rigidity of the unibody, more so than any floor or strut bars will. Plus if its really a track car, your required to have the cage.

[eclipsh]

Evo guys have seen great results by using fender bracing. For geometry just use the longest diagonal section you can without going into the fender well. You could take your fender off and post up pictures for help with the design.

Your other best option is shedding weight. I thought the 8g was over 3k lbs but it looks like it is just under. Brace the fender area and start looking for places to lose material.

[Jeffylou87]

Doesn't someone make a chassis stiffening kit??

[pinoyesv6]

they no longer exist.

[gtx]

D3 used to. Once in a full moon you can see a used set on Club3G. (Correction, the last set I've seen might have been on craigslist or ebay). But yes, off the shelf wasn't the right term to use, my bad. My point was that you might find things before you dive into something really expensive. For a strut bar I like the DC and Carbing bar, but I'd probably weld up something that connects to the firewall. It's been some time since I looked into it but IIRC Tanabe has a lower tie bar that should fit. If not, Megan has one that does for sure. You can get the Addco rear sway bar, or even better if you find a pair of used RMDSM bars (again, long shot) and I can build you a set of ss/alu spherical links. Floor bars and such I wouldn't bother with for a track car, like mentioned above, just get a full cage built. Nagisa makes some nice fender braces, you could look at them for designing clues. Once I move, I'll have finally acces to a full shop, so lot of these things I'll be doing myself btw (front, under & fender bracing, spherical LCA's etc.)

[Serbj]

Oh, much more difficult to find than I thought.. But I definitely need a chassis stiffening kit.

If I want those, where should I post ads to ask? Club3g?

I also found this:
http://www.partsultimate.com/index.p...duct_id=167584
But it seems it is designed to replace an OEM part instead of adding on it?

[pinoyesv6]

I also found this:
http://www.partsultimate.com/index.p...duct_id=167584
But it seems it is designed to replace an OEM part instead of adding on it?

the car comes with that from the factory. where i come from, we call them bumpers.

[Serbj]

Are custom chassis stiffening bars very pricey?

This
http://ultraracingusa.com
makes some awesome bars, but none of them is for Galant >.<

D3 used to. Once in a full moon you can see a used set on Club3G. (Correction, the last set I've seen might have been on craigslist or ebay). But yes, off the shelf wasn't the right term to use, my bad. My point was that you might find things before you dive into something really expensive. For a strut bar I like the DC and Carbing bar, but I'd probably weld up something that connects to the firewall. It's been some time since I looked into it but IIRC Tanabe has a lower tie bar that should fit. If not, Megan has one that does for sure. You can get the Addco rear sway bar, or even better if you find a pair of used RMDSM bars (again, long shot) and I can build you a set of ss/alu spherical links. Floor bars and such I wouldn't bother with for a track car, like mentioned above, just get a full cage built. Nagisa makes some nice fender braces, you could look at them for designing clues. Once I move, I'll have finally acces to a full shop, so lot of these things I'll be doing myself btw (front, under & fender bracing, spherical LCA's etc.)

Okay, I need to find
1) Carbing strut tower bar (for 99-03 Galant)
or 1) DC Sports strut bar (for 99-03 Galant)
or is Megan Racing strut bars good?

2) Tanabe lower tie bar (for 99-03 Galant)
or 2) Megan Racing - Mitsubishi Galant Rear Lower Tie Bar (http://www.jmautoracing.com/megan-ra...r-p-16469.html)

3) Addco Sway Bar Kits (for 99-03 Galant)
or 3) RM Racing Front and Rear Sway Bar Kit (for 99-03 Galant)


By the way if you are going to make some custom bars, would you like to make another set for me? And how much will that cost?

[beam514]

The Carbing strut tower bar is more expensive and harder to find than the DC sports bar. It is better looking though, and I think there are some minor clearance issues withe the DC if you have a V6. Some washers should do the trick for that (unless you plan on swapping to the 6G74).

The DC sports bar should be sold by importcarpartsplus.com, or maybe WeSellCarParts (a vendor here). Shoot them a PM and see if they have it.

[8thLS6]

Another brand that specializes in this area is ultra racing..someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think they're based in malaysia. I dunno if they have parts for the galant but maybe parts from other mitsubishi applications will work? Most of their parts are white in color if I remember correctly, I think there are some sellers on ebay that carry their line.

[blue8g]

If you want rigidity you need to a cage done

Its that simple. (in words)

[eclipsh]

For the cost of buying a bunch of braces you could probably pick up a good welder, some cutting tools and some steel to build your own. That way you'd have some handy tools around and bragging rights from building custom pieces.

[gtx]

^He didn't feel comfortable with welding on his own.

I have no idea of shops in your area but if you are serious about getting things welded up, Turbotrix is in Edison.

From your list, most parts we'll be made for a 3G eclipse

1 Carbing, DC, or even the 3G oem stb - good, Megan stb - forget it
2 Tanabe tie bar - let's forget I mentioned this, Megan will do it, but it's also easy to weld up.
3 Addco sway bar - Galant specific, or ST sway bar - 3G specific and needs a little mod,
for RMDSM bars you have to post a wtb thread and probably offer up one of your livers, but that's the way I'd do it if I really wanted it. Same thing if you want the D3 kit.

When I end up making the parts I want to make, I'll be more than happy to make them for anyone. No price yet, way too early. The endlinks I can do anytime, the set I put together I've had on my own car for more than a year, just pm me for details.

Also if I may make a suggestion, start on the suspension first if you haven't done so already. Get a good set of coilovers, a good strutbar, sways and endlinks to go with it and an LSD (Quaife or Wavetrac). Good set of dedicated wheels and tires. Than attack the chassy as needed.

[Serbj]

Actually I'd like to weld things on my own. But my current problem is I move like 10 times every year. For example I moved 9 times (lived in 10 different residences, excluding hotels/motels) in the last year. So with a lot hardware, moving is going to give me a hard time lol. Not mentioning most of landlords won't like me welding stuff in their houses.

Thanks for your helpful suggestions, gtx. You really gives me a great time learning about cars in TGC. :D Don't blame me I'm definitely a noob.

I'm worrying about damaging the chassis in autoX practice and that's why I want to stiffen the chassis first, though I've heard the stories that if I stiffen the chassis without getting coilovers and tires first, the grip will actually suck. Okay, so I'm going to deal with coilovers etc. first.

Also, what do you mean by endlinks? You mean the anti-sway bar links? Will a $80 set of the anti-sway bar links do the job?

Turbotrix is a great help. I'm currently dealing with aux jack, bad battery, and car security. Let me talk to them after a while.

Thank again, gtx. I'm a little bit drunk today and typed a lot of crap lol

[gtx]

Well, being sober helps. Yes, endlinks = swaybar links. If you want something good, get the Moog ones at least, don't buy cheap ebay stuff. I suggest you prepare for it, bc they will be most likely rusted up to the point where you'll have to cut them off when you replace the swaybars.

[RedGalant2k1]

No offense, but just an observation...you should stabilize your living situation first. Then modify the car.