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C-Pillar Brace for Wagons

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#41 ·
curtis said:
1. looks stupid? a very valid arguement?

2. if people dont carry passengers(which people have already said) then how is safety compromised? now, if people are carrying passengers, then i agree that safety is compromised.

3. an interior brace that increases rigidy is ricer?

why not just let us wagon guys find solutions to beefen up the wagon chassis without ragging?
Click to expand...
yes, it looks stupid.

i'm talking about rear passenger safety, duh. why have a seat there if you can't put someone in it?

why not use the traditional, tried-and-true strut tower brace? that's all the bracing you need there, without a) looking stupid, b) being unsafe c) probably not adding and significant additional rigidity if there's a strut tower brace there (there's even a testimonial here in this thread)

but of course, if any of you guys are doing any real racing with your decade old econowagons, then excuse me :mamoru:

perhaps you would like to try to prove this is beneficial to me?

signed,
a former GF wagon owner
 
#42 ·
^^perhaps because they're getting harder and harder to find??

then you have those of us that are lowered and use paranoid fabs spacers to bring the ass sagging to more tolerable levels. barely enough room to get the nuts back on, let alone another 1/8th inch of strut tower bar mount.

yes i now, tap the studs out and put longer ones...this is too much work.

i don't carry passengers. and IF i do, they lay across the back seat because both ashley and i are tall. seats have to say rather far back to accommodate those of us in the front.

also, my glass is tinted at 5%. no looking like a ricer for me.

and lastly, bracing is bracing. more is better.
 
Discussion starter · #44 ·
bl_easy said:
yes, it looks stupid.

i'm talking about rear passenger safety, duh. why have a seat there if you can't put someone in it?

why not use the traditional, tried-and-true strut tower brace? that's all the bracing you need there, without a) looking stupid, b) being unsafe c) probably not adding and significant additional rigidity if there's a strut tower brace there (there's even a testimonial here in this thread)

but of course, if any of you guys are doing any real racing with your decade old econowagons, then excuse me :mamoru:

perhaps you would like to try to prove this is beneficial to me?

signed,
a former GF wagon owner
Click to expand...
1) Your opinion, you did your wagon how you pleased; now I am going to do my wagon as I please.

2) I believe it looks legit, other people may think it looks ricer...I don't give a shit.

3) Most cars have back seats, and that doesn't matter to me I usually only have one other person with me at a time and they sit in the front not the back (and I have 2 other vehicles I can take if I need to haul people)

4) Even if it only increases rigidbility but .00000001% its good enough for me, I really don't care since I paid basically nothing for it. Its not like the front tower brace does much since its already so close to the firewall but almost everyone seems to have one.

5) My decade old econowagon has proved to be very efficient in autoX events thank you very much, sorry not everyone can afford something new to race with. Its not the fastest thing but it handles on rails and thats all that matters to me.

Sorry my car isn't appealing to you, well actually I am not sorry...It pleases me and that is all I aim for.

thank you and have a nice day.

Signed,
a proud GF owner
 
#46 ·
rear braces aren't getting harder and harder to find, wagon owners are being cheap most times. I just sold Whiteline brace this morning. :)

and regarding the Porsche... that's not a seat that people are supposed to sit in and you know it. The Impreza is a passenger car with REAR DOORS, so you can't even compare the two.

If you're running mount spacers, then you just can't be lazy and say "it's too much work" to swap the studs. Didn't you put a EJ25 in your wagon? You're capable or doing that monkeywork

plus, the STB isn't a vision obstruction like this thing is. and it doesn't render the back seat useless.

and ALL NATURAL, i'm not talking about how much I don't like your car, I'm talking about this silly ricer mod. don't get butt-hurt all NASIOC style. THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOU
 
#47 ·
I see the bumpage got some action.

I was actually going to give it a shot, but now that you mention it, it does look kinda ricer-ish. Eh, we'll see. I have front and rear strut bars... the rear makes a good improvement on the wagon, so I figured this couldn't hurt either.

Good arguments from both sides though.
 
#51 ·
I think everyone is getting bent out of shape for all the wrong reasons. Anyone who makes a big deal about "rice" is just as bad as the person who riced out their car in the first place.

Most things that are dangerous to drivers/passengers (running harnesses on the street, using harness bars or c-pillar bars with passengers) are extremely easily removed. I totally agree with the dangers of using the stuff but if you want to use it on race days more power to ya. \

Cheap and or free mods = win
 
#53 ·
Make some X bracing from the upper right mount to the left strut top, and from the upper left mount to the right strut top. ;) And last is a V from the strut tops to the floor... Looks awesome. Maybe something like that for my WRX?
 
#54 · (Edited)
Finally got around to fabbing this thing up.

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Some how when tacking or table welding the brace got out of square :-( and the drivers side is a tad bit lower than the passenger. It does bolt up ,but it does not sit perfectly level. Function wise it definitely can be felt in the rear end over the C-pillar/rear tower bars with out the extra bracing. Im looking to fab up another one in the future that will sit level.
 
#58 · (Edited)
After spending over 2 hours looking for a stock threaded mounting point behind the C and D pillar trim, that is out of the seat head rest and skull splitting zone I came to the conclusion that there is none. So I welded in a plate with a threaded mount on the D pillar that was the same height as the upper seat belt mount. Then I went about fabing up connecting bars to join the C and D pillars together. I made then out of 3/4" square tube and 1/8" x 3/4" plate. The C-D connecting bars where made about 1/8" short to create a strengthening load between the two pillars when tightened. Stock "crapy ebay" lower strut tower bar mounts where used for the lower bar mounts. The bars and turnbuckles are made of 3/4" 13 gauge tube with left and right hand threaded pipe ends welded in. All in all the total for the project cost around $100 with out powder coating. This has made a HUGE!! difference in how the rear end of the wagon handles on hard cornering. And I have BC coilovers with 17x8 rims with 225/45 tires.

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The basic parts list of what is needed.

Lowes/Home Depot
-3 3'x3/4" steel tubes
-1 3'x3/4"x1/8" steel plate
-1 3'x3/4" square steel tube
-2 2" long 3/8"-24 bolts that the hex heads where cut off of to make R/H studs for the turnbuckle to bar connection.
-4 7/16 grade 5 nuts ....or same thread pattern as the Automotive Studs
.......2 nuts and bolts for the welded mounting plates ( I think they where 7/16 as well )

www.racingrodends.com
......I searched on line for a few hours to find the stuff as cheep as this place had it....

-6 3/8-24 RH Weld-In Bung $24.00
-2 3/8-24 LH Weld-In Bung $8.00
-2 3/8 x 3/8-24 Economy Male RH Rod End ( also known as Heim Joints ) $6.30
-2 3/8 x 3/8-24 Economy Male LH Rod End ( also known as Heim Joints ) $6.30

Quick Disconnect are normal Mt Bike seat clamps ( ebay $4 each ) with 3/8" OD to 1/4" ID bushings from Lowes .....regular bolts could be used

Tractor Supply/Home Depot/Lowes/Sears Hardware ect...
This part is key, its called a Automotive Threaded Stud. You will need 2 of them for the upper seat belt mounts. Pictured below is the thread size you will need for the upper seat belt mount and then just find the corresponding nuts x4 for the other end of the stud. You can do it with out them but, with only bolts the seat belts will not retract due to the bolts pinching the belt guides against the C pillars.....They looks like this from Tractor Supply and are loose in the hardware draws at other stores.
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