Well im into the stage now where i want my max to handle like its on rails. Yes i know get another car then hahaha. Since Ive read warpspeed are unreliable on getting stuff out to you and that truax may have closed shop I'm gonna try this myself. My father is a mechanic and works at a repair/ body shop so i know guys that can weld for me.

Ive looked at the things i can do and it seems my under-body is about 4-5 inches from the ground. I'm dropped on sprints so my GC is minimal right now so i don't think i can add SFC like the Truax or Warpspeeds as I'll have way less clearance. I was thinking on the BLehmco STG 1 LTB but i think thats cutting it close on GC also.
What I'm looking at doing is 1 of a couple things.
My first thought is to get some thick angle iron and weld it length wise down the sub frame. This would reduce clearance by only 1/4 inch, but would still stiffen to some effect the front to back flex. After thats on weld the 3 tabs on each side to add the star brace to stiffen side to side torsional flex.
My other thought is just to weld 3 tabs on each side of the unibody "sub frame" to have the cross brace minus the SFC.
I also noticed I'm missing a metal plate on each side up front.

Does this make a noticeable diff in chassis stiffness.

any thoughts, ideas, improvements?


Edit: i know this wont get me the full effect such as having the Truax or Warpspeed just looking to do anything to tighten the ride up even if it is not to the full extent of Turax or WS.

 

I've moved this to Advanced for better responses... or so I think...

Btw, I thought the last gen Truax braces were designed to be tighter to the chassis for much more ground clearance... or am I mistaken?

 

The loss of clearance with Truax was mostly the X-brace IMO, however the two side bars seem to contribute more to overall stiffness with the X not doing much...

 

Thanks Puppetmaster.

Yea see im in a bind. Low on funds but how low may car sits im very afraid of any loss of GC. On the 5th gens the front part of the unibody subframe is about 1-1.5 inches deep so you can put the sf bar in there with no loss of GC. But the rear part of the unibody SF is only 1/4 so you arent able to add that part of the SFC without losing GC. i think angle iron like i was thikning would strengthen it if it is welded to the factory subframe. Then add the cross brace.
I disagree. i think the crossbrace will def help. On a unibody car there is lots of chassis flex..front to rear, side to side and corner to corner. Having additional bracing to hinder these movements would be a benefit. I agree the SFC itself would be the main part but the cross bar would give addded support. What would be nice would be to actually box the whole underside
The SFC then a bar in front fron left to right and then in rear left to right. Boxing it would tighten it right up. I think the rear could be done but in the front thee is to much stuff such as the exhaust

 

I think you need to go back to your statics classes and look at strengths of boxes vs. X'd boxes.
the cross bracing helps to reduce the torsional flex in the car, which is where most of the noticeable chassis flex is. simply putting a lateral bar across the front and rear of some angle iron isn't going to strengthen much. you're sticking a spaghetti noodle on top of a piece of lasagna.

 

Technically speaking of course.

 

Thats what i meant

the subframes
then a cross brace in the shape of a 6 point star such as WS's
the cross brace could be done out of ERW tubular steel or 1/2 inch solid square steel. I priced out the piping and i think it would come out to a little over a hundred so i think the premade from Ws or truax would be better as it just a weld in once you get it.

My other question MAtt is the stg 1 LTB. Im lowered on sprints and thats about a 2 inch drop. Have you heard of anyone running the ltb with sprints and if there was clearance problems?

If you were going to make SFC's on a budget and had someone that could weld them in how would you design them? I could do the SFC and then at a later time add the cross brace.

 

I know lots of people lowered more than 2" with the LTB and no problems. It's a matter of paying attention when you drive and not doing stupid s***.

If I were making SFCs on a budget, I'd save that money and put it to something more important in my life until I had enough cash tha tI didn't care about blowing it on an old car.

 

ok,cool. i def am **** about watching were my car goes on the road. Yea i know i should hold off on the SFC thats what my wife says. I cant help it i have a disease and cant stop modding, i need help haahah

 

I have Sprints and Blehmco LTB2. I also have the WSP SFC's with all the cross bracing. I have no problems. Of course, like Matt says, don't do stupid stuff when driving.

 

Jonman, what did you add 1st. the ltb or sfc. What i really would like to solve is the jumble up front when you go over uneven road surfaces. My rsb helps keep the rear flatter but the front has nothing helping it out. Since you ride on sprints like me and they are already a somewhat stiff spring, did the car get real harsh or feel better after adding the 2. Also if you were to do only 1 for now which one would you do, the SFC or LTB?

 

If you could only do 1, I'd go for the stage I SFCs over anything else. They're the best bang-for-buck chassis mod you can do.

 

see im having trouble figuring what to do for the time being..LTB or SFC hahaha. I read all the posts with ppl thta have the stag 2 ltb and all say its amazing. I also read that with the sfc also. so now i need to figure wich to do first.
Matt, a question for you. Like i stated i have someone that can weld and bend pipes. If i were to buy the pipes for the SFC ive read DOM tubing... but is there anything else thats cheaper. And ive read ppl use 1.5 inch x .09 tubing. Will 1 inch tubing work or is that to small. The 1 inch would be better 2 fold 1) for price and 2) for clearance..every little bit helps.

 

Every little bit in diameter helps for stiffness as well.
If you're going to all this trouble to increase chassis stiffness, don't use 1" pipe.

 

I wouldn't mind getting a set of SFCs from warpspeed but, the biggest fear I have about them is finding a competent shop to install them. My last shop screwed up the intall of LCAs. I may just get some fender braces and stage 1 LTB and call it a day.

 

Only trhing im concerned about is actually getting the SFC if i got them from WS. I have heard so many horror stories that it takes to long, ect to get them. I have someone to weld them no problem. I like hte way my car handles now. I have a progress RSB and have it set to as stiff as possible and if def helps in cornering and ride comfort. Im gonna get illuminas and that should help more but adding the SFC and LTB 2 should make my car exactly what i want it.

 

does anyone know if this bracket increases the stiffness of the chassis at all even if by a bit. i dont have this bracket. it looks like it did as there is a impression on the floor making it look like it was taken out

 

I did my LTB before I did the SFC's. I noticed after stiffening the suspension you could feel the body flex more. You even heard the flex in the doors, the seals would creak when going over uneven roadways. The SFC's made the whole car much more solid.

I had my SFC's from Warpspeed within 2 weeks and they were extremely easy to fit and weld in. I cannot imagine someone screwing them up.

 

how long have you hade the SFC. SO i assume you would say SFC first?

 

I installed my SFC's last spring and the LTB the year before that. Whatever you do first, SFC or LTB, it will only make you aware of what else is weak. That is how it all works, as you attack one weakness and strengthen that problem, other weaknesses become more known. The Maxima chassis is a noodle.

 

I had my own made custom and I lost little to no ground clearence and if I do scrape the SFCs act like a skid plate.

I have pics of the custom setup in my car domain page. And I created a thread talking about what type of tubing I used and thickness.

But to sum it up

90 wall DOM mild steel tubing, Migged in place with some paint to coat it and some 3m (only use 3m dont use the cheap stuff) rubberized undercoat.