GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I wanted to get some opinions on my design. I am using 1" square tube made from steel. I will be attaching it to the firewall for increased stiffening.

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I have no engineering background at all but that looks pretty dang stout!

Cool! My only concern is attaching stuff to the firewall. You may need to add a re-enforcing plate to the firewall where you attach your strut bar

Quote, originally posted by rmckinjr »Cool! My only concern is attaching stuff to the firewall. You may need to add a re-enforcing plate to the firewall where you attach your strut bar That is a good idea It would be easy to make a plate to go on the other side of the strut brace behind the firewall. Thanks for the idea!I hope to get this all welded up and painted this weekend. i will post pics as I go!

Using 1" with that design it seems like your adding a lot of weight. Are you adding box tubing or bar? What wall thickness?

After looking at the design for the last couple of days I was thinking the same thing. The Industrial Hardware store had some smaller square tube I am going to go look at after work this morning. Because I am essentially running two of the tubes across I think I can go bit smaller and still get a very stiff brace. I am also looking at a few variations of my design. I am trying to combine the DC brace and the triangular brace you see on the EVO and the Alltrac. Thanks for the ideas guys!Here is a design I worked on today.

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Here is another concept. It is very similar to the previous one without all the bracing in the middle.

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Post up a pic of the 2 designs your looking at. I can do a quick 3D model to show you how it may look when completed.

Here is the DC sports strut brace: Here is the Evo Strut brace:

Thats actually not too bad. I can def see the concepts your thinking now. The third one looks just like the evo one. But I think a combo of option 1 and 3 would be the best. Are you going to use steel or aluminum?

I wouldn't attach it to the firewall if I was you.. You are just asking for trouble... The vibe flexes like a wet noodle, you'll end up folding the firewall, as it's not designed for it like the EVO is (and I've seen a similar bar in person, but it was the Ti version)There is a reason MOST bars aren't triangulated in this area... not being an engineer here "could" potentially net you problems you hadn't anticipated..

Just an update I will be fabricating and welding this beast up on Friday Morning. I decided not to attach it to the fire wall as there really just is not enough room. I may do a 4 point with tubing going to the front corners of the engine compartment. Design concept to follow....

I would stay away from the fire wall. here are some pic's of the one I made for my car.

That is beautiful work bro! Steel mounts with aluminum cross brace, nice design. I will probably use the existing strut top bracket as well for mine. Still not 100% sure on which design I will use, I have a good mechanic and welder who is going to help me fab it up. I am going to rely on his input for the final design. I wont have time to paint it tomorrow but I will probably do that on saturday. This raw steel will rust bad!

Quote, originally posted by mac99d »I would stay away from the fire wall. here are some pic's of the one I made for my car.Metal work, sharp instruments possibly welding and sandals........ OSHA approved..

LOL