Who wants a 1G rear strur bar?

[Ralli///Art GS]

I'm considering a small buisness venture involving the manufacture of a good quality rear strut bar for the 1G DSM's. I'm interested to know how many of you would be interested in purchasing a rear strut bar and the maximum ammount of money you could justify spending on rear strut tower brace for your 1G. As you know there are not a whole lot of companys that produce affordable rear strut tower braces. Any and all feedback would be appreciated so I know if this would be worth it for me. Also if you could let me know what type of driving you do (street, spirited street, track, drag, road course, auto-X, rally, show, rice, etc.) I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[PaulPDX]

I'd be interested... how much would I pay? I can't really say right now being out of work and all. But, I know DSM'ers in general are pretty tight on how much they spend... especially for the 1G drivers (we're driving 1Gs for a reason, they're fast and cheap).

I don't know... If I had the $, I'd be willing to pay as much as $120 for a really really nice bar. But that's just me. When it comes to performance, I don't compromise... and I'm not likely to buy whatever is cheap when better can be had at a higher price. I'd rather save up and do things right the first time.

With that said... it'd be really cool if you can make the bar like this one for the VWs (I used to have one).

http://www.turn2usa.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=T&Product_Code=QRBAR

Obviously, the mounting brackets would have to be different. But the quick release feature is nice when you do need to carry long items in the back. Like skies, bikes, lumber, dead bodies... etc.

 

[Ralli///Art GS]

Thanks a lot for the feedback. The design I had in mind would be similar to that, the aluminum bar and the rod ends. I could make it easily removeable, just substitute the socket head cap screws for the pins, obviously there would have to be a tighter tolerance on the rod end/pin combo to prevent any unwanted play. I was concidering billet 7075 aluminum brackets for mounting them to the existing strut tower bolts. How much of a pain was it to install those brackets on the VW? Because a setup like that would be much more cost effective and just as functional as a billit aluminum bracket.

 

[PaulPDX]

The brackets for the VW require that you drill two small holes on the strut tower. I don't really like that method since it puts considerable stress on a very small area of the strut tower... but it's the only way it could be done on a GTI/Golf because of the rear suspension setup. There are no studs to bolt to.

If I'm not mistaken, the 1G DSM is different and has studs at the top of the strut tower, like the fronts. Mounting brakets like that are probably better.

One other suggestion... as an option, you can offer a second bar (see illustration) that could be bolted towards the back of the hatch area to triangluate the whole thing.

 

[Talon22Tsi]

Great idea Tom, I will help you out with the design and finding materials. We can use the shop at my old place or the shop at school, and I have a fwd & awd to test on I will talk to you more about this in person.