I wanna stiffen my chassis

[-RJ-]

My friend stitch welded his hatch and I wanted to do the same thing. I just wanna know if anyone else has done this to their vert and if you notice anything?

Really I just want to get rid of the flexing noises when I go over a bump.

[mmm240]

Sounds like you have bad bushings. Replace those first.

[onosqv]

stitch welding your chassis to "get rid of the flexing noises when [you] go over a bump" is a bit extreme.

you want to compromise your safety - i.e. you are stitch welding crumple zones on a daily driver - because of some noises... yea, that's smart... up to you, but seriously.

I haven't stitch welded my vert, but I have installed a roll bar - not that good of an idea for a pure daily driver, but this has basically become my track car now as it was originally planned when bought. The roll bar alone fixed the flexiness in the chassis when going over railroad tracks; again, this is probably a bit extreme for you case unless you plan on tracking your vehicle regularly.

What suspension/chassis mods have you done already? strut bar? lower ladder bar? nismo power brace? bushings/arms? coilovers/springs & struts?

If you can reproduce the noises, I would suggest first finding out where in the chassis you are hearing the sounds.

There was also a thread either here or zilvia where the poster filled the holes/cavities of his 240 w/ structural foam & it got rid of all the little noises. Seems much less severe than stitch welding, but it's also basically permanent; moisture was brought up as a concern, but the few people who have done it have not had any problems (keeping in mind that these guys have only done it less than a year, iirc).

[EPD]

stitch welding wont compromise your crumple zones. a car will crumple regarless of some small sheet metal welds. The crumple zones are in the "frame" not the sheet metal.

also the foam is a waste of time. it wont stiffen your ride unless you buy the industrial foam. most of the guys who are doing that are using the "great stuff" foam that you can buy at home depot. That stuff is used for all kinds of crap but i wouldnt use it for chassis strengthening.

some coilovers or something of that nature and bushings would probably do you better. also tightening down all you panels would help too. Your car is missing the top, you cant stop all the flex with out some serious bracing. sorry bro, its the curse of a vert.

[onosqv]

In that case, stitch weld away!

Still something I see as too permanent for a daily driver.

[EPD]

most definitely too much for a daily. I plan on doing it to my vert and my 7 but my vert is already caged.

[-RJ-]

heh that was one thing i was worried about as far as safety goes, but i do plan on tracking my car. Comfort never really bothered me because I grew up riding in modded cars anyway. My plan was to just do stitch weld on the rear, i figured since that would stiffen the chassis it would make it easier to drift.

[guyaverage]

A good strut bar will tighten up the front end quite nicely. I am using some $8 eBay cheapo from 5 years ago and I cant believe how much it tightened things up.

[GoinTopless240]

You can always replace the sub-frame bushings with some solid ones or if you completely want to go overboard you can replace them with solid metal ones. I think http://www.rhdjapan.com/jdm-lo...27480 this is a link to the URAS SuperPineapple Sub frame spacers. The metal ones are here http://www.rhdjapan.com/jdm-lo...51473. Here is a link to the NISMO Power Brace 2 http://www.rhdjapan.com/jdm-lo...20980. I also stumbled upon this item for my car as well.. still looking into it http://www.rhdjapan.com/jdm-lo...50942. There are tons of ways to stiffen up the car. Just because it's a vert doesn't make it a lost cause like everyone thinks. A roll bar (full halo) will basically put the roof back on...sorta. It would lock the A,B and C pillars back together in a way, but takes the fun out of having a vert. Without addressing the stuff that the other guys mentioned (roll bars, stiffer bushings..etc.) the stitch welding will produce small returns and may even break from the flexing (read. Address the suspension first, then stitch weld). Good luck on makin her "stiff".

[-RJ-]

thanks for the info, i was always wondering about those metal subframe bushings. I guess ill get those as well in my mission to "stiff her up"

[110octane]

Do yourself a favor and use the urethane inserts. The solid units tend to lead to broken axels and unnecessary wear and tear on your drivetrain under hard driving. I learned this the hard way! I replaced my solid ones with urethane and the problem has gone away.

The solid pieces are also terribly uncomfortable during daily driving.

These are the JAM! http://www.peak-performance.ne...2/58/