s13 coupe trunk brace brainstorm!!!!

[nightsleek240coupe]

today when i was waiting for my air compresser to fill up so i can start hacking at the sound material(which is almost done btw),i was looking in my trunk and thinking about a s13 hatch miracle cross bar and how coupes don't have a option to run that item,so i decided to think up my own crossbar just for s13 coupes. i didn't think to take pics of my trunk so i got pic's of someone elses trunk.

i looked in my trunk for a while thinking of mounting locations and a came across 2 10mm bolts at the far end of the trunk near the tail lights and 4 plastic clips were bolts can be placed.parts circled in red.(some clips are out of the picture)

so after thinking of diffrent designs for the brace,this is what i came up on. the base of the brace will be like a gt-spec s13 trunk brace coming over the spare tire whell in a x formation and then the top part of the x formation will be braced with a straight bar then 2 bars going to a rear strut bar ( made out of dom tubing)

it will take some trial and error and a lot of measurements,but i want to get it done right and hopefully make a few more to sell.what do you guys think?any sudgestions?

btw here are s13 chassis scematics for people that want to make chassis bracing or if you just need them.

[BrianHarte]

Pretty neat, BUT it seems to take up a LOT of room in the trunk. Will wheels still fit back there?

[nightsleek240coupe]

yeah they might thats why i want the main part to sit very low so i can fit at least 2 wheels in the trunk and 2 wheels behind the driver and passenger seats.so you don't think i'm crazy for the idea?

[Thoughtful_One]

Is your brace trying to eliminate chassis torsion? If that's the case, I can't see that brace doing anything.

Road loads are coming in from the shocks, and setting up braces the way you did won't be doing much.

If I were you, I would modify your rear strut bar so it acts like the Cusco one with the triangulation under the bar, bolting into the body of the car. Then, have two braces cross and bolt into the two top left red cirlces you drew. That's how I would do it.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

Looks a little overkill to me. I would think the bar type brace like you have or the triangle type would be sufficient enough. Btw, don't flame on my terms idk what the exact name is lol.

[burntricer]

dont those bolts you speak of hold your gas tank straps??

[breadbox]

If I were you, I would modify your rear strut bar so it acts like the Cusco one with the triangulation under the bar, bolting into the body of the car. Then, have two braces cross and bolt into the two top left red cirlces you drew.

Can you draw that in paint?

[nightsleek240coupe]

Is your brace trying to eliminate chassis torsion? If that's the case, I can't see that brace doing anything.

Road loads are coming in from the shocks, and setting up braces the way you did won't be doing much.

If I were you, I would modify your rear strut bar so it acts like the Cusco one with the triangulation under the bar, bolting into the body of the car. Then, have two braces cross and bolt into the two top left red cirlces you drew. That's how I would do it.

the brace seems like a little overkill but i was trying to create something that will distribute some of the force evenly throughout the trunk ,it whould be something similar to a design of a passwordjdm ek civic trunk brace(i know it's ff) or a works9 evo trunk brace.

evo works9 brace:

EK civic brace:

and about your design Thoughtful_One. it's a good idea to make a cusco triangular strut brace with more renforcment.is this what you were talking about?

[Crazyirish]

Not to discourage any ideas, but keep in mind that the reason that particular item is made for hatchbacks only is because they have 0 structural metal in that region. (Just a big ole piece of glass) whereas the coupe is actually pretty well reinforced in that area.

[BrianHarte]

I would make it a point to bolt this into the 4 bolts that hold in the bumper reinforcement.

[White Comet]

dont those bolts you speak of hold your gas tank straps??

no, those bolts don't come through into the hatch area at all

[mrgreeneyes]

your plan is to anchor to 4 points that just have plastic inserts, as an item of structural integrity?

no. just no. rethink this long and hard.

i cant begin to express how much of a waste this idea is.

bolt to rear bumper bolts, strut tower bolts, even those two sneaky ones on the inner walls of the trunk sides. but NOT into plastic inserts...