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Alright guys, I've been bitten by the suspension bug. I'm in the process of installing GR2 struts (finally found a shop that will let me install them with their tools). I got whiteline front endlinks, and now I'm thinking about strut tower bars.

As far as the rear goes, it looks like it would be a pain to install one, and I think there's a better solution. I remember back in one of my Sport Compact Car magazines, they decided to stiffen up the rear of a SE-R by making an "IKEA" brace.

The concept was similar to cheap IKEA bookshelves, there's a flimsy piece of cardboard nailed to the back of the bookshelf to prevent it from colapsing on it's side. So it was applied to the car.

Since I don't have fold down rear seats, but there's a big hole behind there, what if a sheet of metal was tac welded over that hole? Wouldn't that be a bit more effective than a strut tower bar by reducing the amount of flex even more? I could also see it being added for a lot cheaper than the price of a nice rear bar. Weight might be an issue, so it might have to be a really thin sheet of metal.

On paper it sounds like a good idea, but what do you guys think? I've thought about giving it a try.

My bar cost about $50. I have a wagon, though, so instal was nothing. Not sure about handling since I don't think the tires stick well enough to take advantage, but it did eliminate a couple squeaks.

my bar was like $35 shipped, and it takes like 2 minutes to take out the back seat. Actually I just took mine out to measure some stuff. Now I'm going to drive around without rear seats for awhile (uh, for the weight savings...)

I feel like it would be a lot more work to weld in an entire sheet of metal. You'd also have to cut it to the right shape and make it fit and all that.

the rear strut bar isnt too bad. it'll just take a lot longer to do. you have to have a lot of patience as well, because there is very little room to ratchet/wrench. i got the ebay front and rears and they work fine.

you guys were able to put a rear brace in a sedan? if so were you able to keep the rear seats in? any pictures?

I wouldn't dismiss the idea of adding a rear strut bar, but I was wondering if it wasn't the best solution. Like with the front bar, wouldn't it work better if it wasn't just holding two flimsy towers together but rather bracing them both together and then to the firewall?

I know that with this way there is some minor fabrication involved, and that those ebay impreza bars bolt in, but I'm just open for a better way.

If your plate is to be lighter than the strut bar it wont be rigid enough to offset the weight difference. Also, bracing that part isn't the same as bracing the two mounts. That said, ebay bars are crap, and not worth the money. Only put em on if they're free I say. Save the money for a quality bar.

Why isn't it the same as bracing the two towers? Those towers tie into where the piece would be welded. Bracing wouldn't be added at the exact point of flex (that would only be accomplished at the ends of the strut mounts) but it's pretty close, and would have to add a fair amount of stiffness, no?

I agree that ebay braces are crap, but they do have potential. If you could add some extra stiffness to them, and tie them into more of the body, I could see them really working.

theres already a strut bar if you don't have fold down seats. Its there to keep the junk in the trunk from visiting your passengers.

Factory springs and Gr2's aren't gonna transfer that much energy to the chassis anyway; many many better places to invest your energy.

they work fine for me. made them the stiffest i could.

i took the rear seat out of mines. its easy to do though. i had to take apart the strut bar into 3 pieces so i could get everything in place.

if you really want to weld you could just weld a bar between the towers.

The BE/BH moved to a rear multilink suspension, so the STB I'm getting actually mounts to the floor of the trunk, where the tops of the rear shocks are. When I was at Prova in 2001, I saw this thing:



It seemed to be a fiberglass or dry cf brace that was meant to increase the rigidity of the rear by ting up some of the parts. Kinda interesting, but I'm not sure how effective it'd be.

n2x4 wrote:Why isn't it the same as bracing the two towers? Those towers tie into where the piece would be welded. Bracing wouldn't be added at the exact point of flex (that would only be accomplished at the ends of the strut mounts) but it's pretty close, and would have to add a fair amount of stiffness, no?

It's not the same because it's not the same. Yes it will be more rigid in the back, but it wont be the same as using a bar.

THAWA wrote:If your plate is to be lighter than the strut bar it wont be rigid enough to offset the weight difference. Also, bracing that part isn't the same as bracing the two mounts. That said, ebay bars are crap, and not worth the money. Only put em on if they're free I say. Save the money for a quality bar.

huh? It's not like a whole lot of engineering needs to go into these things. My rear ebay bar fits very well and I don't see how some $300 cusco bar is going to be much better.

You're more than welcome to put a quality bar in and compare.

I was skeptical too, but not anymore.

Hardy's right about the ebay bars. I had to bend the plate in the rear to get it to fit.

Is it better then nothing....can't hurt. Does it really help...I don't know. But as Scott mentioned, a first gen legacy sedan really probably doesn't need a brace.

I got a Cusco knock off for $50. Had the Cusco, but sent it back to Cobb as it came scratched to hell. No difference except the actual Cusco bar has a shallow longitudinal groove on the ends of the oval section. I preloaded the generic bar and could hear the chassis flex. Not all Ebay bars are crap. I'd avoid those $10 welded steel ones. I have one of those on the front.