sway bar upgrades

[Christ]

As far as the A6 motor, I'm not sure what I'll do with it... probably build a stroker and put it on something other than a Honda. like a Go-Kart.

Uber-fuckin' Pimp.

[Tony]

The way we did mine was we cut the stock tow hooks to give us a flat surface to weld to, because the hitch I had gotten wasn't wide enough we used 3" angle iron to extend the ends of it, and then welded the angle to the tow hooks(with gussets ofcourse).

As far as worrying about the weight on those "3 little holes", I wouldn't worry about it. They are tow hooks and just one side can withstand the weight of the car plug a lot extra...add the other side to that and your set....plus they are in the hat rails under the car.

I had originally thought about doing it your way, but this was much easier, and I don't need my tow hooks anymore as long as the hitch is on the car because it has hooks.

[Christ]

Yes, those locations are capable of withstanding that load in a shear fashion.. they're not meant to have pressure put on them vertically though.

Add about 350lbs to a 2 foot lever whose fulcrum happens to be that mount point, and something bad could happen.

Thats' why I'm doing it the way I am, not to mention that if I put the hitch all the way back on the tow hooks, I'd have to extend the mounts even more so that the receiver would stick out far enough to actually haul anything.

I wasn't concerned about looks, so we just rough-welded everything together w/ 10k lb sticks and 1/4" plate... had to drop the main bar 4" from the mount, so we added in a 2x4x1/4 plate on each side, and took 4.5 inches off each side of the original hitch, bringing it 8.5 inches closer end to end (1/4" plates) and 4" lower than original, to make up for the trunk pan.

I'm going to keep using this one until I get near a tubing bender again, then I'll actually make one, and get it certified.. 2" tube w/ mandrel bends and slide-in mounts so it's easily removable if necessary, 2" Square w/ re-enforcement tabs welded at the middle with lock rings and gussets, and you've got a class 3 hitch.

[FrodoGT]

Ok so then your fine.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by FrodoGT

Ok so then your fine.

Pretty much, yeah. lol

I'm waiting on a reply from that kid about the sway bars... he'll probably email me back tomorrow... I'm supposed to meet him this weekend for the trade.

I may also have that A6 sold, since some other guy just bought a CRX Si w/ a HF motor in it lol.

Told him to get me a B18/B20 or give me $300 for it, no intake, no header. $400 w/ the intake and header. or $200 and his old engine for it, cuz I can use the HF motor for other stuff.

[FrodoGT]

Originally Posted by Dr0pZ0n3

cuz I can use the HF motor for other stuff.

Like holding a door open..

[Christ]

Lol... nah, I can use it for a generator/compressor motor for my dad.. since it makes it's peak torque so low in the RPM range, it will be perfect for a generator which doesn't need to spin that fast to make it's power... it will also be perfect for a compressor, since it's go so much torque compared to a standard 2 cylinder engine, and it will work in it's peak torque range which is less than half of the redline of the engine.


It just never made sense to use it as a car motor... they could have easily used the D15B1/2 and added the HF injection on it.

[Tony]

Originally Posted by Dr0pZ0n3

Yes, those locations are capable of withstanding that load in a shear fashion.. they're not meant to have pressure put on them vertically though.

Add about 350lbs to a 2 foot lever whose fulcrum happens to be that mount point, and something bad could happen.

Thats' why I'm doing it the way I am, not to mention that if I put the hitch all the way back on the tow hooks, I'd have to extend the mounts even more so that the receiver would stick out far enough to actually haul anything.

I wasn't concerned about looks, so we just rough-welded everything together w/ 10k lb sticks and 1/4" plate... had to drop the main bar 4" from the mount, so we added in a 2x4x1/4 plate on each side, and took 4.5 inches off each side of the original hitch, bringing it 8.5 inches closer end to end (1/4" plates) and 4" lower than original, to make up for the trunk pan.

I'm going to keep using this one until I get near a tubing bender again, then I'll actually make one, and get it certified.. 2" tube w/ mandrel bends and slide-in mounts so it's easily removable if necessary, 2" Square w/ re-enforcement tabs welded at the middle with lock rings and gussets, and you've got a class 3 hitch.

Well I understand it since your hooks are a little further back, but seriously, the bracing that is in those 3 bolt holes will withstand whatever you want to put on it....unless your just trying to break the damn thing. Hell that little crappy hook in the middle, you know the one on the spare tire well? It can withstand a hell of a lot more than I would have thought, its what I hooked to to tow a 1 ton truck...I did expect it to be bent some afterwards, but it was perfectly fine. Have a little more faith in these things...I'm here to test the shit out in ways they were never meant to be tested.

[Christ]

Trust me... you're not beating your car like I do. I push trucks around with my bumpers... I haul engines in my trunk, I've used my car to haul materials, supplies, furniture, I've used it as a moving van 3 times, I race it, I drive 1000 miles a week or more at times, I've used it to drag logs up the road at my dad's house (using that puny hook in the middle, which is why I removed the other two... didn't need them.)

I'm well aware of what our cars are capable of, given a capable operator... (I say operator b/c "drivers" don't do to their cars what you and I do.)

I also understand what forces things were designed to take, and try desperately not to introduce stresses that they weren't designed for, unless necessary. (Oh yeah, it gets necessary sometimes.)

The coolest thing I've ever done with my car is pulled a Cat 450 w/ a K19 Roadmaster tranny attached to it... used a block and pulley, put a 3,000 lb chain through it, and attached it to the motor/tranny on the frame, hooked three pieces of chain to the other end, using a large 1,500 lb test "unilink" (some people call them monkey links, they're a link w/ a screw closure on them). We then bolted the 3 chain ends to the car

One to each stock bumper tie-in at the rear of the car, using plates that we made in about 15 mins each, and one to the puny tow hook in the middle. This was to help evenly distribute the force across the whole rear end of the car... we were hoping that either it would come up, or the whole back of the car would come off, in which case we'd just weld a CRX ass on it, and laugh like drunken idiots.

In all seriousness, I didn't think it was going to come up for a sec... but as soon as I got enough balls to just give it some gas and slip the clutch slightly, it went... up, up, up. Moved the frame out of the way, and brought the dolly over while it was being held up by my brakes, then I just started to let off the brakes to lower it into place.

All in all, it was awesome. But I don't think I'd do it that way again.

In hindsight, it doesn't seem nearly as safe as it could have been.