Body brace thickness

[druggles85]

I was thinking of making some of the underhood braces. Not so worried about the rad to fender braces.

But with the rad support to cowl braces I had originally thought about making them way thicker than stock because they're long. Then I started thinking in a collision they might drive through the firewall and impale people.

So I guess what I really need to know is what the wall thickness of the factory braces is. Lol

Hopefully somebody has taken fairly rare factory parts and cut them in half.

 

[melloelky]

you're over thinking it,these are made from glorified conduit.in an accident of the nature you're referring to they'll fold like a card table..

 

[565bbchevy]

When I made my fender to core support braces I used 3/4" EMT and used the crimper I made for my press to finish the ends.
When I made my jounce and GP bars I used 3/4" Rigid pipe which is twice the thickness of the factory bars.

 

[druggles85]

you're over thinking it,these are made from glorified conduit.in an accident of the nature you're referring to they'll fold like a card table..

I was thinking of using 3/4" black steel pipe for the long braces. They might not bend as easily. LoL.

 

[druggles85]

When I made my fender to core support braces I used 3/4" EMT and used the crimper I made for my press to finish the ends.
When I made my jounce and GP bars I used 3/4" Rigid pipe which is twice the thickness of the factory bars.

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Yeah, I have the factory GP and jounce bars. They're so lightweight it's almost a joke. I wish my car was less of a project. It would be nice to see if there was a noticable improvement.

 

[565bbchevy]

Yeah, I have the factory GP and jounce bars. They're so lightweight it's almost a joke. I wish my car was less of a project. It would be nice to see if there was a noticable improvement.

I noticed an improvement on my Monte with the thicker bars I made especially when jacking up the front end with the big block in there.
You can see how much thicker mine are on the left compared to the factory one on the right, the OD is very close though.

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[druggles85]

They look awesome. Must tighten things up. The factory stuff is lightweight.

I only drove my car about 6 circles around the parking lot at work. I thought omg wtf did I buy. My car had been off the road for 20 years. The shocks were crap. The only factory bracing it had was the radiator X brace.

Huge difference now with the poly body mounts, new shocks, tubular rear arms with a swaybar. Aftermarket front swaybar, and the GP and Jounce bars in the front...

But that was a bunch of changes all at once and I feel like shocks probably made the biggest contribution.

 

[79 GP 4 speed]

I noticed an improvement on my Monte with the thicker bars I made especially when jacking up the front end with the big block in there.
You can see how much thicker mine are on the left compared to the factory one on the right, the OD is very close though.

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Have you ever thought about making and selling the thicker braces you made

 

[abbey castro]

Like the crimped ends. What does the home made crimper look like? Can you share, I would like to make my own GP Bar.

 

[fleming442]

Have you ever thought about making and selling the thicker braces you made

Or, even just the press dies.