tie front and rear frame together?

[mobileaudio25]

Who has ran a bar from one side of the frame to the other side of the frame in the front or one in the rear to help tie the frame together? Ive seen a post or two on it but i was wondering where you guys are bolting the bars or steel?

I have radiator x bars, jounce bars, f41 sway bar, fender to core support and firewall to core support bars as well as a rear sway bar and back seat bars.

is there any more benefit to running a bar from side to side to tie the frame end together?

I want to make sure my car can hook up well (not a strip car). do all of these bars effect weight transfer or ability to hook up at all? I know they help with handeling. thanks

 

[ed1948]

Also interested in what the experts say.

 

[1evilregal]

I know alot of the guys on here are running frame mounted trailer hitches to eliminate frame twist, and just about all of them have said that they notice a difference. a few years back, one person made a square tube from one side to the other on the front frame horns, but I can't remember if he said they helped or not... I'm planning to make a variation of his idea, and make a bracket that wraps around (and bolts to)the frame horn/bumper shocks, and weld it to a square tube running across the gap. I figure considering the flimsy nature of our perimeter frames, anything will help out, and it will also serve a second purpose, as a mount for my engine and trans coolers.

 

[awdblazer]

i know when i put my rear bar in when i jack the car up from one side it will lift the opposite tire so seems pretty stiff to me

 

[Texas82GP]

The 'Grand Prix' bar ties the front frame rails together, just behind the core support. It's a popular upgrade on cars that don't have it from the factory. UMI sells a brace that includes it and the jounce bars in one single piece as well as others I believe.

 

[mobileaudio25]

The 'Grand Prix' bar ties the front frame rails together, just behind the core support. It's a popular upgrade on cars that don't have it from the factory. UMI sells a brace that includes it and the jounce bars in one single piece as well as others I believe.

Yeah I've seen the gP bars and the aftermarket ones they are just pretty expensive. I'm in the middle of redoing the whole front end suspension and a blazer brake upgrade with slotted and drilled rotors. Should be some huge upgrades. I've thought about welding a piece of steel to my jounce bars but it also seems pretty easy to run a metal bar from one side of the front frame horn to the other and drill a hold in the top of the frame and bolt it down ?

 

[mobileaudio25]

I know alot of the guys on here are running frame mounted trailer hitches to eliminate frame twist, and just about all of them have said that they notice a difference. a few years back, one person made a square tube from one side to the other on the front frame horns, but I can't remember if he said they helped or not... I'm planning to make a variation of his idea, and make a bracket that wraps around (and bolts to)the frame horn/bumper shocks, and weld it to a square tube running across the gap. I figure considering the flimsy nature of our perimeter frames, anything will help out, and it will also serve a second purpose, as a mount for my engine and trans coolers.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. My car is very solid given all of the bars I have on there but the only part that I think could use a little tie would be the front and rear frame horns... I'm thinking about running a bar across the front horns , drilling a hole in the frame and mounting it using the same hole you bolt the bounce bars too. What do you think about that?

 

[81msw79]

The after market front tie bar/jounce bars may seem expensive but are made with far superior stronger tubing making a noticable difference.umi also makes a rear shock tower tie bar too.

 

[UNGN]

A solid front body to frame mount and tying the front frames together will stiffen the front end up a lot.

None of this will hurt weight transfer too much. Using a hollow F-body sway bar would offset any weight gains.

For weight transfer at the track, remove the driver side swaybar link. Only takes a couple minutes.

 

[ed1948]

Lets discuss frame flex at the ends. I have some thoughts - don't know if they're correct.
While studying the Swarts(sp?)frame twist vid on youtub the ends of the frame move up and down diagonally opposite the other end. When they move up and down I think (maybe) they also twist a bit.(frame end moves up and twist inward) Picture the frame minus the front body stuff. If you were to weld a box type of bracket from the top to bottom of rails across to the other side it would 1) hold the rails at the same level and 2) prevent the rails end from twisting. Imagine a cardboard box without the ends - really floppy - look at the difference in rigidity when even just one open end is closed off. If the added cross bracket is the same height as the frame it would give the greatest torsional strength. I don't quite understand how a smaller tube or bar would help. I think it needs the same height or greater as the frame rail.
Not being an engineer I can't predict that stiffening up the front and rear will cause other problem somewhere else. I think a mod like this requires the frame to be totally boxed in in the C sections - that's the weak link, I think. Tell me where I'm totally out to lunch on this.
It might help to visualize this by picturing a frame made up of 2 x 4 lumber rails. What lumber do you need to add to stiffen the connections between the sides. Would a 2 x 2 tying the ends together be as strong as a 2 x 4 tying them together- I'd say 2 x 4 cross piece would give a more solid connection. How about a 2 x 6 going across attached to a 2 x 6 extension of the frame