georigg Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Aerotops tend to show a bit of skuttle shake with the roof off, so I would appreciate anyone's experience of the effectiveness of fitting a strut bar to minimise this. Opinions and comments would be appreciated. Rgds georigg '95 JZA80 Aero in Silver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colsoop Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 I don't know about the effective ness of strut bars, but something like this may be a better bet: http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=142143 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ark Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Worked a treat on my old one - front and rear braces from Carbing. Avoid ones like the Cusco with hinged ends, they make a massive weak point in the brace. Mine stopped shaking completely, very noticable up to and including track day usage. Obviously you wouldn't go topless on track, but you could still tell the difference. I suspect the difference would be more subtle on a hard top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 (edited) Here are few of the products I'd recommend. Do Luck Rear Tension Set http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/4351/picture4vj9.png http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/9689/attachmentphpbo9.jpg http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/8062/attachment1phpvb8.jpg http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/9049/attachment2phphk9.jpg http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/3632/attachment3phppb4.jpg Carbing Mid Floor Brace http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/8638/cimg0001pz2.jpg Carbing Front Strut Brace http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6645/18616394351ms3.jpg Carbing Rear Strut Brace http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/7824/p3150092zg3.jpg http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/6907/p3310126oh5.jpg http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/1845/p3310127yd8.jpg Carbing Member Brace Set http://www.okuyama-go.to/products/other/image/240/member/6710140.jpg Carbing Floor Support http://www.okuyama-go.to/products/floor/image/240/1000140.jpg Edited June 27, 2008 by Nic (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I do hope that's based on the poster's request for "experience of the effectiveness" my dear Nic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I do hope that's based on the poster's request for "experience of the effectiveness" my dear Nic Absolutely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Suprafly Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 The first Supra I had was an aerotop, I fitted a front and rear strut bars to try to counteract the scuttle-shake, they do reduce but you won't completely be rid of it, I noticed I still had a very finely vibrating rear view in the mirror, you'll know what I mean. For the money you'll spend on front and rear bars it's well worth it, and improves the handling too, feels more ridgid and steady. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 For the money you'll spend on front and rear bars it's well worth it, and improves the handling too, feels more ridgid and steady. Choice of braces is a factor, a welded brace will be more structurally rigid compared to a brace with bolted brackets. The Do Luck and Carbing rear braces (identical products, Carbing make the braces for Do Luck) are the only welded rear braces I know of. These also have 2 additional mounting points that bolt to the chassis cross member (see pic posted above). Carbing and TRD are the only front braces I know of that are welded construction. These will give much better results, a cheap ebay special is likely to make no noticeable difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy-m2 Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I noticed a massive differnece (non areo) with the Carbing rear brace - was fiddly to fit through the carpet but is realy good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Suprafly Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Choice of braces is a factor, a welded brace will be more structurally rigid compared to a brace with bolted brackets. The Do Luck and Carbing rear braces (identical products, Carbing make the braces for Do Luck) are the only welded rear braces I know of. These also have 2 additional mounting points that bolt to the chassis cross member (see pic posted above). Carbing and TRD are the only front braces I know of that are welded construction. These will give much better results, a cheap ebay special is likely to make no noticeable difference. Yeah what he said, steer clear of the cheap fleebay jobbies, you'll be wasting your hard earned, trust me I've been there and got the T-shirt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 The aero does have some extra bracing already (see pic). One of the local guys I spoke to (He builds cages for various different motorsports) said front or rear braces alone would do very little to stiffen the chassis. The ONLY way to make a real difference is to add strenght across the roof, i.e a full weld in cage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyT Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Worked a treat on my old one - front and rear braces from Carbing. Avoid ones like the Cusco with hinged ends, they make a massive weak point in the brace. Mine stopped shaking completely, very noticable up to and including track day usage. Obviously you wouldn't go topless on track, but you could still tell the difference. I suspect the difference would be more subtle on a hard top. Which, being a engineer, I should have thought of before buying you'd think. Dang it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 The aero does have some extra bracing already (see pic). One of the local guys I spoke to (He builds cages for various different motorsports) said front or rear braces alone would do very little to stiffen the chassis. The ONLY way to make a real difference is to add strenght across the roof, i.e a full weld in cage. Or across the floor in the midsection ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Or across the floor in the midsection ? He said floor bracing wouldn't make any difference, only bars across the roof would make any real difference. (see pic, dotted line was where he also recommended a brace is put, but this might not be ideal for a daily driver! Red dots are where it would be welded to the shell) I appreciate this isn't inline with everyones experience.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pabs Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 how easy is it to fit the rear brace then? Does it fit using factory bolting points etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ark Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 how easy is it to fit the rear brace then? Does it fit using factory bolting points etc? Easy - the Carbing uses existing bolt points. However, you need to strip the boot interior, back seats and rear side panels to get to all of them easily. And you need to trim the panels to make them all fit again...in summary it's easy to fit, but time consuming if you want everything to fit back perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 He said floor bracing wouldn't make any difference, only bars across the roof would make any real difference. (see pic, dotted line was where he also recommended a brace is put, but this might not be ideal for a daily driver! Red dots are where it would be welded to the shell) I appreciate this isn't inline with everyones experience.. If I had the attached roof brace, finished in matt black, and it was installed neatly, mounted behind the front seats (obviously, away from the roof), then I wouldn't have a real problem with that being there if it improved the 'roof out' handling of the car. IMO of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pabs Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I've always thought I'd put a cage or something similar to the above in, but I didn't realise it affected the insurance so much... not everyone insures a car with a rollcage it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georigg Posted March 24, 2008 Author Share Posted March 24, 2008 Thanks Guys, As is usual for this board, great advice available and freely given! Since my car is mainly for pleasure, I'll forgo the full roll cage, but the info from Homer is interesting, I didnt know about the extra stiffening in the Aero and many thanks to Ark for his photos and the Carbring info. Ive always been a little suspicious of the Ebay £29.99 specials, they looked more like having appearance value rather than real effectiveness! Looks like I will fit a Carbring front, followed by a back stiffener and then maybe consider the floor mounted one as it looks like it can be fitted without intruding into the passenger space. Again, many thanks to all, Rgds George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 ... the floor mounted one as it looks like it can be fitted without intruding into the passenger space. Is what I would have too, but only if that didn't affect insurance premiums, like the rollcage would! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pabs Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 I'd definately consider the rear carbing brace - need to look into costs etc - but I can't really see the floor brace doing much... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supraGZaerotop Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 (edited) Aerotops tend to show a bit of skuttle shake with the roof off, so I would appreciate anyone's experience of the effectiveness of fitting a strut bar to minimise this. Opinions and comments would be appreciated. Rgds georigg '95 JZA80 Aero in Silver. when i first took off my aerotop i was shocked at just how terrible it felt, my mate had always said that they were bad. dont get me wrong i love it with the roof off with the nice weather. if you live in an area where there are really nice good condition roads then it feels ok, i find if you are on uneven roads and turning in alot roundabouts etc you can really feel it shake, im definatly going to be doing the carbing braces soon, as i find it quite off putting to drive with all that shake going on. Edited June 15, 2008 by supraGZaerotop (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georigg Posted May 22, 2008 Author Share Posted May 22, 2008 I didnt realise this thread was still "active" and having just fitted a Carbring front strut(courtesy of Nic at ImportPimp(hope I got the handle right Nic!), there is a marked change to the handling. Just for info, I also changed out the suspension for UK spec but did this in stages, changing out the shocks first(big improvement as I didnt realise the rears were K-nackered!), then changed the rear springs, road tested the car, then the front springs, another road test and then fitted the front strut. With the UK spec springs the harshness in the suspension set-up has been "smoothed out" and the car is not just so hard when running on non-motorway road surfaces. With the front strut fitted & roof on it is smoother still and with the roof off, the "skuttle shake" is significantly reduced and it is now much smoother on "A" roads. Incidentally, when renewing the rear shocks, I noticed that my Aerotop has a 4mm thick strenghening plate across the rear turrets and bolted to the floor......similar to a rear brace. It looks like it is a standard fitment rather than an after-market item and I know from prior requests for info that the AEROTOP has additional plates fitted to the chassis to increase the body stiffness, over the standard car. Hope above helps anyone with an aerotop. Rgds George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ark Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 Incidentally, when renewing the rear shocks, I noticed that my Aerotop has a 4mm thick strenghening plate across the rear turrets and bolted to the floor......similar to a rear brace. It looks like it is a standard fitment rather than an after-market item and I know from prior requests for info that the AEROTOP has additional plates fitted to the chassis to increase the body stiffness, over the standard car. Hope above helps anyone with an aerotop. Rgds George Those braces are standard on hardtops too. You need to remove them to make a rear brace fit properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supraGZaerotop Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 (edited) is it worth doing the rear brace because its suppose to be build like a tank anyway. will def do the front carbing one thats for sure and take it from there. maybe change out the suspension Edited June 15, 2008 by supraGZaerotop (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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