ram bar/bash bar

[jackal264]

i did some searching but havn't bee able to find anything of substance but are people doing anythign special with their tubular rebar to prevent energy transfer to the frame in an impact? ie crumple zone?

all the builds i've found people just build it big and comprehensive but i've seen it in person where a front right impact f-ed my friends whole frame because it transfered the impact from the right to the left and bent both frame rails.

i've been tossing ideas around in my head but i would love some input. i've thought of a tube in a tube and you just tack in in there so in a impact it can compress. or just making the mounting brackets out of a thin gauge so it can fall apart.

any ideas would be great

[PoorMans180SX]

The idea is to make it big and strong so it bends LESS. This is not for crash/driver safety really, it's to minimize damage to the car so it's easier to repair. If you want to have a crumple zone, leave the stock bumper support in and your front end stock. 240's are great a crumpling in the front to absorb impact energy, hahaha. Trying to design a tube structure that crumples and "saves" your car is a HUGE task.

If you want to build a good strong front end, there should be tubes running from the firewall, through the strut towers, and down to the frame rails, and then a big bash bar built off the front frame rails. See Dai's S13 or most of the other professional drift cars for ideas.

[thefro526]

Most Bash Bars people have been building are actually stronger than the points they attach to - which is why it's not uncommon to see a car that's been in a pretty bad crash to have an undamaged (or at least relative to the rest of the car) bash bar and a mangled frame.

The bash bar is really to protect during low energy collisions where the stock bumper would protect your front end. A bash bar is usually used where the stock bumper support is not acceptable due to Aesthetics, Space Constraints, Extra support needs, FMIC clearance, etc.

[jackal264]

Most Bash Bars people have been building are actually stronger than the points they attach to - which is why it's not uncommon to see a car that's been in a pretty bad crash to have an undamaged (or at least relative to the rest of the car) bash bar and a mangled frame.



this is exactly what i want to avoid.

i've looked at a lot of fd cars but most of them have tubed from ends making replacing the whole front end much simpler. iirc dai's car has a quick change front end or maybe it was a rear end.