Building my own braces toss me a bone

[miller11386]

I know this great company that sells them... painted and everything!!!

[gladmaker]

Originally Posted by miller11386

I know this great company that sells them... painted and everything!!!

I agree with you that they are a great company and I have both braces on my car.
But if you work at a company that gives you the material for free and lets you make them on the job, why not make them yourself?
Most of us don't have the material or the equipment available to make them for a reasonable cost. I couldn't begin to make them for what I paid DDM.

[A14]

Originally Posted by gladmaker

I agree with you that they are a great company and I have both braces on my car.
But if you work at a company that gives you the material for free and lets you make them on the job, why not make them yourself?
Most of us don't have the material or the equipment available to make them for a reasonable cost. I couldn't begin to make them for what I paid DDM.

The issue is he doesn't have aluminum or a cnc/water jet.
So in reality he should just buy the DDM backbone.

[Leppyxr2]

I dont need a cnc i build stuff our of metal on a regular basis, i built the lv brace free hand, i built a stinger front bumper and a light bar that mounts to the windshield with 96 3 watt leds for my jeep, similar bumpers on ebay go for $300-$500 and i built it for free, the light bar i built is comprable to some i have seen sell for $2000 and i only have about $300 in it, both survived a rollover without a scratch, dont mistake me for a thight wad, i dont mind spending money on something if i want it, i just really like building things myself if i can, sure it would be nice to have a water jet but i dont need one and it kinda takes the fun out of it

[Leppyxr2]

My plan for now with the back bone is this, i have two 1/8" pieces of stainless steel, im gonna cut them both out to fit the car, 1 is going on the car with the stock piece, the other i will save as a template to use when i find my free chunk of at least 3/8" aluminum, if my car gets to the 350-400whp before i get it i will order a 1/2" one from ddm

[40rty]

Interesting

[Leppyxr2]

Put my homade lv brace on yesterday, it fit well, took it out for a drive today and wow, feels like a completely different ca,r cant wait to get the back bone done

[gladmaker]

Originally Posted by Leppyxr2

Put my homade lv brace on yesterday, it fit well, took it out for a drive today and wow, feels like a completely different ca,r cant wait to get the back bone done

Did you paint it and put your name on it like DDM does?

[LoJac963]

this just showed up at my door:



1/2" thick extreme. It was in the garage sale, DDM accepted $100 offer so that was one hell of a deal. The description said it was in their showroom and never installed however the top does have some pretty good scratched in the PC which I'm not thrilled about. I guess I would have it re-PCed or just rattle can it.

The bare aluminum will be fine though so I may just leave it.

[Leppyxr2]

Next week it will go threw powder coat at work wait on a few parts still

Lojac thats a smoken deal, with any luck once you install it you will never see it again i wouldn't worry about it

[lllfly]

Every year when I hand wax under my SKY I see it.
LLLFLY

[miller11386]

Originally Posted by LoJac963

this just showed up at my door:



1/2" thick extreme. It was in the garage sale, DDM accepted $100 offer so that was one hell of a deal. The description said it was in their showroom and never installed however the top does have some pretty good scratched in the PC which I'm not thrilled about. I guess I would have it re-PCed or just rattle can it.

The bare aluminum will be fine though so I may just leave it.

Dont get too caught up in the paint job. The chassis flex on the bolts tears up the powdercoat pretty well. I would bolt it up and run it. You will be amazed how much it helps the car!

[GS Stage 1]

Originally Posted by lllfly

Every year when I hand wax under my SKY I see it.
LLLFLY

[Leppyxr2]

Originally Posted by lllfly

Every year when I hand wax under my SKY I see it.
LLLFLY

Wow larry you realy baby that thing, if you ever decide to sell it i call dibbs, most people don't do that kinda upkeep on their ride

[Leppyxr2]

Took off the stock back bone today, i thick this thing has seen some gravel roads cause is had a lot of dust under it

A few of you mentioned how flimsy this thing was but holy crap, ive seen cardboard bend less than this thing