akeizm Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Hey all, I had a search for carbon fibre strut tower bars in this section of the forum but didnt come up with much. Anyway I've seen these carbon fibre bars on ebay and I'm wondering would carbon fibre be fine to use as a strut tower bar? I'm looking at getting a set of them. Also quick question, can you use a rear strut tower bar out of a 240z in a 260z 2+2? Thanks, Marc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Carbon fiber tubes would work fine as strut tower bars as long as they are built to take tension and compression loads and have the mounting ends properly attached. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Why am I doubting that the ones you'd find on ebay are properly designed and constructed for this purpose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 You can buy structural thin wall CF tubes from McMaster-Carr. A 1.10" OD .05" wall tube has a flexture/tension strength of 174Ksi and a compression strength of 128Ksi which should be more then enough. The tubing costs $24.83 per foot. You do have to use diamond coated abrasive tools to cut it. The bar ends would need to be machined or built up via welding and then glued into the CF tubes with a very strong epoxy. Probably $300 for something built right. And, it would be no lighter then something made out of aluminum for about $125 less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hat1324 Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 sounds easyer to machine though.. welding aluminum isnt the easyest of all processes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 welding aluminum isnt the easyest of all processes Its all a matter of perspective. Being a welder that welds aluminum all the time, I'm thinking that building a part via welding is buttloads easier then trying to machine it, although I do have a small mill/lathe and am trying to learn how to use it correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Mileski Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Even a thin wall steel tube strut bar would only weigh a couple of pounds. Other than the bling factor, why would you want to spend a lot of bucks on a carbon fiber bar just to save a pound or two? Mike Mileski Tucson, AZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube80z Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Its all a matter of perspective. Being a welder that welds aluminum all the time, I'm thinking that building a part via welding is buttloads easier then trying to machine it, although I do have a small mill/lathe and am trying to learn how to use it correctly. Totally agree. Machining always takes ten times longer than you'd think. I resort to machining when I have no other choice. And that's probably why I'm so slow at it. But I have a friend that is very good and anything machine still takes a long time. Even fancy CNC tools are not as quick as you might think. Cary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dot Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Totally agree. Machining always takes ten times longer than you'd think. I resort to machining when I have no other choice. And that's probably why I'm so slow at it. But I have a friend that is very good and anything machine still takes a long time. Even fancy CNC tools are not as quick as you might think. Cary Same here. One hour to set up the machine. Two minutes to make or break the part in it. I think a CF bar would look nice. It would be a good area for experimentation because life goes on if the bar fails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akeizm Posted June 22, 2005 Author Share Posted June 22, 2005 Cool thanks for the reply guys. I guess its not really worth it anyway, I'll just look for some aluminum ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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