I’m hoping to start up a conversation on chassis reinforcements, seeing what you people have done to your cars for reinforcements, looking for feedback, negative or positive.
There are many types of chassis reinforcement sold for the 240sx:
Fender Brace
Tension support bar
Strut bar (front & back)
Sway bars
There are many more I’m hoping you guys can help with, by sharing your info and experience.
so far all I have down is front and rear strut tower bars, definately less body roll with them installed.
I suggest this upgrade to everyone!
I might be crazy and it might be in my head, but with the strut towers you can really get a better feel for when the tires are about to let go. You aren’t thrown off by the body roll. But what do I know, i’m a newb 
Im am not totally sure that Strut Bars will help with body roll as much as a little body flex.
Good stuff, this is the sort of feedback im looking for, in all areas.
thanks
Benson is correct but the twist feels similar to roll in a way… so what 240sxfan is feeling would still be reduced from a properly installed/adjusted stb.
I did front and rear stb’s and it made a small difference for the twist…
I did front and rear adjustable whiteline sways and with them set to tight the megan racing coilovers set to soft feel like they’re on full dampening basically… it just amplified the tightness of installing coilovers.
Body roll was reduced but not a lot. I have them set to tight in the rear (will be changing that soon, i don’t like so much oversteer) and medium stiffness in front which feels pretty good the fronts stick like glue.
Another big one would be replacing all of your bushings… i haven’t installed my kit yet but i have it sitting in my garage ready to go. it makes a world of difference… especially on our old cars.
tc rods will help stiffen your steering and give the car a much nicer feel in corners and changing lanes on the highway, etc.
a cage will be one of the biggest improvements to chassis reinforcement. even a 4pt or 6pt makes a world of difference for body twist, etc.
the list goes on, but i have little or no knowledge of the rest of the stuff used for chassis reinforcement… im also an uber noob.
maybe i am getting the two confused…
maybe i am getting the two confused…[/quote]
Ya it is cool, they feel almost the same depending on how bad the roll and chassis flex is, but overall on a S Chassis the STB’s do help a good amount,
I would say go STB’s/ Sways and a nice set of coils.
sway bars are on the more sexpensive side, but improve handling greatly even with stock suspension. they make the greatest noticable difference in terms of change.
also with the cost of roll bars nowadays i’d suggest a roll bar, bings multilink set and STBs. you could probably get all of them for just over $1000.
STB’s make good bars to lean on when working on the car but also do make a decent diffrence. sway bars are a bit more pricey but make a much more noticable diffrence than the STB’s. Together they work in harmony and make a really big diffrence.
what about other types of chassis re enforcment like re enforcing the frame? what can be done for this? just weld more metal in certain areas?
yes I was wondering the same, thats why i mentioned above “fender brace” more of the line of that.
By now we all should know the difference sway bars and strut bars make, Im looking for other areas to improve on your chassis (frame).
Another example would be re-welding the sheet metal, for example if you notice inside the engine bay, lots of areas are un welded just held with “guck” of some sort.
This has been discussed time and again… use the search function… !!!
As Doba just mentioned, good results can be had by seam welding certain areas of the car.
I’d do that before picking up any fender braces like in the first post.
there are various types of frame reinforcement such as these
nismo power brace
hks kansai tunnel brace
The floor support bar reduces flex lengthwise along the chassis
The rear cross bar and ladder bars reduce flex laterally
SPL subframe brace set
Don’t forget chassis foam in the rockers! And C-pillar bars.
I’ve got Cusco front and Nismo rear STBs, a 4 pt roll bar, chassis foam and fender braces. Should be a fun spring. 
Good job Alesserfate, now does anyone have any of these? and can share their experiance with them, worth the buck or not?
Doba, what is your goal here, you going to be drifting, auto crossing, drag racing?
Just to give us a little idea on where you are looking towards.
simpliest method is to get a 6 point cage “not a cusco” something done proper that is fully braced.
you can go crazy with simple bolt on parts “strut bars, roll bars, new sway bars, power brace, this and that” but even with all of them you will not get as much of an improvement as you would vs a proper cage setup.
so as Theo said… depending on how serious you are and how much “re-enforcement” you need, it would be broke not 3 options really.
#1 Bolt on Bars/Braces
#2 Foam in the Frame/Rockers whereever…
#3 Roll Cage
yeah, just dont get it too stiff, it wont feel like it hugs the corners, it will either understeer or oversteer, there is a reason cars flex a bit
The chassis isn’t supposed to flex, thats what the suspension is for. The less your chassis flexs, the more you make your suspension work. As well, the less flexing your chassis does the longer it will last.
Make the chassis as rigid as possible, build and tune your suspension to accept the forces applied, and make sure you run good rubber.