Anyone know how this compares to Megillian X brace ? Weight difference ? And overall stiffness ?

 

Well considering I'm biased, I have a Barbarian Brace in hand after ordering one week ago.

I have not received the Megillian brace, or a refund, for the brace I ordered from Megillian on December 15th, 2018, so the Barbarian brace is better in every aspect...

Now to your question details, the Barbarian aluminum brace is probably lighter, or about the same weight, as the Megillian steel brace but it is not heavier.

The Barbarian brace has better designed triangulation to disburse the applied forces to the brace mounting area better, plus it doesn't require the OEM brace to be removed.

Good luck dealing with Stephen Norris...

 

Good looking brace, both in design and production. If I were buying again, I'd go with this over the Magellian. Getting 10 chassis bolt holes (Magellian) to line up between an aftermarket product and a 15-20r old car can be quite painful. I managed 9 of 10, one bolt in the breastplate area broke off and I decided to let it be. Took a lot of wedging and maneuvering to get it into place and I didn't want to deal with getting a drill, tap and die under the car. Maybe someday...

 

The fact that it's aluminum is a major red flag for me. I've dealt with aluminum braces before and they've been... really bad.

 

Why would an aluminum brace be worse than steel?

 

I have the Corky FMB, MSMB, and RMB all made of aluminum and the greatly stiffened the car up.

There are many different grades of aluminum. Proper grade, size, thickness and engineering makes or breaks a structural brace.

 

I was always weary of aluminum braces, it even prevented me from buying Corkys until very recently. I've done a far share of sweat shop machine labor, primarily cnc lathe. At the company I worked for we had 8 inch round stock 6061 at around 11 foot length across a three arm shelf that flopped like a refrigerated hot dog. After seeing at what others had done with aluminum bracing and holding a corky's product in my hands, I realized I have retained very little information on proper metal fabrication especially triangulation,

 

Rcntype, couldn't have said it better myself. I did not at any point condemn this brace. I simply pointed out something that raises a red flag for me. I am nothing but happy to see more companies supporting the MR2, but I'm always weary because many companies put out bad products. From midshiprunabouts awful unsafe headlights (that looked great!) to Fortune Auto's mess of a coilover situation (from a VERY reputable company), I am always weary and always point out potential flaws so the buyer can make an informed decision.

 

Don't forget about the majority of ultra racing brace/bars.
I was about to ask if the TRD front brace was steel, thanks Dev. I like the design of the techno spirit brace because it incorporates the support location for the rear lower control arm. This is similar to 03+ models support which extends tot he front radiator support (?).
I always wondered why the front Tom's brace looked so funny. Does the rear tom's brace not interfere with 2zz oil pans?

 

The best braces I have seen and used is by far are the TRD and Toms.
These two brands make actual braces that were engineered to work and are made of steel. I have used some aluminum braces in the past like the Cusco, EBay and the Corkey, they work well but having seen the difference after switching to the TRD front brace there is no doubt in my mind that a good steel brace has its advantages from what I feel in a brace made of Aluminum.

Having said that I would want Aluminum whenever possible if the difference in stiffness is not going to be as significant as the steel primary because the last thing I want to do is weigh the car down with too much bracing which is stupid in my opinion.

Bracing is not a collect it all happy meal kind of thing. Use it like a tool to tune the chassis, you don’t need every brace made. This is primary why I don’t have the mid brace and instead have just the breast plate.

I found the best brace by far was the Toms rear lower brace because it supports the subframe where the rear control arms mount into. You can really feel the sag in the rear without it.

 

Will the Barbarian Racing MSMB fit with corky's breast plate?

 

No idea, but I can take some distance measurements to the contact points with the OEM brace if that will help.

 

Since I opened a can of worms just by posting my pictures, I have attached a picture of the Megillian and Barbarian braces to do a mental exercise of the torsional moment since that is a concern when using aluminum construction.

If we assume the braces are designed to reduce torsional twist in opposite directions at the F/R mounting points, which brace applies the moment to the small center area and which brace spreads the forces out across a wider area?

Oh, and if I remember correctly, the Megillian brace is made from mild steel, just an aside when doing the analysis.

 

While I await my refund from Megillian I am watching this thread with great interest.

I've already agreed to buy a Corky breastplate from a 3rd party, and am looking at various kinds of strut bars.

 

We have a lot of bracing on our 2002 Spyder and the breastplate made the most difference by far as it boxed the center tunnel to make a torque box. That added noticeable torsional rigidity. As for front strut bars, I personally think the only one worthwhile is the TRD. It is steel and rather light, but very strong. Still, it didn't make much difference. I would forget about rear strut braces as all anecdotal evidence suggests they do very little compared to the stock X brace.

We have a Tom's front lower brace and it is very sturdy and ties the rear control arm mount to the brace. That made some difference, mostly in steering response and reduced cowl shake on rough roads.

We also have a steel Carbing lower rear brace to stiffen the rear suspension mounts. That had a small effect, but not more than the stock rear braces added to the 2003 and newer models. The 2003 rear braces are almost identical to the TRD braces

The other "bracing" that made a difference was an Autopower roll bar. This was added mostly for stiffness and did make a difference.

However, when the braced 2002 is compared to a 2003 that only has the breastplate and the changes made in production for 2003, there really isn't much difference, even on rough roads.

As far as material, aluminum is fine if loaded in compression or tension or well designed like the breastplate. It isn't as good as steel in bending.

Many of the cheap so-called braces, especially front lower braces are poorly designed and mostly have a placebo effect.

 

With reading all this, it seems to have answered my question. I have a Corky’s BP, TRD front and rear strut braces, and an (I think) Ultra Racing brace ahead of the BP (if memory serves me correctly, I think I had to remove the OEM front brace from under the car, then the UR brace joins the front left and right sides of the car). I was (briefly) wondering if this brace would be better than the setup I currently have. I think I’ll just leave it alone. Good to have options though. For the driving I do, getting this might be overkill and I might not notice too much of a difference.

 

I have TRD front strut tower base, TRD rear strut tower brace, front che under brace and Corky's breast plate.

The TRD front brace made the biggest difference in the car's feel when I added it making the front end feel tighter and more solid. The Corky's brace made very little difference when I removed the stock plate and added it it but that may be because the car has a hard top which already stiffens the middle part of the car a bit.

The front Che brace and the rear TRD strut brace were on the car when I got it. I have never removed them so I cannot comment on their contributions to chassis stiffness nor feel.

It is a misconception that a brace is only as effective as a result of its resistance to flexing. A good portion of adding strength and rigidity to a chassis is tying stress points together. Because of this even a flexible steel cable can add rigidity because it will prevent two points from moving away from each other.

Steel may be the best material for a brace because it may be stiffer and resist flexing over aluminum but a properly built aluminum brace may be just as effective while also being lighter and resistant to corrosion.

I, personally, am more wary of hanging a piece of metal that may be subject to corrosion on the exposed bottom of my car. Now, I have become weary of thinking about this debate so I will move on.

 

I, personally, am more wary of hanging a piece of metal that may be subject to corrosion on the exposed bottom of my car. Now, I have become weary of thinking about this debate so I will move on.

I had to quick google one of those thinking I may have forgotten my vocabulary since I saw a few using the other! :2gunsfiring_v1:

There was a member here a long time ago who was able to get the front fender braces made which is popular on other cars but for ours it did not produce the greatest result.

I was bashing the crap out of my pinchweld today and noticed we already have a small fender brace attached stock. It seemed like a lightweight small piece, maybe the movement in that area isn't as big or important.

 

I have a 2000 Spyder , With No brace whatsoever . Was looking to get some and was still shopping . After reading this , I am even more confused :confused-new:

 

These large midship braces are a pretty great upgrade, I installed the Megillian brace (back when they actually shipped them) and it made a good difference even though I already had some bracing and stiff suspension. If this Barbarian brace turns out awesome, then this one brace plus a front strut tower brace is the way to go. Pretty simple!

 

I have several braces on my 2001:

1. TRD Front strut brace - noticeable improvement in steering stability/directness.

2. ebay front 4 point H lower brace ($55) - very light and tin but surprisingly a noticeable improvement in front end stiffness. I felt the difference even with TRD front
strut brace already installed.

3. Corky's breast plate - the first bracing installed, very significant improvement in rigidity. Less rattles and body shakes.

4. Cusco rear lower arm braces - amazing improvement in chassis rigidity. Suddenly the Spyder felt like a Boxster - heavier and more solid.
https://midshipgarage.com/products/cusco-toyota-mr2-spyder-mr-s-99-07-rear-lower-arm?variant=21446775799913

5. Dev's door bushings and TRD door bushings - Noticeable Improvement in rigidity but caused some rattles to appear (around the door meet dash area).

6. Tanabe rear strut brace - no noticeable effect.

I also have the TRD rear strut brace on order, probably a waste of $350 but I want the full TRD treatment.

 

There is a section of highway near my home with some nice slightly banked sweeps. I find every brace install slightly increases the speed I am confident in going through these sweeps, when the road is empty of course. With stock 2001 bracing, koni yellows and eibach springs, my first "confident speed" was 70mph.

Similar to above, I have the following installed:

Magellian MSMB- back when they were shipping, this was my first brace. Getting 10 bolts aligned was somewhat difficult, broke one off on the breastplate area but other than that it went well. Very pleased with the result. Confident speed 80mph.

Beatrush strut bars- front and rear installed at the same time. Sharper turn in and way more control in hard cornering. Confidence speed 90mph.

No name rear lower control arm braces- also increased control of the rear in hard cornering. Confidence speed 95mph.

(Soon after I found a really harsh speed bump and blew both my front struts. Front end currently has a very cadilac like "floaty" feeling and lots of clunks over minor bumps.)

eBay 4 point front lower H brace- didnt expect much from this for $55 but figured why not. Rear 2 mount points are shared by the front 2 points of the Magellian, much filing was done on the eBay brace mount tabs to make it fit. Install required filing, oil for lubrication and a 40oz persuasion device but it's in there, very much under compression. I fully expect to pop a weld at some point. So far so good thou. No confidence testing with dead front struts but I did notice the clunking from said struts is virtually gone. Front corners at least "float" in unison now on most bumps too. Struts are in my living room just waiting for me to get around to it...

 

OK, here is an update:

There were 2 issues with my install, one with my car and the other with the brace.

1st issue, both outboard rear nutserts for the chassis mounting bolts spun as soon as I tried to remove them. So I had to grind them off and put some new nutserts in the chassis.

2nd issue, the rear holes in the brace did not line up between the inner and outer mounting points - they were off by about 1/4". I could have elongated either the inner or outer holes but since I needed to install new nutserts anyway, I just drilled new outer holes in the brace a little more towards the rear and installed the nutserts there..

The rest of the install was cake, and once installed, the brace fit like a glove and added quite a bit of rigidity. The brace's center cross tube only has about 1/4" of clearance below the OEM center brace so I do not think any aftermarket center brace will work with this brace.

I will send Barbarian an e-mail about the holes being off to see what they have to say...

 

After lots of maintenance and adjustment work on my car over the last few days, I finally had a chance to take it out and throw it around a few corners.

The handling is greatly improved, but I did change the coilover settings, added F/R Beatrush strut bars, as well as install the brace, so I can't quantify the improvement just from the brace, but I am sure it helped a lot.

Jus an FYI in case anyone is interested.

 

After lots of maintenance and adjustment work on my car over the last few days, I finally had a chance to take it out and throw it around a few corners.

The handling is greatly improved, but I did change the coilover settings, added F/R Beatrush strut bars, as well as install the brace, so I can't quantify the improvement just from the brace, but I am sure it helped a lot.

Jus an FYI in case anyone is interested.

Could you kindly update your post about your SSP to reflect the change. Just curious of what you did and your thoughts.

 

Glad we got someone to buy it, but the changing of so many other parts just means that we still don't know if it's a quality brace and really helps body rigidity.

 

Technically you are correct, but the car did have a Cusco front strut bar and the OEM Toyota rear strut bar on it before swapping in the new Beatrush bars, and the Tein coilovers were installed previously as well but just readjusted for height, so the only thing that is a totally new addition is the MSMB.

My guess is the MSMB made a larger difference in the improved handling than the other changes and tweaks.

 

Anyone with experience with ULTRA RACING 3-Point Fender Bar Brace?

Dave

 

Finally got my "refund" from megillian.... $70 short.

F-it... it's finally over.

 

Why is it 70 short?

 

PayPal refunds based on the purchase price paid to the seller, not on the price the buyer actually paid.

So since Megillian is in the UK, and since the exchange rate has changed between when he ordered versus when he got his refund, he lost $'s just like I did.

Pretty poor buyer protection policy...

 

Yep our economy is good and getting better. Theirs is bad and getting worse.

Send money, get jerked around 5 months, get a refund and get fkkkkd