Kraton Top chassis brace - not tower to tower tube

[headsock]

Planning on making a top chassis brace similar to Alza Racing and Kauaiguy. $6 and an hour or 2 of work.

Just got a couple of questions.

1. Why do they both connect the motor and center diff to the brace? Wouldn't a crash affect the pinion alignment?

2. Mounting holes - planning on just using the wing brace (2) and mud guard (4) screws

 

[Mongoose]

Connecting the center makes it more rigid. Connection points on both ends alone will cause the sheet metal to bow just like the chassis....connect it in the center and you constrain it from bowing and the force is translated through the length of the Sheetmetal to the rear bulkhead instead of straight up. Sure, a crash “could” shift the pinion alignment if it’s hard enough but both bulkheads, and the center diff bracket would need to shift in order for that to happen....and if that’s the case you have other problems than the pinion to worry about.

If you want to avoid the center brace then I suggest using a tube and connect the front and rear bulkheads bypassing the center brace. The tube has the dimensional integrity to allow it.

 

[headsock]

Not really into the tube method mounted on the towers, stress multiplier due to distance to the mounting points. But haven't seen a cracked diff due to the tube, other than the warning from voltage.

A tube welded to some some flat bar and bolted on like the Alza would seem to work though.

Tried angle bar no way to work without mangling or deleting the roll cage.

Flat bar with some cutouts fits perfectly thru the cage, but as you said no support thru the center, unless bolted to the diff suport. No space to drill a hole in the chassis, somewhere in the middle, for additional support.

Is the Alza brace any good? Just converted the pricing, not bad. But need to figure out how to make a stock like rear brace work with it. But without the need for a rear brace, pricing is very attractive.

 

[Notorious J]

Following

 

[Jimbobjr]

I really like your brace, looks ?. I want to make one similar but either use a break to bend the edges length ways or mounting another piece of aluminum standing up for more rigidity. I run t to t with tubing from Home Depot which seems to be more than enough but looks home made...

 

[headsock]

I really like your brace, looks ?.

Not mine ?

The Alza does look very nice and cheap considering it deletes the need for front/rear brace, wing mount and center diff mount.

But the main negative is it deletes the front/rear brace.

 

[Dutch213]

Yeah I agree. The people that bash the hardest don’t use those brace delete setups. If they were that good you would be getting more positive feedback.

 

[Jimbobjr]

Ahh, I see no more front and rear brace. I thought I saw one similar with notches cut out for the braces..

 

[slick2500]

Not really into the tube method mounted on the towers, stress multiplier due to distance to the mounting points. But haven't seen a cracked diff due to the tube, other than the warning from voltage.

A tube welded to some some flat bar and bolted on like the Alza would seem to work though.

Tried angle bar no way to work without mangling or deleting the roll cage.

Flat bar with some cutouts fits perfectly thru the cage, but as you said no support thru the center, unless bolted to the diff suport. No space to drill a hole in the chassis, somewhere in the middle, for additional support.

Is the Alza brace any good? Just converted the pricing, not bad. But need to figure out how to make a stock like rear brace work with it. But without the need for a rear brace, pricing is very attractive.

I just bought an Alza brace for my Outcast but I have not run it yet. @Reubydoobe had/has one on his Kraton and he had some issues with his. .

 

[slick2500]

Not really into the tube method mounted on the towers, stress multiplier due to distance to the mounting points. But haven't seen a cracked diff due to the tube, other than the warning from voltage.

A tube welded to some some flat bar and bolted on like the Alza would seem to work though.

Tried angle bar no way to work without mangling or deleting the roll cage.

Flat bar with some cutouts fits perfectly thru the cage, but as you said no support thru the center, unless bolted to the diff suport. No space to drill a hole in the chassis, somewhere in the middle, for additional support.

Is the Alza brace any good? Just converted the pricing, not bad. But need to figure out how to make a stock like rear brace work with it. But without the need for a rear brace, pricing is very attractive.

I have the Alza Racing brace on my Outcast, I haven't run it yet. With the Hot Racing chassis braces and the homemade tower to tower brace I could easily flex the chassis by hand, with the Alza brace I cannot get the chassis to flex. However the rear chassis brace being deleted does have me a bit worried especially after talking with @Reubydoobe about his experience.

"I tested one and it definitely isn't. Like you said it's very well made and look's great but for me that is it. You now have no internal braces right umm see how that goes. Badly in my experience. I was thinking of making a short internal brace for the rear but never got round to it. It messed with the wing mount to on mine and I had to trim the front to get it to fit. But like I said mine was a tester so I think Alza have sorted all these things out now. If u plan on bashing it I'd take it easy if it was me. I went through pinions lot's when I ran it since I took it off and went back to tower brace and internal braces it's been fine."

I'm going to test it out one of these days, maybe tomorrow.

Ahh, I see no more front and rear brace. I thought I saw one similar with notches cut out for the braces..

Markhor makes one that utilizes the stock braces, but has to be modded to work with aftermarket ones.

 

[slick2500]

Not mine ?

The Alza does look very nice and cheap considering it deletes the need for front/rear brace, wing mount and center diff mount.

But the main negative is it deletes the front/rear brace.

I wouldn't worry about the front, it's the rear that worries me especially on the long wheelbase vehicles. I'm going to email Dejon and let him know that the rear of the brace either needs to be thicker and wider or it needs to be made to allow the use of the rear chassis brace.

 

[headsock]

I emailed him yesterday. He said that he might make a revision, this christmas time, to incorporate the stock type braces.

 

[Reubydoobe]

I emailed him yesterday. He said that he might make a revision, this christmas time, to incorporate the stock type braces.

That is the way to do it feedback from us lot will make things better. Im in no way slating this product far from it. It's just not for my style on hard bashing. I would like to point out the if you secure your tower to tower brace with threaded bar through the middle it lock tight a washer on one end you can tighten it up so no flex occurs. Same method as Thomas uses. Merry Christmas guys

 

[Reubydoobe]

Planning on making a top chassis brace similar to Alza Racing and Kauaiguy. $6 and an hour or 2 of work.

Just got a couple of questions.

1. Why do they both connect the motor and center diff to the brace? Wouldn't a crash affect the pinion alignment?

2. Mounting holes - planning on just using the wing brace (2) and mud guard (4) screws

Yes that happened to me alot

 

[headsock]

Yes that happened to me alot

What happened? Pinion alignment?

 

[Reubydoobe]

What happened? Pinion alignment?

Yea it would chew them up
Happened once and I thought unlucky it happens from time to time. Well in nearly two years I've not chewed one . So when the second happened I took the motor right out and because I have put carbon fibre wrap on my chasis you could see where the mount had been moving. That is why I took it off. Back to Square tube now much better and ruffly the same wieght. Great for the speed run guys but not my cup of tea

 

[slick2500]

Got my first bash session through the truck since installing the Alza Racing top plate today and so far no issues and I crashed hard, a lot.

 

[Drtybird]

Got my first bash session through the truck since installing the Alza Racing top plate today and so far no issues and I crashed hard, a lot.
View attachment 25499

Did you delete factory chassis brace

 

[slick2500]

Did you delete factory chassis brace

With the Alza Racing top plate you have to remove the chassis braces.

 

[Drtybird]

Would that upper brace be better than aluminum chassis brace and a t2t