Frame End (Grand Prix) Brace

[Pittsburghkid]

So I put a thread up about this in the for sale section since I was able to get them but since no one is interested I'll just put it here and tell you what it is so you can do the work yourself.

What your looking for is the grab bar handle on the cab of newer Freightliner business class trucks and Sterling Acterra trucks which is fastened right behind the driver and passenger doors. This bar is hollow so it's very light but made of strong aluminum.

This bar is 40.5" from mounting hole center to center which is exactly the same distance as the pre drilled hole in the frame ends of the g-body cars. It often called a grand prix brace because for some reason those are the only g-body cars that got that brace. Most of the cars have been picked clean of these braces at the junk yard so this is another source for them.

When mounted it sits directly below the rad core support and takes up 1.5" of room so this will work with all stock intercoolers and if you have a FMIC with atleast 1.5" of clearance between the pipes and core support then you can still use this where most other braces won't work with a FMIC. It's stiffens up the body and helps add rigidity especially on t-tops cars. Here's some pics HTH.

 

[Black3]

Nice:wink:

 

[ThikStik]

How cool is that! My 71 GTO conv is so bad with its mushy feel (500 k miles on frame) , that i am going to have to add something like that. So that bar is know to help alot?

 

[just plain john]

Just wondering, do you have the jounce bars too? The ones that go from the engine crossmember to the frame rail ends, where the Gran prix bar goes.

 

[Pittsburghkid]

How cool is that! My 71 GTO conv is so bad with its mushy feel (500 k miles on frame) , that i am going to have to add something like that. So that bar is know to help alot?

Ya it ties the frame horns together with a solid piece, so since there is no bushings used it gives rigidity and when used with jounce bars it's creates a triangle on the front of the car which helps eliminate front end roll.

Just wondering, do you have the jounce bars too? The ones that go from the engine crossmember to the frame rail ends, where the Gran prix bar goes.

I have those too so when using those with this bar you have to mount the ends of the jounce bars under the ends of the grand prix bar because of where the grand prix bar bends it would interfere with the jounce bars. Also because of how wide the ends of this grand prix bar are you have to trim off a crescent shaped piece if you use the jounce bars because before the jounce bars taper flat the rounded part of them interfere with the flat tapered part of the grand prix bar. I made a crude diagram to show what part of the grand prix bar needs removed in order to use in conjunction with the jounce bars. The red crescent shape piece is the part that needs trimmed. I'll try to get some pics of it installed with the jounce bars after the holidays.

 

[novaderrik]

how thick is the tubing used to make the grab bars, and how strong is it?

 

[mybuick]

kirban has those parts for sale in black i have them on my car except the cross brace.

 

[QUIP'6']

So I put a thread up about this in the for sale section since I was able to get them but since no one is interested I'll just put it here and tell you what it is so you can do the work yourself.

What your looking for is the grab bar handle on the cab of newer Freightliner business class trucks and Sterling Acterra trucks which is fastened right behind the driver and passenger doors. This bar is hollow so it's very light but made of strong aluminum.

This bar is 40.5" from mounting hole center to center which is exactly the same distance as the pre drilled hole in the frame ends of the g-body cars. It often called a grand prix brace because for some reason those are the only g-body cars that got that brace. Most of the cars have been picked clean of these braces at the junk yard so this is another source for them.

When mounted it sits directly below the rad core support and takes up 1.5" of room so this will work with all stock intercoolers and if you have a FMIC with atleast 1.5" of clearance between the pipes and core support then you can still use this where most other braces won't work with a FMIC. It's stiffens up the body and helps add rigidity especially on t-tops cars. Here's some pics HTH.

View attachment 117722

View attachment 117723

View attachment 117724

View attachment 117725

View attachment 117726

nice find

 

[ThikStik]

I cant believe this hasnt been bantied about in the A body convertible world. Maybe it has. Look at any gm car with a steering box, turn steering wheel l/r , and u can watch the frame horn move with the stress of steering action. Ive seen easy driven , low mile cars do the same and probably everbodys Buicks do the same. This should stop that and alllow the frame to stay rigid longer. On my 71 gto, i tied the K memeber to the frame horn lower areas and it helped a bit with the frame movement. I think i used jounce bars from an 80's rwd cutty.

 

[Pittsburghkid]

kirban has those parts for sale in black i have them on my car except the cross brace.

Yes he does but this could found for less than the $64 you'd pay for that one and have the same result.

 

[Pittsburghkid]

how thick is the tubing used to make the grab bars, and how strong is it?

the tubing is 1" thick. I don't have any mathematical numbers to show what it's exact strength is but it's the same type aluminum used on the grab bars they put is the handicapped bathrooms. I have this one and the stock steel one and I can tell you it's atleast as strong as the stock steel bar if not more.

 

[WH1_T-Type]

That's pretty cool. No idea where I could pick one of those up...but I think I'll look around!

 

[Heg87t]

the tubing is 1" thick. I don't have any mathematical numbers to show what it's exact strength is but it's the same type aluminum used on the grab bars they put is the handicapped bathrooms. I have this one and the stock steel one and I can tell you it's atleast as strong as the stock steel bar if not more.

How does the weight of the AL and stock one compare? I am assuming the AL bar is less, but how much. :tongue:

 

[novaderrik]

the tubing is 1" thick. I don't have any mathematical numbers to show what it's exact strength is but it's the same type aluminum used on the grab bars they put is the handicapped bathrooms. I have this one and the stock steel one and I can tell you it's atleast as strong as the stock steel bar if not more.

i'm wondering about wall thickness- to be as strong as the stock steel pieces, it would have to have walls that are about twice as thick.

 

[Pittsburghkid]

just doing an update. Although I don't have a scale to weight the two pieces to find the difference in weight. I did find a source for the bars on ebay which would only cost $13.18. So for under $15 you can get this bar and determine if it's worth it. I certainly think it is. I'll post up pics with the jounce bars installed once I get it done.

ALUMINUM GRAB HANDLE / CAB ENTRY / FREIGHTLINER ACTERRA - eBay (item 150546663503 end time Jan-20-11 07:17:13 PST)

 

[INEEDAGN]

Love it. But are you SURE that bar is aluminum?

Still a great find.

 

[Pittsburghkid]

Don't know what else it could be other than stainless or some type of alloy, but for that price I doubt it's stainless.

 

[INEEDAGN]

Well the EBAY ad says aluminum, but that doesn't mean they are right. I only ask because it sure looked like stainless in the few pics you posted. Hard to tell without seeing it in person, but you might look twice at it. Not that it really matters, hell if it's stiff enough that you can't fold it over your knee and it's light enough to lift, then it's good to go for the application at hand.

 

[Pittsburghkid]

You'd break your knee before you bend this bar. I'm plannin to get some pics with the jounce bars but it's too cold to lay on a concrete garage floor at the moment.

 

[BILL HAINES]

Nice !!!

Soooo... When do ya want to put one on my car??? We can trade or barter.. Great idea!!!