Notices
Scion tC 1G Suspension & Handling Coilovers, Shocks, Airbags, Swaybars...

C Pillar Bar. Keep your back seats!!! (updated 9/29)

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Sep 18, 2005 | 07:00 PM
  #1  
HKSpeed's Avatar
Thread Starter
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,407
From: Los Angeles County 909
Default C Pillar Bar. Keep your back seats!!! (updated 9/29)

Updated 9/29/05

I found a way to keep the back seats with a C pillar, without hitting rear passenger heads.

I used Megan Racing C Pillar bars for 94-01 Integras (will be referred as the "Short-Bar") and 90-93 Integras (will be referred as the "Long-Bar").

You must remove the trim panel around the rear upper seat belt mount (1 panel per side) to mount any of these bars. You can try to modify the panels, but I chose not to. Pull them off (if youre smart, you can figure it out yourself).

Once removed there are 6 possible mounting points for a bar.

Points A & B have existing bolts that attach the interior panels to the car.
Point D is the rear upper seat belt mount.
Points C, E, & F are reinforced threaded holes, but they do not have a bolt in them. Its the same size as the holes from points A & B. I bought some longer versions of these 10mm (dont know the pitch) bolts at the hardware store.

A Short-Bar can go across points A, B, C, & E. The bracket on point B will not work with the bar, so you may have to remove it if you use that pont. To use point F, you'll need a bar thats 2-3 inches shorter than the Short-Bar. Point D will require a Long-Bar.

As you can see Point C mounts at the back of the rear head rests. That photo was taken behind the car, so the angle makes the bar look like its positioned further foward than it really is.

X Mount


Dual C pillar Z mount



Last edited by HKSpeed; Oct 2, 2009 at 04:29 AM.
Old Sep 18, 2005 | 08:14 PM
  #2  
The_Instigator's Avatar
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 2,270
Default

Interesting. Personally I think the possible gains of it are heavily outwieghed by the negative aspects of it, but I give you much credit for trying it out. Can you tell any difference in handling at all?
Old Sep 18, 2005 | 08:51 PM
  #3  
peteyd's Avatar
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,795
From: Houston, TX
Default

same here would like to know if had any gains
Old Sep 18, 2005 | 08:58 PM
  #4  
TeamMightyMiniz's Avatar
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 868
From: In your Network
Default

I think the lower bar has a greater advantage.

Tell us what your unscientific results are.
In Seat pre and post install.
Old Sep 18, 2005 | 09:37 PM
  #5  
lo_bux_racer's Avatar
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 424
From: Gone
Default

I doubt either will do much of anything besides add weight.
Old Sep 18, 2005 | 10:38 PM
  #6  
krollmonster's Avatar
Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 54
Default

I just hope you don't have passengers in the back seat! ahhaha
Old Sep 18, 2005 | 11:34 PM
  #7  
HKSpeed's Avatar
Thread Starter
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,407
From: Los Angeles County 909
Default

passengers? thats that? lol. the only reason I keep my back seats is because it makes the trunk look cleaner when theyre folded down. lol. I plan on replacing the end bolts with lock pins to make the bar a quick-release.

strut bars, lower arm bars, pillar bars, sway bars are more for show than performance. largely ineffective unless you combine all those bars with springs/shocks and tire upgrades. perhaps the bar made my car 2-3% stiffer overall, similar to a 3% power increase an intake adds. hardly noticable. if i really want to stiffen up the ride, i'd adjust my coilovers to a stiffer setting. lol.
Old Sep 19, 2005 | 03:59 AM
  #8  
daewonder's Avatar
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 970
From: Signal Hill, CA
Default

looks cool.
Old Sep 19, 2005 | 04:26 PM
  #9  
midnight_runner's Avatar
Junior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
 
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 8
From: Los Angeles
Default

Originally Posted by HKSpeed
sway bars are more for show than performance.
You obviously don't know enough about cars or don't drive your car hard enough to know the difference
Old Sep 19, 2005 | 05:07 PM
  #10  
HKSpeed's Avatar
Thread Starter
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,407
From: Los Angeles County 909
Default

Originally Posted by midnight_runner
Originally Posted by HKSpeed
sway bars are more for show than performance.
You obviously don't know enough about cars or don't drive your car hard enough to know the difference
you obviously know how to take things out of context or didnt get the point I was trying to make through the entire statement.
Old Sep 19, 2005 | 06:38 PM
  #11  
hahaitzskippy's Avatar
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SoCal tC Club
SL Member
Scion Evolution
 
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,947
From: Irvine, CA
Default

just got word from MEGAN, they have a TC c-pillar made and going to test really soon
Old Sep 19, 2005 | 07:12 PM
  #12  
SSM_tC's Avatar
Senior Member
5 Year Member

SL Member
 
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 522
From: The West Side of the LBC
Default

Reclining Rear seats + C-pillar bar + a lil imagination = limitless possibilities
Old Sep 19, 2005 | 07:28 PM
  #13  
Motorsport_TC's Avatar
Senior Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 178
Default

i think all megan bars are the same, just the length of the bar is differeant to accomodate the differant lengths. I wouldn't be surprised if all Megan did was find an existing one that already fit and called it a TC bar
Old Sep 19, 2005 | 08:22 PM
  #14  
HKSpeed's Avatar
Thread Starter
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,407
From: Los Angeles County 909
Default

goto megaracing.com and see their bars. some are used across different vehicles.

i'll be so jealous if Megan makes a longer one for the TC. The integra bar I'm using is 45 inches. I can see it vibrate alittle as I drove over small road bumps, but I suppose any bar of that length would move alittle.
Old Sep 19, 2005 | 08:45 PM
  #15  
lo_bux_racer's Avatar
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 424
From: Gone
Default

Will they measure chassis stiffness before and after the bar to show how it does something or is this just a bling mod?

BTW, when I was designing and building motorcycle chassis mods we used a pretty simple rule of thumb to test any design. Imagine a pin that allows free movement of anything you add to the chassis holding the new piece in place at both ends. Apply force from any direction. If the new piece allows movement, go back to the drawing board, you didn't get it right.

If you added a cross brace from the opposite sides of that strut tower, that would seriously add some resistance to chassis flex. The bar now only seems to keep the rear seat belt mounts a specified distance apart. Is that the goal?
Old Sep 19, 2005 | 08:50 PM
  #16  
SquallLHeart's Avatar
Senior Member

10 Year Member

5 Year Member

SoCal tC Club
SL Member
Team N.V.S.
Scinergy
Scion Evolution
 
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 15,699
Default

Originally Posted by SSM_tC
Reclining Rear seats + C-pillar bar + a lil imagination = limitless possibilities
uhhh... hahahaha.....
Old Sep 19, 2005 | 08:53 PM
  #17  
HKSpeed's Avatar
Thread Starter
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,407
From: Los Angeles County 909
Default

Originally Posted by lo_bux_racer
Will they measure chassis stiffness before and after the bar to show how it does something or is this just a bling mod?

BTW, when I was designing and building motorcycle chassis mods we used a pretty simple rule of thumb to test any design. Imagine a pin that allows free movement of anything you add to the chassis holding the new piece in place at both ends. Apply force from any direction. If the new piece allows movement, go back to the drawing board, you didn't get it right.

If you added a cross brace from the opposite sides of that strut tower, that would seriously add some resistance to chassis flex. The bar now only seems to keep the rear seat belt mounts a specified distance apart. Is that the goal?
http://www.emracing.com/formula.html
check the link for a techinical explanation for the validity of these bars.
give them an earful if you think its all a bunch of crap.
i'm just copying their design with megan bars (because EMracing only does hondas).
Old Sep 19, 2005 | 08:57 PM
  #18  
BrEaK_AwaY's Avatar
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
Scion Evolution
 
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 4,372
From: Baltimore, MD
Default

nice idea to be creative.... but it makes the back of the tC useless. if your gonna do something like that... .might as well do a full roll cage
Old Sep 19, 2005 | 09:08 PM
  #19  
lo_bux_racer's Avatar
Senior Member
10 Year Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 424
From: Gone
Default

Originally Posted by HKSpeed
http://www.emracing.com/formula.html
check the link for a techinical explanation for the validity of these bars.
give them an earful if you think its all a bunch of crap.
i'm just copying their design with megan bars (because EMracing only does hondas).
Yeah, I see they got it right. They added a cross brace. Without it, the whole thing is just dead weight. Triangulation works every time. Your bar forms a rectangle, the weakest possible geometric shape.

And if you really wanted to get exotic, you'd take two sheets of CF/Kevlar co-weave and slap them on either side of a 1" thick 0.020" aluminum honeycomb and bolt to to the C pillar mounts and the tops of the rear shock tower support bar. Even better than triangulation, and super light to boot. But I digress...
Old Sep 20, 2005 | 02:59 AM
  #20  
Motorsport_TC's Avatar
Senior Member
5 Year Member
SL Member
 
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 178
Default

After emailing Megan about this they said they will be testing and will be coming out with a C Pillar Bar specifically for the TC soon



All times are GMT. The time now is 02:07 PM.