Ive asked 3 people of which 1 said yes, 1 said no and the other didnt know.

I then looked through the for sale adds and didnt see anyone with them on their cars.

I take it that if your rear towers are not tied in by the rollcage that you cannot run a rear strut brace??

Thanks again

 

you are allowed one brace, either front or back.

 

that sucks, why can't they allow two? you'd think it would make sense for them to in making the cars more balanced plus it's not like it costs much for an extra brace...

Frito

 

The SCCA rulebook (GCR and ITCS section) do permit the use of 1 brace from tower to tower-either upper or lower, but not both on the same end. We prefer Upper in front and rear. If by chance you have connected the rear downtubes to the tower and can run another one from that specific place across-that would be the brace, under a strict interpretation of the rule.

Hope this helps.

 

Per the 2003 GCR:

17.1.4.D.5.d.5.

Cars may add one (1) front stayrod, located in one of the following areas:

A. Between lower suspension mounting points.

B. Between the upper strut towers on Mac_Pherson strut equipped cars.

C. Between upper front shock absorber mounts on cars with other forms of suspension.

No mention of a rear stayrod, and if it doesn't say you can, you can't. (unless there's a FasTrack update I don't remember.

 

I agree that the GCR/ITCS has made it clear about stayrods for the front. It is quite legal to build your cage such that there is a member that would effectively tie the rear towers together-if and only if the location of the attachment points works to aid this part of the install. The number of attachment points for a cage may NOT exceed 8 and 2 of those are for the optional tubes that connect the front downtubes to the firewall or wheel arch.

 

This is a great example of why anyone spending $ on an IT car needs a copy of the rules in their hands and had better read them and make their own decisions. I have seen a lot of illegal stuff out there over the last - geez - dang near 20 years now, and a lot of it is because someone listened to one of those three people you asked.

Contrary to what some will tell you, the rules are pretty darned clear. If you do what they say you can do, you won't be wrong. It only gets muddy when people go looking for rationalization to do things that they WANT to do, which are not specifically allowed...

Kirk

 

Kirk:
I assume that we both have seen the same pictures of the cross bar I refer to welded in on the rear braces such that it effectively ties both towers together. Am I wrong in my thinking that this would be legal as it serves the function of connecting the tubes and that is legal.
Personally, I have not installed a cross tube as my cage is designed differently than those that use the wheel arch attach points. Quick correction-I mentioned earlier my preference on the rear for tower bars-this is on my HPDE Prelude and not the ITA/H4 CRX.

 

blah i bow in humility to the rules nerds.

but the cage rules dont stop you from connecting the two rear down arms.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jc836 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I assume that we both have seen the same pictures of the cross bar I refer to ...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry - I meant the whole rear strut bar question was a great example, not your mention of that particular bar. Sure, that bar is okay. What worries me is someone actually building an IT car without looking to the book for answers. Now if someone is going through long-term planning exercises or academic discussions, that's something else but - dang, people - do not spend any $35 actually working on a racing car unless it is to buy the rulebook.

K