I just took them to the same guys that did my Magnaflows. I'd already cut the end of the forward frame rail open and prefitted them, so they just put it on the rack, put a muffler stand up to hold it in place, and welded away. Any local muffler shop should be able to do it.

Also, if you're going to run traction masters, you'll need to do some pre thinking to either weld the bracket in place first, or do something like this.

http://www.midnightdsigns.com/james/Traction_Bars.html

I recommend the latter method, but adding triangular gussets longitudinally to the outer spacer.
'

 

maier racing subframes > all others

2 mounting points on each end, superior stiffness!

 

I don't see anything in the attach method that makes the Maier any stronger than the Tinman style. Nor do I see any evidence of superior stiffness.

What I do see is twice the price

 

you dont? might want to look again.

Those tinman ones are exactly like the majority of the others out there, they attach at 1 point on each side of the frame rails.

The maier ones connect in the same spots as all the others AND have another mounting point on each side further up. The front one attaches around the trans crossmember area and the back one follows the frame rail up and mounts up where it curves over the rear suspension.

IMO that is superior mounting and stiffness. I would much rather have that subframe connected into as many points as possible, and for $100 more, it is WELL WORTH IT.

 

I was going to go with the Heidts subframe connectors because down the road when i build a monster engine i was going to get the rest of their kit to connect the subframes with a driveshaft loop.

http://www.heidts.com/_uploaded_file...rtscatalog.pdf

check out page 32 or 33 (just closed it, forgot already lol) for the subframes in the bottom left. I would go with tinman if he had the same thing for a future purchase, but for now i would like to keep the compatability option open

 

Can you tell a difference with the Maier's installed when you drive?

 

I could tell the difference in the stiffness of my car when I first pulled it out of the driveway, it was an immediate ... "oh my gosh, why didn't I do this sooner?!" But yes, the difference when driving is amazing. I installed them along with replacing floor pans and a set of under-ride bars. Next thing to break ... the trans, now that the car will hook, haha.


none of them are bad pieces IMO, it was just after my research, the Maier ones looked superior to me. I was/am very satisfied with my purchase.

 

I'm getting ready to do subframe connectors on my car. While performance is my prime consideration, another concern I have is how the product looks on the car. In the case of chassis mods, I like stuff that looks like it's been there all along. The Tinman connectors fit that criteria.
I do like the TCP system , but they're expensive, and I wonder how my exhaust will fit after the x brace is installed.
I went to the Maier Racing to check out their product, and, while I agree with the engineering principle of cylindrical vs square tubing, things got a bit vague with the multiple mounting points and this little jewel: ceiling of work capacities. What really turned me off was, for all the flash and bling on this website, there wasn't one really good photo of the product, and there were no photos of the product on a car! Sorry guys, if I'm welding something(especially as expensive as this is) on my car, you've got to do a better job of putting me in the picture!
Cheers,
Brian

 

I can take some pics of them on my car if you would like. I do agree, I would of liked to see a pic of them on a car. The tubing was a larger diameter than I expected, but nothing too big or bulky. I did have to relocate the front mounting point on the rear of the bars (if that makes sense) because it is in the exact same place as where one of the brackets for the under-rides go.

It might be hard to get the right angles and stuff to see them b/c my car is so low, I need to bring it here to work and get it on the lift to get some good pics.

 

If you want to stiffen it some more, you might try this. I put in the 67 torque boxes and welded 1/8" steel down the side of the floor support to connect the TinMan SFC to the torque box. I also welded a 1" angle steel piece to the rocker panel. Really stiffens it up.



I also welded a 3/16" plate from the front of the torque box to the Heidts frame boxing plates. So, it's essentially 3/16" steel from the front crossmember to the rear subframe. There isn't any flex that I can detect.