Anyone remember who made a front subframe bracing?

Spectra1

Member
Do you mean the front under body cross brace? If so that was Conrad Andes from ACE Engineering. He sometimes pops in over on ctech but he sold his alltrac and no longer makes them. If you convice him to make one I would be interested in one too.
 

underscore

Well-known member
I believe he stopped making them as he was starting a family and wouldn't have the spare time for side projects like the braces anymore.

I think a couple other companies make braces but they aren't as strong.

edit: aceengineering.ca now redirects to mint-design.ca, in the gallery they show one of the 185 braces. So it appears the guys are still around, just under a new name.
 

MWP

New member
You mean this one?

IMG_1940.jpg


Im rather unconvinced that will have any effect.
The factory E-W brace across there does the same job and will be 10x stronger than that added flimsy bracing.
 

underscore

Well-known member
It was tested and proven to be the strongest brace for this chassis, and it connected the control arms much better (directly) than the EW brace.
 

Sifu

New member
It was Conrad and I was interested as well. I have a Cusco unit, it is aluminum but Conrad's was a similar design with a frame and center brace.
 

klue

New member
The brace is definitely functional. The cusco ones are available through xiiimotorsports. Contact me for details.

Luke
 

alltracman78

Active member
The factory brace does nothing close to the same job.
Even adding the Cusco makes a fairly noticeable difference. Never tried Conrads one.
 

sleeper

New member
I sent have contacted both klue and mint-design about this, so waiting for a reply.

Reason for me to try it is a problem with wheel hop when running slicks. so just might have to tie together the front end better.
 

Droptop93

New member
Last I talked with Conrad, about a month ago, he does still have the jig to make the underbody brace, if we can get enough interest and people with money and not back out we might be able to convince him to do a short run ( maybe) but as of now I got the last one made by conrad. Let me know and I'll get a hold of him
 

sleeper

New member
Droptop93":10jixxci said:
Last I talked with Conrad, about a month ago, he does still have the jig to make the underbody brace, if we can get enough interest and people with money and not back out we might be able to convince him to do a short run ( maybe) but as of now I got the last one made by conrad. Let me know and I'll get a hold of him


If they fit a st165 i`m in as long as they are not SUPER expensive...
 

Conrad_Turbo

New member
Sorry for the late chiming in with this. Just recovering from PRK laser eye surgery last week. I'm assuming it was you sleeper that emailed me, sorry for the lack of response. I'm just beginning to be able to see a computer/phone screen.

Yes ACE Engineering is no longer and has been rebranded as Mint Design for almost 2 years now. My family and I along with the business is in the process of moving at the end of this month. So things are a bit hectic but it's all for the better.

As for the underbody braces, yes I do have the jig to produce them. The design is superior to Cusco or pretty much any aluminum version out there (I haven't kept up to date if there are any new versions out there). I know they will not clear an aftermarket oil pan or fit a ST165.

As for a new build, I'd need at least 10 people and it'd end up in the $350 range. I'd also tweak the design to make it better than the Rev01 design. Since I have the ability to do CNC cutting in house. I would need a local ST18X to make sure everything lines up as it's been a few years since I've used the jig.

Right now with the move and with my existing workload it wouldn't be until early next year.
 

Brad_91

New member
I will keep an eye on this thread, this was a part I was considering adding to my GT-Four.

I'd be interested in one for ~$350
 
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