Hello Mazda Forum Members!

Newb here. I don't own a Protege but I do own a '98 Ford Escort wagon. I read somewhere that Proteges had a front tie bar that would bolt directly to the front suspension on my car. First off I wanted to confirm that there is an actual front tie bar that Proteges have. I realize that maybe not all years had them and I would also assume that it would probably have to come from a generation close to mine although having researched it a bit it looks like the '89 - '94 would be the best candidates as they ran the same BG chassis as the Escort.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

John

 

Maybe you had better define what you think a Front Tie bar is.

Because if it is what I think you want then they DO NOT WORK by themselves you must install other supporting and stiffing components.

 

As far as I understand it, the Front tie bar ties both strut towers together at the control arm pivot point.

John

 

Yes that is a Front Tie Bar. They alone do not work. Try to find anywhere that when force applied a measurable improvement in G-force?
Now if you use them with several other front suspension stiffeners all of the separate components work to make a difference and can be measured. As lone as the other components are designed and the correct materials used.

 

I'm currently running a set of Ground Control Coilovers on a set of KYB GR2's. I also installed a set of poly bushings on the endlinks front and back and sway bar hold downs along with poly steering rack bushings to keep the rack from moving changing the steering geometry of the suspension. I also installed a stiffer rear sway bar to decrease the amount of understeer the stock suspension came with from the factory along with inducing a degree of negative camber to help on hard cornering. The lower control arms have been set at a ride height to be level to the ground to maximize the stability in bump and droop. The suspension is fairly stiff but the car corners really flat.



One of the reasons I wanted to install a tie bar on the front is because the car has a crossmember that spans across the suspension but I had to remove it as it hit the stainless 4/2/1 header with straight pipe I had installed.

My plan is to install a lower tie bar and an upper strut tower bar to locate the strut towers and decrease as much movement as I can on hard cornering. By stabilizing the suspension in this way the car will be more stable at high speed cornering and just at high speed in general.

John

 

Double post

 

I have supporting suspension mods.

Back to the original question. Does the Protege have a front tie bar and if so what year Protege did they come with?

John

 

John the supporting suspension you would be referring to would mean you welded bars to the strut towers and also have at least a 4 point roll bar in side the passenger area "minimum"!! There are actually a few more structural "supporting bars necessary to tie it all together the least of which is those front tie bars. These front tie bars physically can do nothing by them selves. It was one of the easiest "MYTH" buster to do with a simple acetometer and a 200 foot flat surface.

 

John look it is not about your request for someone to post none application part cross- over use information but to set other's reading this thread get a better or even correct line of information about a single part so perhaps they don't spend time and money on what really if used alone only serves as a cosmetic piece and perhaps a conversation interest in a parking lot car show. Logically if you simply think about the design the mere physic's would clearly seem that a horizontal support attached to the lower subframe that is attached via bolts and not welded can not do anything! I engineer and design performance suspension parts and have never offered a bolt on subframe support because they don't work.

Your wagon looks nice and I am sure for you improved from stock. I would really suggest to get a 4 or belter 6 and even best 8-10 point roll cage installed. Not only will it give you a tremendous amount of safety but will improve your suspension components performance. Your spending so must on a mixed match suspension that in reality going counter productive and the vehicle may be giving you a false confidence that at speed will get you into trouble in the end! The rule of thumb for going faster road tracking is learn to drive better then improve the vehicle.

 

The car is being built for the street with some occasional parking lot AX's and maybe a test and tune day or two, While installing a roll cage would certainly stiffen up the unibody flexion not only is it illegal to run a roll cage in a street driven car but it is also very dangerous. Roll cages in race cars serve their purpose in regards to stiffening the chassis and doing double duty in regards to protecting the driver in a roll over situation but in all those situations the driver has the adequate protection needed to deal with the roll cage i.e. helmet, X point seat belt, etc. If I was wearing a helmet every time I got in my car then it would be fine. Unfortunately PD isn't so amiable and will pull me over and ticket me. Even a mild accident could result in death as smacking your head on a piece of cold rolled steel is probably not the best in regards to trying to stave off, at the very least, brain damage.

As much as I would love to build a full on corner carver, on this project I'm just trying to improve things beyond the OEM standard without having to gut my interior, install a 12 point roll cage, run a 6 point harness and adhere to whatever sanctioning body I'm trying to comply with,

Just a fun street car with some decent grunt and improved lateral grip when I want to have some fun in the twisties.......

I get where you're coming from in regards to trying to keep as much misinformation or at the very least information that can be used incorrectly due to the lack of complete context so I'm fine with your intent. I really just wanted to tie the lower and upper strut towers to keep the flexion down to a minimum.

John