Upper Strut Tie bar Question

[amalventano1 at tds.net (Allyn)]

> Autotech upper bar is by far the best I have used...

Agreed.

> I just got the rear bar and also the hollow sway bars.  I 
> hope to have them installed in the next month.

David, I have always had my doubts about the rear upper tie bar.  There is negligable stress between those two points, at least as
they are supported by the bar.  The shock mount points support the cars weight in the vertical direction only, and since they are
shocks (not struts), there is no camber/caster type loads transmitted to the upper mounting point.  All major cornering-type loads
are taken by the rear beam and the beams pivot points, which are not supported in any way by the steel that far back in the hatch.

IMO, that whole rear bar thing (2 or 4 point) is overrated, at least with the way currently available iterations are constructed.
It woulc be possible to make a 3-point triangluated version that ties into the center of the box at the hatch floor (between the
towers), and such a bar could help with the vertical deflection, but the tower mounting points would have to be better than the
cheesy 'u' shaped mounts I have seen in use.

HTH
Al