[Chas]

Well I had been alluding to it in my C-Bar thread in the Group Buys forum, but now it's done and I'm ready to show you all what I've been up to.

I've been asked for as long as I have been making these bars for people to add some sort of Drive Train Stabilizer to my bars like the AWE DTS. And I have said that it wouldn't happen. Well I changed my mind. I got a wild hair and something sparked my imagination and WAMMO! just like that I had the idea of how to do it with my design.

It seems simple enough, but for some reason I just didn't want to do it. Well now I did it and it works very well! 8) The tranny/shift lever makes no moves at all now. Even under the hardest shifts.

I have already built 3 of these bars. The first was the prototype. It was a working unit, but it had some flaws. I fixed those issues with the second design with some subtle changes and now I have the finished product on my car. Part of the reason for building 3 sepperate units was to perfect manufacturing techniques so that if someone other than me installs this system onto their car it will work each and every time.

Anyhow, here are the pictures for the C-Bar with DTS. I'll have to come up with a better name as AWE calls their bar the DTS bar. But that really describes what this system does. How about DTSL? Drive Train Slop Limiter. :roll: :roll: :lol: :lol:

I'm not sure if this is the final look of the plates. I want to add some sort of "bling" to the look. Right now it is very functional, but that's it. Then again, it's on the bottom of the car and very difficult to see without the car raised up on a lift. :crazy: :roll: :weirdo:

So, what do you think? I love the way it feels on the car. The whole thing is a lot tighter now. I have been using a solid C-Bar on my car for the last several months to test out how it feels as opposed to the standard (and lighter) hollow C-Bar. The handling is the same between the two bar designs. And now with the added benifit of the tranny being linked to the C-Bar the car feels a lot more "solid." 8) 8) :thumbup:

Again, there is no need to drill any holes anywhere. VW/Audi have supplied all the needed holes and threads. We just need to use them! :lol: 8)

I wanted to know what people thought befor I start to offer these. The price is going to have to reflect the increase in work and cost of matterials, but it will still be a cheaper alturnative to the AWE DTS bar. And like the AWE bar, this is only available for the 5spd cars. There is just no way to secure a mount to the Tip tranny. Sorry.

 

[Slider]

It figures that you would come out with this less than a week after my regular C-bar arrived. I haven't even installed it yet! No probelm really. I will wait and see how the general consensus pans out before taking the plunge.

I take it that the c-bar part of this new product is a solid piece so you cannot retro-fit the hollow c-bar. Seems like a great design. I am interested in hearing how it works for other members.

 

[iconnx]

What about tip drive? Anything for tip drive? Anything...please?

 

[B5V6]

You can count me in for one........My manual tranny is screaming for a stabilizer.....ehmmm, I mean slop limiter. Price will depend on how soon one is purchased.

 

[Scuba2001]

Nothing for tip, as Chas said.

Chas, a suggestion may be this... since you now use a solid bar for this setup would it be beneficial to counter sink the bolt holes in the bar? That would clear any issues that some people may have with being lowered to extream amounts. Just an idea. Would take alittle more time to drill out but may be beneficial to some people.

Looks like a great design so far.

 

[Slider]

Countersinking the bolts in the main bar is good idea but it would probably increase Chas' time and thus increase price. Maybe it could be offered both ways?

 

[Spanky McGee]

Home Grown!

I love it!

 

[CB]

Chas, any idea how this would affect the crash characteristics of the car? Are the bolts such that it could break away? Love to hear your thoughts on that (maybe someone who bought one has already had that happen, God forbid).

 

[blaupassat]

I've been holding out for this one. Looks impressive, nice job as always Chas.

 

[MrJackalope]

Are you going to offer an O.G. C-Bar Upgrade kit? :wink: Or how about a return ploicy...O.G. C-Bar for New-G C-Bat DTSL?? :weirdo: In any case... put me down for 1!!!!! let me know when they are ready!

 

[AngeloB5.5]

I had the AWE DTS and it rubbed against my Brullen Downpipe. Is there any rubbing issues with this bar? I see it connects differently than the DTS. The DTS mounted straight to the subframe. What is the C-bar mounting to?

 

[B5veedub]

uggg too bad i already have regular C-bar.....i may have to ditch mine eventually for one of these babies tho my tranny is sloppy as hell i can't wait just to get my snub mount in.....

 

[Chas]

I'l try and answer all these question as best I can.

What about tip drive? Anything for tip drive? Anything...please?

Sorry, but no. I can't see any way to get around that huge Tip tranny. It really is a bug problem.

... since you now use a solid bar for this setup would it be beneficial to counter sink the bolt holes in the bar?

I have thought about this Steve, but there are a couple reasons I didn't do it to this first bar. Tha main reason is that this bar is actually shorter that the standard design! And therefore it is not even close to being the lowest part of the car. The 5 spd bar has never been much of an issue when comes to scraping it on stuff.

Chas, any idea how this would affect the crash characteristics of the car? Are the bolts such that it could break away? Love to hear your thoughts on that (maybe someone who bought one has already had that happen, God forbid).

Well, this isn't actually a "crash" where the whole car is totalled, but there have been a couple cases where the bar was ripped from the subframe mounting points. The bar was also mangled and twisted beyond recognition. And in each case, one, if not both subframe mounting points tore appart. And that is where the weakest point of the design is at.
Also, with this new DTSL I have, you might have noticed I used a smallish size bolt (allen head) to attach the lower plate to the bar itself. Those are 1/4" - 20 bolts and will surely snap in that sort of situation. Remember, the forces you are talking about in a front end crash where the engine drops under the chassis are tremendous! This bar will be the last thing you think about in that situation.
Like you said, God Forbid. :nervous:

Are you going to offer an O.G. C-Bar Upgrade kit? Or how about a return ploicy...O.G. C-Bar for New-G C-Bat DTSL?? In any case... put me down for 1!!!!! let me know when they are ready!

You know, I have thought about this. And I believe there is a way to do it, but I'll have to try it out first. But I haven't even really gotten that far yet. That will be a bit down the road.

I had the AWE DTS and it rubbed against my Brullen Downpipe. Is there any rubbing issues with this bar? I see it connects differently than the DTS. The DTS mounted straight to the subframe. What is the C-bar mounting to?

I have never had anyone complaint to me about any rubbing issues. The bar is quite far away from the downpipe. Take a look at the one picture above that shows the bar mounted to the car. There is at least a 4 inch gap between the DP and the bar.
Also, the AWE bar does (technically) mount to the sub frame, but way at the back where it attaches to the uni-body. My bar attaches to the sub frame, but closer to the source of the flexing, the lower control arms. The closer you get to the control arms, the more you can stop the flexing of the sub frame. The ideal spot for any bar would be right between the two lower arms. But there aren't any cool holes already in the sub frame waiting for you to attach a cool bar. Besides, the mounting holes for the tranny are only a short distance away from the C-Bar location. This works out very well actually.

I hope I got them all. If you guys have any other questions, don't hessitate to ask. I'll do my best to answer them all!

I'm still working out a price for all of this, but it will be a lot cheaper than any of the other lower tie bars with a DTS system. :lol: 8)

 

[Nenad]

Maybe to add one more rubber piece between tranny and bar. With ASP DTS, I experienced low frequenzies noise from tranny transmited to chassis and exhaust system (no rubbing issues) that made my life miserable in range 1800-2400 rpms. This can happen with a lot of guys that are using universal or loud aftermarket mufflers (like I did). I solved problem by changing for "quiet" type of mufflers and adding rubber plate (like gasket).

 

[EUROJUCE]

Chas Bar

Love your original bar. You should really consider the upgrade option mention earlier in the post. You know, like selling the additional parts and measurements/diagrams for the upgrade. And make it affordable, say like 20-25 bucks for the upgrade. My .02
You da man, keep up the excellent work.
Juce

 

[Rusty]

Congratulations, Chas!!! You have just "rocked" the Chas-bar!!!!!!! :lol: :crazy: :thumbup: :thumbup:

 

[Chas]

Re: Chas Bar

Love your original bar. You should really consider the upgrade option mention earlier in the post. You know, like selling the additional parts and measurements/diagrams for the upgrade. And make it affordable, say like 20-25 bucks for the upgrade. My .02
You da man, keep up the excellent work.
Juce

Well there is no way I can offer the upgraded parts for the tranny stablizer for $25. The cost of aluminum is going through the roof thanks to all the exports of steel and alu. to China. :roll: And the cost of the mounts alone isn't cheap either.

As for the mounts themself, they are actually transmission mounts originally from a Triumph Spitfire. They are fairly flexable and so far I haven't experienced one bad effect from this new design.

Thanks Rusty! You nut! :weirdo: :crazy: :wink: :lol:

 

[Cav B5]

:bow: NICE WORK!!! :bow:

 

[I<3myW8]

Can you look into a W8 CBAR? Please... please, help us out.

 

[Chas]

Can you look into a W8 CBAR? Please... please, help us out.

Well, seeings how I don't own one of these cars and there are very few of them owned by local enthusiast and the dealership brushes me off everytime I try and sneak a peak under one, it's been kinda hard to know if this will work. I have a fealling that it will as VW must be using the same sub frame.

If you could get me some measurements from the sub frame mouinting holes and a picture of the under side of your car (the tranny and sub frame area) that would really help quite a bit.