Strut bar structural integrity/design flaw?

[legato]

Peepz

I have a titanium GarageHRS strut bar for the evo...It is pretty nice looking...and it probably ways 1/2 of the stock strut bar...

However...I haven't installed this because I noticed that on the rear side of the main horizontal beam on the right side, there is what appears to be an indentation of about 1" long and probably 1/8" deep...

I just verified from somebody who has the ARC version, that their bar has this same indentation (Appears the HRS strut is actually fabricated by ARC and rebranded as HRS). It could be the area where they clamp down on to weld the other pieces together...Not sure tho...

Anyway, is this something I should be concerned with? My paranoia has gone against me installing this bar because I'm afraid that the thing is not structurally stable...

I mean if one side get an indentation in the metal, it ain't the same as if it didn't have that indentation....

I'm about to go and send a letter to ARC to inquire if this is really of concern or not...

Any thoughts?

[Keith DC5]

There isn't a whole lot of force that travels through a strut tower bar. I don't think the dent will be much of a stress riser channeling all of the energy to that one spot. Unibody chassis gain their integrity from the sum of their parts afterall (all panels dependent on the others for strength) so chassis braces don't need to be very strong.

[legato]

That works for me!

Thanks for the clarificatioN!

[corytomo]

And if it does break, just take it to be rewelded or get a new bar, it won't make you crash or anything.