One thing OFNA added to the Dominator that the Monster Pirate did not have was new front/rear bumpers. While some guys remove this to allow their bodies to mount lower, I have found that these bumpers are very good for crash protection, so I keep them on.

OFNA also changed the front brace mounting location from the steering top-plate to the front shock tower instead. All this makes for a very durable setup. BUT, the result is that for bad crashes, the bumper transfers the force of the impact to the shock tower, which transfers it to the brace rod, which in turn transfers it to a screw that holds it to the centre brace.

This screw exerts quite a bit of leverage on the center brace, so on hard impacts, the brace *will* bend. After a brutal bashing session, my aluminum center brace was badly bent... so down to the LHS I went to replace it. They were out of stock replacements, so I bought a carbon version instead. After the next bashing session, the carbon brace was broken at both the front *and* rear brace joints.

Here's a modification I did that basically strengthened the entire setup - I bought a second brace and using longer screws, mounted it on top of the balls holding the bracing rods. Click on the pics and you'll find it's a simple mod without much explanation needed.

What happens is that this not only transfers part of the impact to the rear brace/shock tower, it also reduces the leverage that the ball-end has on the lower brace - it's actually this leverage that I suspect bends and breaks the braces.

Remember that these braces are still aluminum/carbon and may still bend/break, but this should definitely be a stronger setup than stock.

Pictures

I've since upgraded to titanium center braces and these are supposed to be next to indestructable - but I still run the upper aluminum brace just for that added bit of assurance. :)

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