Strut Bars (F&R) Good or Bad?

[ZeroG]

Thought I would start a discussion. So tell me how it is, what is good about a front and rear strut brace. What you like what you don't like, what works and what doesn't.

Or maybe they do not do anything at all.

-Chad

[rob]

the bars simply take some of the flex out of the chassis.some guys say that a front strut bar does not work. i beg to differ. there is a x brace for the underneath of the car and that works great. strong strut makes some nice bars and they have a butt strut for the rear that takes the wiggle out of the e-30 type rear suspension.

rob.

[Sirius600]

I've read that a strong rear sway bar could damage the rear struts and/or suspension. I'm not sure if this is true, but it's been brought up in some other threads.

[1996 328ti]

A bigger sway bar will rip out the mounts. You need to weld a support.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by rob

some guys say that a front strut bar does not work

Actually it's the rear bar that is pretty much worthless. since the rear suspension are shocks, and not struts. There is no question as to wether or not the front strut bar is useful, it is.

[Sirius600]

Originally Posted by Steven Schlossman

A bigger sway bar will rip out the mounts. You need to weld a support.

Would a rear strut/stress bar provide greater strength without ripping on the rear suspension?

[ZeroG]

Originally Posted by Sirius600

Would a rear strut/stress bar provide greater strength without ripping on the rear suspension?

How are the shock tower mounts ripped out by the bar? Have you ever seen this? I have hear of the tops of the towers being blown out by solid rear mounts but never becasue of a bar.

I currently have a rear bar and I thought that it made a big difference. I could feel it when I drove with it, and when I took it out everything go loose.

This is the bar that is on my 318IS, does anyone else have one? I know this is a TI forum.

http://www.itsallaboutspeed.com

[Jared]

I think everyone is getting confused...

A rear STRUT tower bar will not do anything to damage anything. However, it probably doesn't really strengthen or stiffen much either, it just looks nice.

A rear SWAY bar does have potential to do damage. It attaches to two flimsy little tabs on the lower arms of the rear suspension, and those tabs should be reinforced before putting a stiffer sway bar on.


That said, I don't think the rear strut bar does much. I also don't think a front strut bar does much, unless you get one that has no hinges (i.e., the BMW motorsport brace or the JTD brace). The X brace, however, connects 4 points underneath the car, and I think that it is a very valuable piece for stiffening up the front end.

Sway bars are a completely different topic.

[ddiorio1313]

Do these people(http://www.itsallaboutspeed.com) sell anything else....? The product looks nice, but how do you only sell one thing...?

[ZeroG]

Originally Posted by ddiorio1313

Do these people(http://www.itsallaboutspeed.com) sell anything else....? The product looks nice, but how do you only sell one thing...?

I think they ust started. I got a card from one of the guys at teh LA autoshow.

-Chad

[RAJ]

Strut bars work best if thay have multiple mounting points (as Jared stated). The most common ones mounting only from shock-tower to shock-tower, I'd say are indeed worthless.
NOTE: Round tubing is sronger than square in that the pressure is focussed down a thin line down the tube on the inside of any bending (inside of arch.. or flex direction), and the rest of the circumfrence of the tube is resisting. The more the stress (pressure).. the wider the line of pressure = the smaller the area of resistence.
--With square or rectangular tubing, if the bottom is bending upward (flex really) than the top of the tube (same size surface area) is resisting... and stretching. the sides of the square tube virtually do nothing for strength (if a tube- the sides generally tend to bulge out. Uh... I said "bulge".
-sometimes, square can be beneficial since the surface areas would be the same on all sides. rectangular would of course only have 2 equal- like-minded sides.

>> Material density and thickness plays in Big role in all this. Thicker= more resistent no matter if square or round. Higher Density also is more resistent.

Summed up- More mounting points= BETTER.> like shock towers and 2 points on firewall. this would be a bit difficult on a BMW since the firewall is not all that accessible from the tray below the windshield- (wiper area). And we have a wiring cluster hell behind the engine.

MY best guess would be a Custom bar mounting to the shock towers and then to the engine's head via the 2 bolts where the lift point is at the front, just below the cam cover. this would provide 3 points > the 2 towers and the center (engine) somewhat being fixed by 2 motor mounts and then also transmission. But Urethane or rubber Dampening Isolaters Would be NEEDED- since we don't have Tube-chassis cars, this box does flex- we dont want vibration or flex cracks in our shock towers due to engine movement..... and we dont want to rip the bolt holes on the engine head.

I am working on one that will mount to the shock towers and the subframe -forward of the engine. My main concern is to be able to use Real Camber adjuster on top of the strut brace mounting plates. not much room for hood clearence. might have to drop shock towers. But, I will also be working on a simple ,virtually Bolt-On, but effective bar.

A simple book to help explain just the basics of chassis dynamics is "How to make your car handle" - easy to find at Borders -'but raider'- Books or Barnes & Nubile- in yer pocket.

Originally Posted by ddiorio1313

Do these people(http://www.itsallaboutspeed.com) sell anything else....? The product looks nice, but how do you only sell one thing...?

Hi,
Good question. We are a new company and are working to provide products you won't find anyone else selling. We're also developing custom performance products. Making sure it meets our standards for quality and performance takes time, which is why you don't see a lot on our site right now, but they are coming.

We're almost done with one of our performance items. We had it out on the street for some testing yesterday and someone must have seen it because the next thing we know, we're getting phone calls asking if they can get one.

We'll be adding more in the coming weeks, so check back with us.

Thanks for checking us out.

[RAJ]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...927734423&rd=1

[RAJ]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...929275399&rd=1


price is good!-- look at shipping cost

[RAJ]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...928431082&rd=1

nice looking but Holly Cow!