sway bar and strut tower sources

[Pinion]

looking for sway bars, front and rear, and front and rear strut tower braces, unhinged if possible.

[pdxmotorhead]

There are no struts in the rear. brace does very little in the rear unless on track (And that's debatable) . The TI is one of the stiffest cars they ever built, Add the Front tower brace and the cross member reinforcement from the vert and your good to go.. You need the shock mount re-enforcements in the rear. Front tower caps to prevent tearing if your gonna run it hard..



Dave

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by pdxmotorhead

There are no struts in the rear. brace does very little in the rear unless on track (And that's debatable) . The TI is one of the stiffest cars they ever built, Add the Front tower brace and the cross member reinforcement from the vert and your good to go.. You need the shock mount re-enforcements in the rear. Front tower caps to prevent tearing if your gonna run it hard..



Dave

yes I know there are no struts in the rear, just looking for a tower brace.
my experience with beemers and braces is pretty good. just need sources, not having any luck with Eibach, or Harrison, for this car.

[Pinion]

got H&R sway bars, 28mm front, 21mm rear. just need tower braces now.

[MINIz guy]

I'm pretty sure Mason Engineering has some very nice strut and shock tower braces for your needs.

[zoner]

Originally Posted by pdxmotorhead

Add the Front tower brace and the cross member reinforcement (X-brace) from the vert and your good to go.. You need the shock mount re-enforcements in the rear. Front tower caps to prevent tearing if your gonna run it hard..


Dave

This.



IMO, Mason makes the stiffest and nicest strut braces for these cars. They do make a rear bar but as Dave said, unless you're building a full-on race car, it's probably unnecessary. You'd be better off investing the money in quality rear shock mounts (I run Rogue Engineering RSM's) and quality trailing arm/subframe bushings. I would recommend the front tower reinforcement caps on any lowered ti, regardless of how hard you might run it- it's cheap, easy insurance against mushrooming the towers.

Also- that's a lot of sway bar you have there... you're going to need to reinforce the rear bar chassis mounts and trailing arm tabs and make sure you have grippy rubber to keep up.

[pdxmotorhead]

Originally Posted by Pinion

yes I know there are no struts in the rear, just looking for a tower brace.
my experience with beemers and braces is pretty good. just need sources, not having any luck with Eibach, or Harrison, for this car.

With the E30 style rear suspension, bracing the shock tunnels doesnt make much sense. (There is no structure there) Now if it was a E36 3**I/S/whatever Then it makes sense. If you havn't yet, going to stiffer rear suspension mounting bushings will do way more for this car, unless the brace is for cosmetics.. Then thats a WHOLE nother story.

If you have to,,, here's how..
Have plates welded to the shock tunnels to make them strong enough, and then 2 tabs welded to that, at the top and at floor level of each tunnel, one side offset slightly forward of the other so the bars can pass each other to make an X from the back.

Order 2 Heim jointed 1" control rods from a place like speedmart. (Dirt track supplier) they do polished aluminum VERY VERY strong. Youll need a tab

The control rods are like a turn buckle, so you bolt or quick pin them them to the tabs, and turn the rod to tighten just till they have a tick of tension.

That's as much rigidity as you'll get and you can likely do the whole thing for < 200 bucks. And its quickly removable if you use quick pins so the trunk is useable.

Cheers
Dave

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by pdxmotorhead

With the E30 style rear suspension, bracing the shock tunnels doesnt make much sense. (There is no structure there) Now if it was a E36 3**I/S/whatever Then it makes sense. If you havn't yet, going to stiffer rear suspension mounting bushings will do way more for this car, unless the brace is for cosmetics.. Then thats a WHOLE nother story.

If you have to,,, here's how..
Have plates welded to the shock tunnels to make them strong enough, and then 2 tabs welded to that, at the top and at floor level of each tunnel, one side offset slightly forward of the other so the bars can pass each other to make an X from the back.

Order 2 Heim jointed 1" control rods from a place like speedmart. (Dirt track supplier) they do polished aluminum VERY VERY strong. Youll need a tab




The control rods are like a turn buckle, so you bolt or quick pin them them to the tabs, and turn the rod to tighten just till they have a tick of tension.

That's as much rigidity as you'll get and you can likely do the whole thing for < 200 bucks. And its quickly removable if you use quick pins so the trunk is useable.

Cheers
Dave

Thanks, I will check into bushings, my first 318ti.

[Pinion]

ordered AKG bushings for the rear, and Mason Engineering front brace. wee haa. I'm a bee a busy bee this winter.

[jca]

I'm sure that you will be pleased with the Mason bar, but for those reading this thread on a more limited budget, I highly recommend the Sparco steel bar for about $120. Just like the Mason, the Sparco is welded, not bolted together, hence much more rigid. The bar makes a noticeable difference in handling...feels great.

[zoner]

Get the AKG sway bar tab reinforcements as well and check out this thread on reinforcing the chassis mounts.