Guest balcar Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 I'll be building some strut tower braces for my Z, I see many examples and wondering one thing, why if its a brace, to lot of them using rod ends? I figured if you are stifining it up, you would just make it solid, right? Does it need to be adjustable also if its custom made for a paticular car? Just curious? Thanks Phil http://www.miniz.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage42 Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 First, a triangulated setup is the best. As for running tie rods, you need to have some adjustablity, so you can bolt it down. Not everything is going to line up perfectly every time. Shoot, you could have your car parked in a slanted driveway or not even on a set of jackstands and have enough flex in the car to not have the holes line up if there wasn't a way to compensate. The key is having a right-hand/left-hand threaded ends, so you can tighten the bar by rotating it. You have to remember that under hard cornering, the strut tower will end to pull outwards, so you are essentially using the opposite tower as an anchor. Rod ends are snug and don't allow for hardly any movement once tightened down. Hope that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 I got a triangulated set, front and rear, from Top End Racing. They are not adjustable. Both front and rear, I had to jack the car to get the wheels off the ground, remove the two bolts that the braces bolt to, and then loosen the third bolt and allow the suspension to lower in order to get them on without slotting the holes. It worked and they are really tight but I'll have to reverse the procedure if I ever need to take them off or risk stripping the threads on the top strut mounts. This procedure worked for me because my car had never been in an accident and is very straight. Anyone who has a car that's been wrapped up a bit will have a real challenge with the Top End braces. that is where the adjustable rod end versions would be a Godsend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest balcar Posted May 1, 2004 Share Posted May 1, 2004 Any good pics of a triangulated setups? My email is havok@austin.rr.com Thanks Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted May 1, 2004 Share Posted May 1, 2004 Triangulated is much better than just a straight bar. Rod ends will only constrain movement by the strut towers in 1 axis. The movements of the strut tower under hard driving aren't just in that 1 axis though. They move fore and aft as well, so triangulating to the firewall is a really good idea. (given that the firewall is reinforced to be able to take such loads) You'll likely notice a huge difference in how your car turns in at anything more than 6/10 driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted May 1, 2004 Share Posted May 1, 2004 Here's a pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rc's240z Posted May 2, 2004 Share Posted May 2, 2004 Here is a solution that incorporates adjustability without using rod ends. There have been numerous discussions regarding strut bars and cages you might want to look in the achives too.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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