Guest Carlissimo Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 Anybody know what strut bars do ? I can only see that they would keep the spacing between the struts fixed (they act as pinned joints at either end). What forces could possibly exist at the top of the struts that makes them want to tilt inboard or outboard ? Wouldn't the hood get all messed up if there was any significant relative motion between the two sides ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 Originally posted by Carlissimo:Anybody know what strut bars do ? The actual forces their are not very great, but enough to allow the towers to shift and alter your 'ideal' suspension geometry. With strut tower braces it provides enough stability to keep the towers squared up and your suspension as it's been setup. Triangulation is best as it then squares it up completely. Open your hood and have a friend press down on your brake pedal sometime......watch the master cylinder.....you'll see it flex out quite noticeably It is surprising at first how many dymanics happily coexist as you drive your car.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 240hybrid Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 Hey carlissimo, I was curious as to what fender flares those are and where you got them. Are they ones that MSA offers?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Zone Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 240hybrid, Check out carlisimo's website and you will see the flare install. http://home.mindspring.com/~crao/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudge Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 Originally posted by Carlissimo:Anybody know what strut bars do ? I can only see that they would keep the spacing between the struts fixed (they act as pinned joints at either end). What forces could possibly exist at the top of the struts that makes them want to tilt inboard or outboard ? When you get one, you will FEEL the difference. Strut towers flex, that is truth, even on the freeway a strut tower brace on the front of my Camaro was VERY noticeable improvement, maybe less so for a Z but the body flexes. Look at the very fron of the car, what is there to avoid flex, NOTHING. You have a crossmember at the bottom but you have nothing at the top for fully BOXED support. Otherwise a cage would be nothing but a safety device, however we all know that there is flex EVERYWHERE in the car, and that a cage will instantly stiffen up the chassis, helping to protect the body from squeaks, rattles, and cracks. Even a 4 point roll bar in a heavy car is like a whole different car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 You could tell the the difference with a solid mount. Some of these that are not 1 piece are just for show IMO. Check out Scottie GNZ's mount in the back Looks like about 2" steel tube. I have also seen a few triangular mounts for the front that look solid.(1 pc.) The ones that have fittings and nuts and bolts to ajust them on the mounts (or look like you could bend the thing on your knee ) are not worth it IMO. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greimann Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 Like Ross said, the movement is small, but there is definitely a seat of the pants feeling of more stability and rigidness. Not only do you have cornering forces trying to tweak things out of alignment, engine torque also wants to put things into a twist. Triangulation is a much more sound structural principle because you tie the flexible parts (towers) to inflexible parts like the highly contoured area of the firewall. Tower to tower bars all less effective because you are tying a flexible part to a flexible part and that will just parallelogram the front end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgia Flash Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 Ok since this thread is about strut bars lets try this question one more time. Does anyone out there currently running the MSA engine mount system know if it is possible to have the full size (round) air cleaner and still have the strut bar? Everytime I post this question it just dies. The reason I ask is in the MSA pic they show that cheesy little triangle air cleaner. I would like to have a set up like Pete,s but do not know if the MSA set up will allow for this. You know the traditional round air filter and strut bar. Please someone should know the answer to this question. It is a pretty straight forward question either you can or you can't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 You mean like Pete's? ]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pparaska/VariousPics6Dec2000.htm[/url] Man, I just realized (again) what an awsome engine that is!!! Whoops. Just rechecked your post. You asked about the MSA mount. Pretty sure Pete's is JTR. That pic is still worth looking at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 they are good in the front of a z, where theres like nothing protecting against some nice strut movement. in the rear on a street car, i dont think it does very much besides take up space. the rear has a lot more meat holding it together, the front of a unibody doesnt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carlissimo Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 The triangulation method looks a lot stiffer to me. Both look very nice. Still not sure it's worth the trouble though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zfreak Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 How about trying this. I also have a strut bar similar to Pete's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zfreak Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Lets try this one more time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron240zxt Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Tbuck, What did you do to connect that to on the fire wall, do you have any problem with flex on the firewall? Thanks Ron Rosamond CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zfreak Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Ron, There is a reinforcement directly behind the the firewall where the strut tower brace connects to the firewall. In the picture you can see that I also used some 1/8 in plate to strengthen the firewall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carlissimo Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Tbuck, You have a real nice installation going. The engine looks real good. It looks like it is sitting nice and low and pretty far back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 heres one example of one with an l6, soon to be a V-8 Strut Tower Bar Zya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carlissimo Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Any concern about creating "spears" that may be driven into the cabin in the event of a crash ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zfreak Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Hey Carlo, Thanks for the compliment on the engine compartment. As for the spears, I hear what your saying but have never givin it much thought. With any luck I hope no one ever finds out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rc's240z Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 An additional thought...the top of your strut towers twist under heavy load, most of the sections of your firewall are very flimsy, and if you dont tie in the section through where your sway bar is eventually you will crack your frame rails. So you might want to look at this type of solution... http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=1229&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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