strut braces and science behind em? (a lil help scott lol)

si.c1978

Senior Member
Hi,
again im sorry this isnt very vx related but the principles the same lol!

i have managed to obtain a GP version R rear anti roll bar drop links bushes etc as well as whiteline front droplinks and bushes, as an upgrade for the fto. very affordable they were too! :)
having them fitted as soon as my mate can squeeze me in down the workshop.
this has started me thinking as tuning parts for jap cars are easily to come by for inspiration.

scott hopefully you can help me out a bit here, we made a bit of a team strut brace for the old green beast.

now it all seems quite simple for the fto in that i will only need to make a ring with a three hole pcd for both front struts, (no problem) but the backs will need more looking at (it seems to be some sort of 'neck ' clamp affair from the pics ive seen plus a bought one just wont do as i need to probably bend around my lpg tank and gusset weld it for strength)

can anyone or scott explain how to make the brace (the main bar part) does it need to be a tight fit or just the right length across the struts or does it need to be adjustable? all of which i can easily design and make.

just a little help with the principles will be most appreciated.:)
 

si.c1978

Senior Member
heres my idea obviously no fancy bends to apply engine bay clearance have been done yet.
strut brace end concept.jpg
strut brace end concept.jpg
strut brace.jpg
 

si.c1978

Senior Member
So after a wee bit of digging around it seems that the main strut is offset to the rear of the Fto mount.
All the dimensions are good just going to have to remodel the boss where it welds/bolts on depending on the materials used.
ATM I'm thinking stainless or tool steel for the rings and 1" solid Ali round bar or (cost goes right out the window here) titanium. Which with a lick of flame would look pretty fly.
 

robo22sri

Senior Member
Si it just needs to stop the flex in the struts, a tighter fit the better to stop any movement in the strut plates that the cross bar would go in.

If your front struts are close to the bulk head you don't really need a strut brace as such because the bulk head should not move.

The golf was coilovered polybushed and strut braced and it handled so well
 

si.c1978

Senior Member
Hello rob, hows it going?
Cars booked in to have the lot done Friday (just hope me arb stuff turns up lol.)
That's what I've read, and as I'm doing both anti roll bars it should be awesome :), do you know much about wether they need to be fitted under any particular state? E.g pushing, pulling, or just fitted neutrally? Also is it better to fit them with no load on the struts at the time (on stands? )
Where yours adjustable? Are there any benefits from adjusting them even?
if so (and I may do so for ease of fitting any way.) I will bore out some hexagonal bar put a left hand thread in one end and a normal one in the other and fit in the middle so that adjustment only requires turning the hex bar in either direction to expand or contract the whole bar. :)
I have some images of a concept for the rear strut but I'm not sure wether it'll do the job as I'm avoiding the lpg tank. The mount plate is not as tricky as I thought lol.
I may need to gusset to the mount plate. For the backwards lean. Inch bar would be necessary and Ali may not be practical unless I can find a tight welder.
The other option is to lose more boot space and make it out of flat bar and come backwards only around the tanks, easier to make mount plates but screwed joints for the bends would be necessary to save material. Simpler but harder to make look smart.
still ill bang a quick design out for that as an alternative.
 

si.c1978

Senior Member
after a wee bit more digging around, it seems strut braces come in all wonderfull shapes and sizes, and ive found a wonderfull pile of scrap steel im allowed to wallow in.
so what ill do is ill knock up a prototype of the above designs, should they not be favourable ill pretty much copy this pic below and suffer the further loss of space.
Cars-E36_SuspensionStrutBraces4Cyl300x200.gif
 

si.c1978

Senior Member
I started cutting today, hopefully I wont get a bollocking for running it in work time as the MC was empty.
I'm thinking that whatever I do will be based on these plates :)
IMG_20130612_164831.jpg
 

si.c1978

Senior Member
Cheers rob, you may notice I have focused on the rear assembly first as you advised.
Its the one that'll give me the most benefit.
I'm being advised to use steel tube (handy... there's a pile of it in the scrap) and make sockets to screw into my plates and weld if its necessary.
 

si.c1978

Senior Member
Oh. And the front plates need a rethink as the bar wont locate centrally on the plate.
Ill remodel it tomorrow. :(
 

si.c1978

Senior Member
Here's the rest of me gubbins,

GPversionR 20mm anti roll bar
Standard rear droplinks (well short! )
Whiteline front adjustable drop links
Poly arb bushes front and back
Tie bars and tie bar ends (mot advisory)

My mates going to do it for me while I'm at work Friday I don't mind paying in this instance as the cars a pain in the arse to lift and ill have to take it down to set it up any hoo. :)
 

si.c1978

Senior Member
thanks! its not bade considering i knocked it out fairly rough to save machining time and im fettling and polishing them back, a little more to do on this one.

for the brace im going to screw then weld around a 19mm block in that slot rise the diameter of my tube above the bracket and come out flat around the tank to keep all the forces linear.
if i rise above it as in my origional idea force could be applied in a manner that could cause the plate to bend around its screws which would be gutting. ill get round to redrawing it on monday. im afraid a wee bit of cardboard cut out planning is required :LOL:
ill finish the other bracket once i get home and im waiting for me car back.
 

si.c1978

Senior Member
Noone ever asks lol! I haven't gone to town on the design before now either.
But when I do parts I keep the models so it would only be a matter of scaling to an appropriate size and know the hole circle pitch.
I just makewhat I'm asked for to keep the cost down for who wants it.
Ill post a breakdown of costs once I'm finished and I should be ok to make more ill let you know.
I would like to get my own machine and I already am able to blag free space for it. Ill just have to curb car and snowboarding habits for a while. :)
 
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