Bernie Benz's Strut Tower Brace

Wed Apr 10 13:49:28 EDT 2002

Got my signs wrong.  It will move camber in a postitve direction.  Bernie

George,

The Benz Brace will add a small amount of negative camber because it forces
added compression/distortion of the upper strut bushing.  Was enough for me
to reach zero camber.  If you need more, check out the camber plate mods
documented on the S-cars archives.

Bernie

> From: "Dale McCormack" <dale at themccormacks.org>
> Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 14:05:52 -0500
> To: "George Fairbanks" <george.fairbanks at cs.cmu.edu>
> Cc: "Bernie Benz" <b.m.benz at prodigy.net>
> Subject: Re: Bernie Benz's Strut Tower Brace
>
> George,
>
> I can't speak for the "net wisdom", I'm only a subscriber and coordinator of
> components called for by Bernie's design.  He and others are the
> credentialed engineers on our list.  As for your camber challenge, I've read
> about "camber plates" to alleviate this alignment problem.
>
> Dale
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "George Fairbanks" <george.fairbanks at cs.cmu.edu>
> To: "Dale McCormack" <dale at themccormacks.org>
> Sent: April 10, 2002 1:04 PM
> Subject: Re: Bernie Benz's Strut Tower Brace
>
>
>> Hi Dale,
>>
>> My car is indeed lowered and hasn't been able to match the camber
> alignment
>> specs since then.  I bought the car this way from Greg Amy of BIRA
>> fame.  He told me that he and Neil Swanson (if memory serves) tried in
> vain
>> to get the camber to spec, and Neil was working at the local Audi
>> dealership at the time.  I'd hope that they looked into worn suspension
>> components at the time.
>>
>> I decided to put this strut brace in after reading its description here:
>>
>> http://members.aol.com/c1j1miller/strutbrace.html
>>
>> which describes how Bernie used it to fix a similar alignment problem.
> The
>> dates on the correspondence on that page indicate this was done in 1999 --
>> has the net wisdom changed since then?
>>
>> Thanks for the help with this problem.
>>
>> -George
>>
>>
>> At 12:24 PM 4/10/2002, you wrote:
>>> George,
>>> Your components are being shipped today.  As far as alignment goes, this
>>> won't affect in any way.  The purpose of a brace is simply to provide
>>> additional reinforcement between the strut towers.
>>>
>>> The alignment problems you discussed are likely caused by wear in
>>> suspension components that ARE REPLACEABLE.  If your alignment shop can't
>>> get it right, find out why.  You should be able to bring it into
>>> specifications as long as the care is relatively stock (not significantly
>>> lowered) and it hasn't been in a frame bending collision.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>> Dale
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "George Fairbanks" <george.fairbanks at cs.cmu.edu>
>>> To: "Dale McCormack" <daleljeanm at attbi.com>
>>> Sent: April 09, 2002 3:48 PM
>>> Subject: Re: Bernie Benz's Strut Tower Brace
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi Dale,
>>>>
>>>> Great.  The check should have gone out this morning in the mail,
> assuming
>>>> the postman came today.  Here's my address:
>>>>
>>>> George Fairbanks
>>>> 6611 Darlington Rd
>>>> Pittsburgh, PA 15217
>>>> (412) 521-2969
>>>>
>>>> My car (actually Greg Amy's old car) is showing wear on the inside of
> the
>>>> tires and the shop can't bring the alignment in any more.  I'm hoping
> that
>>>> the strut brace will allow the alignment and prevent my tire wear.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>>
>>>> -George
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> At 03:23 PM 4/9/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>>>>> Thanks George,
>>>>> Please advise of your address and I'll get the package sent right
> away.
>>> It
>>>>> takes awhile for mail/checks to get from our LV, NV office to me for
>>>>> shipment.  Therefore, your word is good enough for me to get the
>>> fulfillment
>>>>> process moving to you.
>>>>>
>>>>> Best regards,
>>>>> Dale
>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "George Fairbanks" <george.fairbanks at cs.cmu.edu>
>>>>> To: "Dale McCormack" <dale at themccormacks.org>
>>>>> Sent: April 09, 2002 11:42 AM
>>>>> Subject: Re: Bernie Benz's Strut Tower Brace
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks, I've just sent you a check for the parts.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -George
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> At 09:57 AM 4/9/2002, you wrote:
>>>>>>> Here is the requested  info in the attachment.  I'll be happy to
> send
>>> the
>>>>>>> parts on your request.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Dale
>>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>>> From: "George Fairbanks" <george.fairbanks at cs.cmu.edu>
>>>>>>> To: <dale at themccormacks.org>
>>>>>>> Sent: April 08, 2002 6:16 PM
>>>>>>> Subject: Bernie Benz's Strut Tower Brace
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi Dale,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I read on Chris Miller's web page that you've got the parts
>>> necessary
>>>>> for
>>>>>>>> the "Bernie Benz Strut Tower Brace" for the Audi 200.  I'd
> like to
>>> buy
>>>>> a
>>>>>>>> set from you if you've still got them available.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> -George
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> George Fairbanks, software engineering phd student
>>>>>>>> 3710 Wean Hall, (412) 268-5943 office, (412) 521-2969 home
>>>>>>>> www.cs.cmu.edu/~elvis
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>>>>>> D O T E A S Y - "Join the web hosting revolution!"
>>>>>>>> http://www.doteasy.com
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> George Fairbanks, software engineering phd student
>>>>>> 3710 Wean Hall, (412) 268-5943 office, (412) 521-2969 home
>>>>>> www.cs.cmu.edu/~elvis
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>>>> D O T E A S Y - "Join the web hosting revolution!"
>>>>>> http://www.doteasy.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>> George Fairbanks, software engineering phd student
>> 3710 Wean Hall, (412) 268-5943 office, (412) 521-2969 home
>> www.cs.cmu.edu/~elvis
>>
>>
>>
>> __________________________________________________
>> D O T E A S Y - "Join the web hosting revolution!"
>> http://www.doteasy.com
>