slotting the strut towers

[Bernie Benz]

Rob, your pic link is of a “tower“ stiffener bar/ brace. Good that it  
is painted Fram orange for IMO its only value is cosmetic. Notice  
that hefty kink in the rod? That bend reduces the resultant off axis  
column stiffness of the bar to triviality. Further, the flaky  
attachments to the towers are in keeping with the bar design.

Bernie


On Aug 2, 2008, at 12:03 PM, robert weinberg wrote:

> so, would you call the pic link a strut brace or a strut tower  
> brace? if it's the latter, they look very similar. i guess one  
> attaches to the towers and the other attaches to the strut itself?
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/anderoo/212680422/
>
>
> --- On Sat, 8/2/08, Bernie Benz <b.benz at charter.net> wrote:
>
>> From: Bernie Benz <b.benz at charter.net>
>> Subject: Re: slotting the strut towers
>> To: centaurus3200 at yahoo.com
>> Cc: "200q20V mailing list" <200q20v at audifans.com>
>> Date: Saturday, August 2, 2008, 11:42 AM
>> NO! NO!  NO!
>>
>>
>> On Aug 2, 2008, at 11:03 AM, robert weinberg wrote:
>>
>>> trying to get my terminology right - but i think we
>> are thinking of
>>> the same thing (or maybe not). is a strut brace a sway
>> bar?
>>>
>>> Robby
>>>
>>>
>>> --- On Fri, 8/1/08, Bernie Benz
>> <b.benz at charter.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> From: Bernie Benz <b.benz at charter.net>
>>>> Subject: Re: slotting the strut towers
>>>> To: centaurus3200 at yahoo.com
>>>> Cc: "200q20V mailing list"
>> <200q20v at audifans.com>
>>>> Date: Friday, August 1, 2008, 1:06 PM
>>>> Rob,
>>>>
>>>> Your terminology is all wrong! The strut tower is
>> a
>>>> integral part of
>>>> the chassis. My car has four, L and R, F and R.
>>>> There are two common types of upper suspension/
>> chassis
>>>> stiffeners.
>>>> The strut brace and the tower brace, their titles
>> being
>>>> descriptive
>>>> of their basic differences.
>>>>
>>>> The tower brace is a chassis reinforcement, tying
>> the two
>>>> towers
>>>> together by some means, often just cosmetically.
>>>> For any stiffening device to be effective it must
>> be an
>>>> order of
>>>> magnitude stiffer than is the structure being
>> stiffened.
>>>>
>>>> The strut brace is a suspension reinforcement,
>> tending to
>>>> equalize
>>>> the top suspension‘s lateral cornering force
>> between the
>>>> two sides,
>>>> thus reducing, halving this latteral force exerted
>> on each
>>>> chassis/
>>>> tower side. Further, it can be used to preload the
>> upper
>>>> vibration
>>>> isolation bushings (which now see only half of
>> their design
>>>> load and
>>>> resulting defection), for further latteral
>> stiffening and
>>>> added
>>>> positive camber.
>>>>
>>>> The design problem with adjustable camber plates
>> is the
>>>> necessity to
>>>> move/ relocate the thrust bearing in order to move
>> the
>>>> strut rod any
>>>> further out of concentricity with the spring than
>> the stock
>>>> camber
>>>> adjustment allows.
>>>>
>>>> Bernie
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Aug 1, 2008, at 12:04 PM, robert weinberg
>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Thanks Bernie.
>>>>>
>>>>> it sounds like your strut tower is the real
>> answer?
>>>> teach me, does
>>>>> the strut tower basically push the strut
>> towers
>>>> outward to fix the
>>>>> negative camber? the sheet metal will flex
>> that much?
>>>>>
>>>>> sounds like the be-all-end-all answer is
>> adjustable
>>>> camber plates,
>>>>> but the 2bennett ones are like $595. i'll
>> deal
>>>> with some excess
>>>>> tire wear and rotate the tires a lot for that,
>> eh?
>>>>>
>>>>> are there any cheaper camber plates?
>>>>>
>>>>> Robby
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --- On Fri, 8/1/08, Bernie Benz
>>>> <b.benz at charter.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> From: Bernie Benz
>> <b.benz at charter.net>
>>>>>> Subject: Re: slotting the strut towers
>>>>>> To: centaurus3200 at yahoo.com
>>>>>> Cc: "200q20V mailing list"
>>>> <200q20v at audifans.com>
>>>>>> Date: Friday, August 1, 2008, 11:35 AM
>>>>>> Rob,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To slot the 3 holes in the tower for the
>> 8mm studs
>>>> holding
>>>>>> the strut
>>>>>> top bearing plate one must drop the strut
>> assembly
>>>> lower in
>>>>>> the tower
>>>>>> for round file access. The strut
>> assemblies need
>>>> not be
>>>>>> removed from
>>>>>> the tower just dropped down for file
>> access. One
>>>> can only
>>>>>> gain about
>>>>>> ¼” or 5/16” by this slotting before
>> the upper
>>>> spring
>>>>>> seat hits the
>>>>>> tower side wall, but do move the strut
>> until this
>>>> contact
>>>>>> occurs.
>>>>>> This is not much of a positive camber
>> addition,
>>>> ¼” in
>>>>>> about 24”, but
>>>>>> every little bit helps and a very simple
>> mod.
>>>> Apply your
>>>>>> trig tables.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Bernie
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Aug 1, 2008, at 10:13 AM, robert
>> weinberg
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> hi all,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> UPS finally found the koni/H&R
>> combo i
>>>> bought from
>>>>>> chris at force5.
>>>>>>> what an ordeal - lost in indiana.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> anyway, i'm going to drop the car
>> off at
>>>> my
>>>>>> friend's shop this
>>>>>>> sunday. does anybody have a decent
>> write-up on
>>>> the
>>>>>> procedure to
>>>>>>> slot the strut towers?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> from my research, it seems if i did
>> nothing,
>>>> the
>>>>>> H&R combo would
>>>>>>> run about -1.5 degree camber even with
>> the
>>>> struts
>>>>>> adjusted to the
>>>>>>> max. not god awful, but -1 or less
>> would be
>>>> better.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> the 200q is not my daily driver, so
>> when i do
>>>> hop in
>>>>>> the driver's
>>>>>>> seat, it will be for something fun,
>> like
>>>> carving up
>>>>>> highway 1 ;-)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> see ya,
>>>>>>> Robby
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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