Tower strut bars (brace) worth it?

[pmwalter]

Just curious to see if anyone thinks that they are a good idea for everyday Joes in their everyday cars. Seems like a cheap upgrade if they actually work. Ebay has a ton of bolt-on tower strut bars for roughly $30. I'm not looking for high performance, maybe just a better ride.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[wander2039]

Depends on the car and the quality of the bar. I put a good quality front strut bar on a 98 Escort Sedan and it helped some in cornering, etc. Post your car info and you might get more responses.

 

[seotaji]

my car came with one from the factory and i notice a difference when driving hard, but not under normal conditions.

more of a dif. on FWD cars.

the more expensive one piece designs are slightly better, but the cheap ebay ones will work too.

i've used both.

 

[moribundman]

A good strut brace stiffens the front end considerably. If you drive sporty, it's worth it. Also helps with older cars that have gotten a bit saggy.

 

[bdcardinal]

on mustangs they help a lot with tightening up the feel. i also put on a panahrd bar, coilovers and subframe connectors.

 

[pmwalter]

I drive a 98' Toyota Camry. It kind of feels like a boat when I turn. Camry's (especially those with child seats in the back) are in no way sporty, but a strut seems like a good idea to tighten things up a bit.

Wifes 02' CRV looks like it has a strut bar across the engine bay. Handles real nice in turns. That's what got me thinking about my Camry.

 

[guile]

My 05' Camry SE came with the factory strut brace ... when comparing it to other Camrys it does have a tighter feel to it. Of course the SE also comes with different springs and struts so I'm sure they account for most of the difference.

Strut braces are relatively an inexpensive bolt-on ... why don't you give one a try?

 

[glloyd]

it depends on how aggressive you drive. for an aggressive driver such a bar would be crucial as it takes stress of the chasis during aggresive maneuvering

 

[Audity]

This is a perennial topic on performance boards. My opinion is that there is a great deal of placebo effect going on, and that in a blind test it would be rare to feel a difference in a car with street suspension on street tires. Cars just aren't designed and built that flimsily, to have the front fenders and struts waving around in the air while cornering.

With a car with track suspension on sticky R tires, maybe there'll be a real difference but maybe not, IMHO.

In the interest of disclosure, I have one on my track car, a 924S with full track suspension, all metal-to-metal articulation and mounts, and wide sticky R tires. I bought the strut bar used, cheap. I can't honestly say it makes a difference - maybe, maybe not - and it adds weight exactly where it is least needed, up high and over the front tires.

The car is driven extremely hard in a very fast crowd, I'm often on track with cars with three times my hp (about 147), or more. If the bar really is a plus, I think it's more likely to be in a reduction of cyclical stress on the front sheet metal structures rather than a meaningful reduction of camber change under load.

I'd agree with Surfstar if the topic was swaybars instead of strut tower braces. A rear swaybar will really go a long way to reduce the heavy understeer designed into most production cars. The last thing you want to do with a FWD car is to stiffen the front roll resistance.

Just IMHO, but from experience.

 

[surfstar]

For FWD cars, you are going to get a better upgrade with a REAR strut tower bar than a front one. If they're cheap enough, buy both. For my Mazda the rear made the bigger difference and tightened up the ride around turns.

 

[moribundman]

Actually, with my setup on my VW Scirocco, the strut brace was legally required for my tire size, in addition to an additional front stabilizer ("sway") bar that was also required. US laws may well differ. The difference in handling with and without reinforced suspension was very noticeable, admittledly mostly under high speed (>100 mph) load changes.

I don't have a strut brace on my A4, but I've driven one with it and there was definitely a difference beyond placebo effect.

 

[Audity]

From what I've seen, the popularity of strut bars is a lot like that with K&N filters. A great many people install K&N's and sincerely believe they can "feel" a significant power increase. Placebo. We're all very prone to believe in something that we want to be true, it's human nature.

Again, cars are not that flimsy. Besides, there's a whole lot of suspension stuff that is flexing a great deal more than the strut towers ever will. The control arm pivots, strut top mounts, and often subframe mounts all consist of large and (relatively) soft rubber pieces. They all allow camber change under load. Not to mention the tire sidewalls, whose flexing has the same effect. The -purpose- of all these things is to let the wheels float around relative to the chassis (and road) in order to reduce NVH.

As with a K&N, using a stopwatch or g-tech or whatever appropriate instrument will tell the real story. And be sure to make only one change at a time - measuring handling after changing tires, swaybar and adding a strut brace tells nothing about the strut brace.

 

[Audity]

I'm not sure why the TUV regs would require the addition of a strut brace when going to wider front tires, but the purpose of the front swaybar is clear. Wider front tires will tend to decrease understeer, and the swaybar is intended to make sure that the understeer is still there. In essence, it is intended to degrade the handling.

All general-use production cars understeer severely at (or anywhere near) the limit. This is a completely conscious design feature to enhance safety.

Nearly all drivers who are not trained in high performance driving will react the same when they encounter an obstacle, or find they have entered a turn too fast. They hit the brakes.

With the designed-in understeer, the car will continue to go straight, even if into a guardrail. If the car were designed with neutral handling, slamming on the brakes will more often cause the rear end to come around, will cause the car to spin. Going straight in under relative control, rather than sideways or backwards, is safer.

BTW, the US doesn't have regs equivalent to TUV. Only emission-related equipment is regulated in that manner. (TUV is the German law that requires all modifications, or aftermarket parts, to be pre-approved by the government before use. Only government approved hot-rodding is allowed in Germany.)

 

[mechtech]

On hard cornering, the strut tower [loaded outside one] will go out.
When encountering bumps, the strut tower tops go in.
Many cars show some closing of the distance between the tower tops after 50,000 miles and up.
Strut tower bars can be had for cheap, and will help stability in turns and braking, and keep things in alignment in the long run. An initial severe turn will load the strut top well past what you would think. You may be able to pull .8 G in a turn, but the quick initial application may be twice that, or more.

 

[Gary Allan]

Again, cars are not that flimsy.

I don't know if I agree with that. If you've seen a few cars that don't like to have the doors opened and closed while on a lift ..or seen how the unibody contorts in a Cherokee in an off camber situation with 3 points hitting the ground, I think your opinion would be different.

Heck, if you hang an inside micrometer in a cast iron cylinder, it only requires two fingers pressed on the outside of the block to make it drop. How can sheet metal formed to simulate a frame be all that rigid

 

[moribundman]

quote:

---

TUV is the German law

---

No, TÜV and DEKRA are not a "law," they are the only two German authorities that can approve vehicle modifications (that affect safety) that are not available as OEM part or accessory for your particular vehicle.

For example, when I bought bigger rims and tires that came with TÜV certification, I still had to go in person to the TÜV (or DEKRA) testing facility where they inspected my car for the required modifications (front stabilizer bar and strut brace) and where they drove my car at high speed in a very tight circle to see if the tires would rub the fenders. After they checked everything, I paid my small fee and had the new wheel/tire size combination and modified suspension parts entered into my registration.

In Germany, if you want to, for example, put a spoiler on your trunk lid, the included TÜV certification will tell you if you have to get the modification listed in your registration, or if carrying the certification is sufficient.

 

[moribundman]

quote:

---

How can sheet metal formed to simulate a frame be all that rigid

---

Why do you think some cars have such huge door, hood, and trunk lid gaps ("Spaltmaß")? The narrowest gaps on current cars appear to be about 2mm wide , but they are all found on high-end and likely very well-built cars.

 

[ex_MGB]

My 2001SE Mazda Miata (RWD) came from the factory with a front strut tower brace. I don't think Mazda put it on only for show.

I put one on my '97 Max SE 5-speed (FWD). Maybe just my imagination, but on hard turns it seemed to tighten up the front. This is a substantial piece of bracing and looking at the geometry and dynamics, its hard to believe it does not do some good.

 

[Shaman]

I'm with Gary on this one. FOx Body mustangs are notorious for structural problems. I have heard stories about subframs connectors causing problems with doors, being specifically told to make sure the tires are loaded when welding on subframe connectors, and people loading up the driver's seat with their weight in sand bags to make sure that the vehicle is welded right.

Overkill, maybe, but if your door won't shut on a lift, then you probably need whatever you can throw at it.

[ January 08, 2006, 06:05 PM: Message edited by: Shaman ]

 

[ikeepmychevytoo]

quote:

---

I'm not sure why the TUV regs would require the addition of a strut brace when going to wider front tires, but the purpose of the front swaybar is clear.

---

I'm not sure why too... Then what to do with the huge camber plays in the rears of the twenty model years of MB's... Can we say no bussiness like show bussiness?

~~

Anyone recalls the strut links found on some cars from 50's to 90's which work with tension? May be the towers should tip in and out