Strut Tower Brace
TECH Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 5,798
Likes: 16
From: St.Charles MO
You'll see I have a STB, and I noticed nothing after putting it on. If there is one thing 4th gens "need", its good shocks. /thread
But, "JD", the upper a-arm mount in the F-bod is at the top of the shock tower. Yes, I realize that this debate will probably go on forever, but IMHO, I don't see how the suspension loading CAN'T help but be transmitted through the shock towers. It's where the springs/upper a-arms mount.....
This is a good thread so far. It's got me thinking.
Basically the wheel is where the force is. Transmits that into the spindle arm. The spindle arm is attached to two points. I guess what the road race guys are saying is that that pretty much all the force goes into the lower connection to the A-arms
Basically the wheel is where the force is. Transmits that into the spindle arm. The spindle arm is attached to two points. I guess what the road race guys are saying is that that pretty much all the force goes into the lower connection to the A-arms
This is a good thread so far. It's got me thinking.
Basically the wheel is where the force is. Transmits that into the spindle arm. The spindle arm is attached to two points. I guess what the road race guys are saying is that that pretty much all the force goes into the lower connection to the A-arms
Basically the wheel is where the force is. Transmits that into the spindle arm. The spindle arm is attached to two points. I guess what the road race guys are saying is that that pretty much all the force goes into the lower connection to the A-arms
that torsional load would be applied via the tire leaning which could be possible during very hard cornering.
but whether or not the frame successfully deals with the force would take alot more analysis.
and as far as the Mustang goes, the fox body seems like it has always been a product of lean engineering
Hotchkiss makes a really good LOOKING bar. Also its not as "in the way" as some of the other straight bars (I have a BMR bar on my silver TA.) As for added performance...I couldn't really tell a difference at all...but it is SHINEY!
Now I did have the BMR mentioned above on my 2000 WS6 Vert and believe it or not it did make a huge difference when driving over uneven roads. It made the front end feel much more solid and shake less. I wouldnt say it helped cornering because the car was terrible at it even after the brace, but it certainly did make a difference. Much, much more so than on either of my coupes.
Now I did have the BMR mentioned above on my 2000 WS6 Vert and believe it or not it did make a huge difference when driving over uneven roads. It made the front end feel much more solid and shake less. I wouldnt say it helped cornering because the car was terrible at it even after the brace, but it certainly did make a difference. Much, much more so than on either of my coupes.
This is a good thread so far. It's got me thinking.
Basically the wheel is where the force is. Transmits that into the spindle arm. The spindle arm is attached to two points. I guess what the road race guys are saying is that that pretty much all the force goes into the lower connection to the A-arms
Basically the wheel is where the force is. Transmits that into the spindle arm. The spindle arm is attached to two points. I guess what the road race guys are saying is that that pretty much all the force goes into the lower connection to the A-arms
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Now I did have the BMR mentioned above on my 2000 WS6 Vert and believe it or not it did make a huge difference when driving over uneven roads. It made the front end feel much more solid and shake less. I wouldnt say it helped cornering because the car was terrible at it even after the brace, but it certainly did make a difference. Much, much more so than on either of my coupes.
3rd gen upper attachment point is an integral part of the suspension geometry.
3rd gen frame rails follow along the trans tunnel, leaving little support for the floor pan.
Thanks. Still kinda leaves me with questions about why. But I guess you'd have to draw it out on a whiteboard for me to understand, and it's kind of hard to write out online.
I agree!
I've owned F-bods since 1976, so I've had 3 generations of them, and they've all had different "compromises" in terms of front end support.
With respect to the 3rd genners, they used a conentionall mounted coil spring, which fed some of the load into the k-member, but with the McPherson strut instead of an upper a-arm, you still fed a portion of the suspension load into the shock towers. Plus, the upper strut mount also controlled part of the steering load.
With the 4th genners, you have the "coil-overs" and upper a-arms also mounted to the shock towers. Personally, I don't see how it can be said that the suspension loads aren't fed into the towers. Simply put, you hit a bump with the left side of the car, you compress the left spring, but based on the stiffness of the spring, a portion of this force wants to "raise" that corner of the car. This force is counteracted by the anti-roll bar, and the shock tower, since the tower is the upper restraint for the unit......I would say.
Simply put, you hit a bump with the left side of the car, you compress the left spring, but based on the stiffness of the spring, a portion of this force wants to "raise" that corner of the car. This force is counteracted by the anti-roll bar, and the shock tower, since the tower is the upper restraint for the unit......I would say.
On a 4th gen, it shock is attached, but the upper ball joint pivots on bushing material.
Now, if you bottom the suspension out where the upper A-Arm hit the inner fender, then OK ... an STB will help somewhat. But there are bigger issues to address at that point.
We're discussing normal, every day driving ... not extreme off-road.
You could use a stb as a recovery point, haha I know I when my opti went out once, I bolted an engine removal loop from my pontiac 400 to both sides right on the shock mount and left the hood open and towed my T/A home using just that. haha
It boils down to suspension design. Ms have no factory camber adjustment. I've never looked closely at a Caddy
Launching!
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 214
Likes: 0
From: Glendale, Ca
ya true, my 93 sts came with one, but its a boat, and wouldnt put it past the front end from twisting. It makes sense, cuase if the wheel wells where the struts are move, the fenders would move as well, thank god I read this cause i was going to buy one.
