Feeler: Front Aluminum Strut bar Group Buy-UPDATE

[RPOC]

I'll take one alumimum, please if your not sold out

[RayC911]

And at 2+ Lbs, what kid of rigidity will this actually add? What is the wall thickness of the tubing?

Keep us updated.

The thickness of the wall is a tick over 4mm all around, plates thickness included, same as the Cashel bars. The thickness of the bar itself is 35mm. As for rigidness, I wasn't too concern since I think our 02s will benefit from anything over the towers. Plus I am not reinventing the wheel but more replicating a good design that haven't had any failure as far as I've heard. But if there is a weakness, it's probably going to be the bolts. I'm using DG 8.8 17mm bolts, might even go down to DG 8.0 for some overkill. Plus, there should be zero play with the bar and plates once installed.

My 70 is fairly low, not too stiff but I'll report back with some objective seat-of-the-pants update. I'll send this one out to another FAQer to get some feedback too. There are a few online articles on measuring strut bar effectiveness/rigidness. They basically mark the front struts and see if there are any more travel. The more travel=less flex on chassis=rigid, supposedly. Other comments or feedback are more than welcome.

[RayC911]

I'll take one alumimum, please if your not sold out

1.John in VA - aluminum

2. Greg T - aluminum

3. Jason (jmr_1602) - aluminum

4. Zed - aluminum

5. Bourkeco- aluminum

6. Brian D - aluminum

7. phil vermeulen/nashville

8. Mike Katsoris - Staten Island, NY-Aluminum

9. Ozzy Marcenaro- aluminum

10. Mike B. - Black Paint

11. Jason Gipson - Aluminum

12. Micke Malmborg - Aluminum

13. Ray Koke - titanium I mean aluminum!

14. Larry Wilson - Black Paint

15. M20Curtis - Aluminum

16. ryansti - aluminum

17. norma/ Rick McQuiston- aluminum

18. Meth09 – aluminum

19. RPOC- aluminum

[ibjettin]

Ray, I'm Impressed with your quick responses to the questions asked. Really goes to show how well you know the product you are selling and willingness to stand behind it.

Thumbs up!

[eurotrash]

Ray, I'm Impressed with your quick responses to the questions asked. Really goes to show how well you know the product you are selling and willingness to stand behind it.

Thumbs up!

Indeed. Good answers. Thank you.

[eurotrash]

Ray, I'm Impressed with your quick responses to the questions asked. Really goes to show how well you know the product you are selling and willingness to stand behind it.

Thumbs up!

Indeed. Good answers. Thank you.

[RayC911]

Ray, I'm Impressed with your quick responses to the questions asked. Really goes to show how well you know the product you are selling and willingness to stand behind it.

Thumbs up!

Indeed. Good answers. Thank you.

Bri & Justin, you're making me sound smarter than I really am, as my wife would agree. Google is my friend and I did research & asked a lot of questions. I just like to put everything out there to let everyone feel comfortable with a new product, as if I'm selling it to myself. I know it's not like producing a wheel but it's still a structural piece and a little more than cosmetic. Thanks for the support

[Armond]

very nice Ray. Good Luck.

[schwarz75]

Nice work Ray. I think the bars will work fine on street-driven '02s, especially those that have stiffer suspensions and wider performance tires.

[Tbone]

I like the looks of it. Is the bar adjustable/able to be preloaded at all? I have this feeling that my strut towers are in a *slightly* different place than a less beat up 02

[schwarz75]

Tbone, that's a real possiblity.

To install a strut tower brace, in all likelihood, you'll need to lift your car by jacking it up from a point in the center of the engine cradle/ frt. subframe. In this way you'll take the weight of the front of the car off of the struts (and the adjoining sheetmetal) and the distance between the towers will increase somewhat.... and the brace should fit over the top of the studs without difficulty.

[RayC911]

Nice work Ray. I think the bars will work fine on street-driven '02s, especially those that have stiffer suspensions and wider performance tires.

My 73 has IE Coilovers, 325lbs springs & 22" sways running 195s. I've had the Cashel bar on it for 4 years. I'm thinking it'll be a good test mule for this bar as far as stiffness is concern : )

I like the looks of it. Is the bar adjustable/able to be preloaded at all? I have this feeling that my strut towers are in a *slightly* different place than a less beat up 02

Well, it's not adjustable per say but I think it can be massaged in if it's not too off. If it is, then you might have other issues, i.e. alignment, uneven tire wear, etc. In the e30 M3 crowd, a lot of people have this problem, either from previous accidents, trackin, etc. Most Co. even make two different size bars for the e30 including IE and Sparco. If I remember, the thinking behind the two bars is that BMW made 2 different chassis, one for racing. Others think it's because so many have replaced towers, repairs,etc. Neither fit my Bro's M3. People either jack one side up to align the bar or make custom bars. I didn't have any issues fitting it on my 02. Yea, no accidents!!

ibjettin (Brian) is buying a bar and he's in SJ too. I'm sure he'll let you test fit it before you pull the trigger.

[creede]

Creede - Aluminium

Thanks!

[02Coastie]

I'm sure you can find a socal squarie to test on, but if not I'll be happy to try up in Norcal. If it fits, I buy ) Aluminum please.

[ray_]

Michel Potheau once suggested tying (looping?) fishing line from one strut bolt to one on the other side, and going for a drive in anticipation of it breaking from the flex. The inference is of course that '02 front ends are flimsy. I think he was serious about the little test.

Ray, there's a complete (albeit non-running) '76 in Seal Beach if you want to test fit on a '76 and can't find one closer. Email me for details.

Cheers,

Ray

And at 2+ Lbs, what kid of rigidity will this actually add? What is the wall thickness of the tubing?

Keep us updated.

The thickness of the wall is a tick over 4mm all around, plates thickness included, same as the Cashel bars. The thickness of the bar itself is 35mm. As for rigidness, I wasn't too concern since I think our 02s will benefit from anything over the towers. Plus I am not reinventing the wheel but more replicating a good design that haven't had any failure as far as I've heard. But if there is a weakness, it's probably going to be the bolts. I'm using DG 8.8 17mm bolts, might even go down to DG 8.0 for some overkill. Plus, there should be zero play with the bar and plates once installed.

My 70 is fairly low, not too stiff but I'll report back with some objective seat-of-the-pants update. I'll send this one out to another FAQer to get some feedback too. There are a few online articles on measuring strut bar effectiveness/rigidness. They basically mark the front struts and see if there are any more travel. The more travel=less flex on chassis=rigid, supposedly. Other comments or feedback are more than welcome.