One piece strut tower brace

[moto]

I'm looking for a 1 piece strut tower brace for my E34 M5 & have found the Ultra Racing one sold on EBay from Malaysia & the HM one from the US. Has anyone here tried the UR piece?


Thanks.

[ninjastyle]

yeah i got one on my 525, noticed no difference.

[E38740iMD]

^ is it lowered...

[ninjastyle]

yes

[E38740iMD]

Then :dunno

[AndrewH]

Then :dunno

Wat. Strut brace is pretty much strictly for engine blang.

[Steve547i]

It may not be entirely necessary on a street car but I still cracked one.

[E38740iMD]

Wat. Strut brace is pretty much strictly for engine blang.

I was saying :dunno because I'm not sure why you don't feel any difference. I felt a small difference on my lowered e28. It was nice

[93FIM5]

Strut brace will help if properly designed, avoid the hinged style units.

[ninjastyle]

i notice flex in the back end more than the front, tenfold moreso on the touring. that thing flexes it arse like fuckery.
honestly cant say i noticed a difference on the saloon with/without front strutbrace.
fyi ultra racing also make a lower front strut brace. id give one of those a whirl but id be forever smashing it into the road as it drops the ground clearance a bit.

[93FIM5]

i notice flex in the back end more than the front, tenfold moreso on the touring. that thing flexes it arse like fuckery.
honestly cant say i noticed a difference on the saloon with/without front strutbrace.
fyi ultra racing also make a lower front strut brace. id give one of those a whirl but id be forever smashing it into the road as it drops the ground clearance a bit.

Or you could just got with the E31 X-brace mod.

[ninjastyle]

or that, e31s are pretty rare over here tho, could spend months waiting for a breaker.

[93FIM5]

or that, e31s are pretty rare over here tho, could spend months waiting for a breaker.

Parts are available new from the dealer :) thats how i did it.

[ninjastyle]

bet thats gonna cost a hell of a lot more than a 40 quid strut brace!!!

[93FIM5]

bet thats gonna cost a hell of a lot more than a 40 quid strut brace!!!

Haha yup but its effective.

[ninjastyle]

loose much ground clearance?

[93FIM5]

loose much ground clearance?

None lowest part of the car is still the oil pan, check out the DIY there are a few pics of it on my M.

[5mall5nail5]

I have the strong strut one and it seems to have stiffened things up.

[BruinBimmer]

found the Ultra Racing one sold on EBay from Malaysia


i got one, noticed no difference.

Figures


I have the strong strut one and it seems to have stiffened things up.

I've never seen a better designed strut brace for the e34 than theirs

http://www.strong-strut.com/e34_3.jpg

[E38740iMD]

Looks like ima have to get strong strut..... link to such item

[BruinBimmer]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=strong+strut

[E38740iMD]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=strong+strut

:shifty :laugh.

- - - Updated - - -

.......$425 :eek: :eek: :eek:. definetly on the low part of my list...

[Raziel310]

#BreakMyWallet...that's what our car make stands for....

[ZenitramNaes]

On my wishlist.

[moto]

I did a search on the Ultra Racing piece & found many favorable reviews from other Euro car owners that had installed them on their cars. Might give it a shot since it doesn't cost hundred of dollars.

[Leonator134]

Does the strong strut fit over M60's?

[aalpine1]

I did a search on the Ultra Racing piece & found many favorable reviews from other Euro car owners that had installed them on their cars. Might give it a shot since it doesn't cost hundred of dollars.

I have that one and the lower one between the lower arms installed on the car.

I did not fell any "improvements" and the car is a little bit lowered an vogtland springs, with e90 drop hats and b8 shocks.

I was looking at this one as a replacement : http://www.cosmoracing.com/productinfo.asp?cid=241&pid=1287

[ninjastyle]

I did a search on the Ultra Racing piece & found many favorable reviews from other Euro car owners that had installed them on their cars. Might give it a shot since it doesn't cost hundred of dollars.

placebo effect. i bet you an ultra racing strut brace that they couldnt tell the difference back to back in a blind test.

[davidflrs]

The strong strut cost more but the benefit is; it doesn't have a hinge like the cosmos or my racing dynamics one which needs to be tightened a ton to be effective. The strong strut also has notches in the mounting plates to hug the strut tower folds better instead of all the other flat mounted upper strut tower bars. I also have the lower strut ultra racing 2pt bar and have the car dropped and thicker sways. They are all the same and the biggest way to stop body roll is stiff spring rate and bigger sways otherwise it's all just for show. If money is not a concern go with strong strut bar. I agree not many people would feel the difference even on the track. Prob need to autocross the car hard to really see any difference.

[ChaosHawk]

In my experience, the tower braces are really down towards the end of the list of handling improvements, because if your setup is not rigid in the first place, the strut towers moving is the least of your worries. With stiffer shocks and springs, and all of the other bushings and movement points firmed up, you start to transmit enough of the steering forces into the frame to start twisting things, and that is when these make a real difference. Otherwise the soft bushings and suspension will move enough to dissipate most of those forces before they really hit the frame. And while the strong strut certainly looks better than most multi-piece units, I would never use anything but a single weldment fitted to a recently straightened frame for real race use. For street driving, OTOH, I can't see that it would make much difference either way. Certainly not in my much abused suspension.

[BruinBimmer]

I agree. I got my strut brace after replacing all links/rods, upgrading sways, GC coils, and poly bushings. Unless you're into some engine bay eye candy.

[Raziel310]

I agree. I got my strut brace after replacing all links/rods, upgrading sways, GC coils, and poly bushings. Unless you're into some engine bay eye candy.

What poly bushings r u using, bro? & which parts needs them? E.g rtabs?

[BruinBimmer]

Powerflex LCA/UCA, and sways if you really want to. But AKG is the only company I've seen that has RTAB.

[Raziel310]

Powerflex LCA/UCA, and sways if you really want to. But AKG is the only company I've seen that has RTAB.

I got Mooseheads and e31 lowers so I'm good there, I'm going w/ m5 sways so I guess gotta go poly. AKG? OK I've put that on my wish list lol

[93FIM5]

Guys your all missing the point of a strut brace or any chassis rigidity improvement. You increase chassis rigidity to allow the suspension to do its job! If the chassis flexes or gives under load your geometry changes WITHOUT your input and your springs aren't doing the job they were designed for because the chassis gave instead. A suspension system will be more effective at doing its job with a rigid platform.

[93FIM5]

I got Mooseheads and e31 lowers so I'm good there, I'm going w/ m5 sways so I guess gotta go poly. AKG? OK I've put that on my wish list lol

Go with M5 rear trailing arm bearings if you have the money. Same idea as moose heads and e31 lowers but designed and specced by BMW.

[davidflrs]

Guys your all missing the point of a strut brace or any chassis rigidity improvement. You increase chassis rigidity to allow the suspension to do its job! If the chassis flexes or gives under load your geometry changes WITHOUT your input and your springs aren't doing the job they were designed for because the chassis gave instead. A suspension system will be more effective at doing its job with a rigid platform.


That is the point most of us have made. Strut bars are almost non effective unless you actually have a multiple bar system welded to towers such as a full competition cage where no energy can be lost in flex points with some strut bars. In lieu of resources and accessibility to full cage options for our chassis we try creative ways around it. I personally am still working on my cage and if I had the $5k to have a custom one made I would not have gone the financially practical route with chassis strengthening like bolt on strut bars.

More stability and less body roll can be obtained from proper spring rate with matching strut valving and sway bars with refreshed stiff bushings all around. But if you like the look of a strut bar knock yourself out and get whichever you can afford they all are pretty comparable and we are just giving our options of the different kinds based on our actual experience with them and any noticeable difference if any after using them. Feel like everyone is in agreement that a less adjustable a strut bar is the more effective it can be but don't expect to notice much improvement from just strut bar installation. Go with ultra racing bar it's a solid piece ( I'm sure somebody will complain that since it's made in Malaysia the metal has to be weak and flawed ) but if you want a better name brand and better look go with strong strut.

To answer the original post I have the racing dynamics strut bar and it is non effective unless I tighten bolts to an absurd amount where the bar hinges and also have the rear strut bar and lower front strut bar both from ultra racing and they seems like a better route. The strong strut bar is a very expensive piece but the mounting plates really fit the towers better than the others since it has notches.

[davidflrs]

501334

One of the e36 m3's at work with the strong strut bar



501335

And an e46 m3 at work where the strut towers are welded to the roll cage



501337

My racing dynamics bar is only good for me to mount my boost controller and vacuum ports and lines


501338

The hinge makes it ineffective. I used to autox my car with just the strut bar and body roll was crazy springs and sways was the only way to flatten car in slaloms

[5mall5nail5]

Alex where do you order ultra stuff from?

[BruinBimmer]

They're all over eBay, not sure if he looks elsewhere

[93FIM5]

That is the point most of us have made. Strut bars are almost non effective unless you actually have a multiple bar system welded to towers such as a full competition cage where no energy can be lost in flex points with some strut bars. In lieu of resources and accessibility to full cage options for our chassis we try creative ways around it. I personally am still working on my cage and if I had the $5k to have a custom one made I would not have gone the financially practical route with chassis strengthening like bolt on strut bars.

More stability and less body roll can be obtained from proper spring rate with matching strut valving and sway bars with refreshed stiff bushings all around. But if you like the look of a strut bar knock yourself out and get whichever you can afford they all are pretty comparable and we are just giving our options of the different kinds based on our actual experience with them and any noticeable difference if any after using them. Feel like everyone is in agreement that a less adjustable a strut bar is the more effective it can be but don't expect to notice much improvement from just strut bar installation. Go with ultra racing bar it's a solid piece ( I'm sure somebody will complain that since it's made in Malaysia the metal has to be weak and flawed ) but if you want a better name brand and better look go with strong strut.

To answer the original post I have the racing dynamics strut bar and it is non effective unless I tighten bolts to an absurd amount where the bar hinges and also have the rear strut bar and lower front strut bar both from ultra racing and they seems like a better route. The strong strut bar is a very expensive piece but the mounting plates really fit the towers better than the others since it has notches.

I disagree with them being non effective if properly designed but I do agree that a fully triangulated and welded cage is the proper route if racing. People saying they don't help on street cars is nonsense, if it was just for looks BMW wouldn't use strut bracing on their limited production performance cars and now even a large number of its mass produced cars. Are you going to notice a better feel like most hope for, depends on when your butt sensors were last calibrated haha.

Sure you can start adjusting spring rates and damping but why not improve the rigidity of the platform your adding these things to first? Trying to "feel" a difference is futile, it takes proper instrumentation to prove things. You can never go wrong with a more rigid chassis.

- - - Updated - - -


501334

One of the e36 m3's at work with the strong strut bar



501335

And an e46 m3 at work where the strut towers are welded to the roll cage



501337

My racing dynamics bar is only good for me to mount my boost controller and vacuum ports and lines


501338

The hinge makes it ineffective. I used to autox my car with just the strut bar and body roll was crazy springs and sways was the only way to flatten car in slaloms

Nice pics! Not sure why you keep saying that a strut bar will help with body roll . . . it allows the suspension to do its job better due to increased rigidity it doesn't change the suspension characteristics.

[moto]

...Feel like everyone is in agreement that a less adjustable a strut bar is the more effective it can be but don't expect to notice much improvement from just strut bar installation. Go with ultra racing bar it's a solid piece ( I'm sure somebody will complain that since it's made in Malaysia the metal has to be weak and flawed ) but if you want a better name brand and better look go with strong strut.

To answer the original post I have the racing dynamics strut bar and it is non effective unless I tighten bolts to an absurd amount where the bar hinges and also have the rear strut bar and lower front strut bar both from ultra racing and they seems like a better route. The strong strut bar is a very expensive piece but the mounting plates really fit the towers better than the others since it has notches.

I had asked feedback specifically about one piece strut bars because of this. The Ultra bar I had purchased was actually delivered today but I'm not planning to mount it until after I replace the struts & springs. It appears to be very solid & well made but I wonder if it'd be more effective if it actually bolted to the top of the whole strut tower instead of using only two of the bolts on each side. I'm not a design engineer in real life though nor I play one on TV so I could be wrong here.

Did you notice any difference after installing the lower front & rear strut bars?

Thanks.