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Thread: Rear strut tower brace

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    MD
    Posts
    12,955
    My Cars
    uma E36 325 vermelho

    Rear strut tower brace

    I am going to have my suspension put on my car in a week or so-Bilstein PSS9 coilover, UUC Strut Barbarian, E46 M3 RSMs w/Z3 reinforcement plates, and new control arms. Already have an X-Brace. Keeping the sport package sway bars for now.

    I see that rear strut braces are not that expensive, is it worth adding to my install? Is there a difference with it? From what I've heard, adding one dials in a little more oversteer.

    From a structural reinforcement point of view, does it stiffen the chassis any more? If so, I wouldn't mind tightening up the chassis from sqeaks and rattle-so at least that would be worth $140.

    Or is this just cosmetic jewelry, because I don't care about bling bling.
    What would Crockett and Tubbs do?

    1994 E36 Hellrot/Black 325is
    2007 E92 Jet Black/Saddle Brown 335i

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2001
    Location
    tx
    Posts
    7,395
    My Cars
    1970 Cadillac DeVille
    From a structural reinforcement point of view, does it stiffen the chassis any more?
    Not that I could tell.

    I unscrewed one side the other day, marked its position with a marker, and drove around, hard. Didn't show any movement.

    I got a deal on mine, and for the money, I thought 'what the heck, couldn't hurt'.

    Some folks I know that build E36 race cars for a living to compete in SCCA ITS tell me that the rear towers are not heavy load points and that a rear brace won't do much.
    In the slow lane

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Bay Area, CA
    Posts
    1,223
    My Cars
    1995 Cosmos M3
    Jed, which brand of rear strut bar are you considering? Non-hinged? Hinged?

    I been told the same thing as frayed, that they don't do much. I am most concerned with protecting my rear shock towers from cracking with the use of stiff springs and aftermarket shocks. For this I'm going with Z3 reinforcement plates, they don't take up any trunk space and keep the car looking stealth (Go fast. Look Stock, couldn't say it any better!)
    1995 Cosmos M3

    Wanted (New or Used):
    3.2L Euro Supersprint Headers / Kromerkraft headers

    For Sale:
    Many E36 M3 Items for Sale

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Location
    Posts
    7,440
    My Cars
    F150, Suburban, M3
    There is no spring load on the shock towers, coupled with the suspension loads are transferred to the subframe through the upper and lower control arms, which is why I doubt there would be any noticable effect when adding a rear strut bar. A rollbar would have a greater stiffening effect.

    My .02


    ///badmonkey

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