Re: bmw-digest V9 #2188

[C2slayman@xxxxxxx]

Brendon,
       A thicker sway bar will reduce body roll.  Strut tower braces only 
reduce flexing of the MacPherson struts - minimal impact on body roll.  
Stiffer springs and stiffer suspension bushings will also reduce body roll.  
But sway bars are the most important - do that upgrade first.
       I'm looking into a strut brace for my '95 318ti.  What I have noticed 
is that many designs have bolts in the cross beam that will take the brunt of 
the tower flex under loading or the cross bar comes off the towers at an 
angle (so the strut connection can flex like a U).  The Racing Dynamics comes 
straight across but the bolts will allow twisting.  The Eibach Pro has the 
same bolt problem and it's u shaped.  So my choice would be the Racing 
Dynamics between the two.  However, these type of designs are not optimal 
because they sacrifice rigidity.  I've seen four designs that  look well 
thought out (but are not necessarily universal fits):
       1)  Wiechers Carbon Fiber Brace - It looks stiff and very rigid but 
won't fit cars with ASC.
       2)  BMW Motorsports - The connecting studs are in the direction of 
compression, so it should be rigid.  But the cross bar comes off the back of 
the strut towers so there will be some twisting.
       3) E36 M3 Lightweight - I've been unable to relocate the webpage photo 
I saw, but my recollection was that it was a solid looking steel design.  
Looking at the Lightweights X-brace vs the standard convertible, this makes 
sense.
       4)  StrongStrut (http://www.strongstrut.com/) has an alloy design that 
comes straight off the strut towers and has two vertical bolts on each side 
to connect the cross bar to the strut caps.
       Hope this helps.

Charlie

In a message dated 07/20/2002 1:12:41 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
owner-bmw-digest@domain.elided writes:


> Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 14:48:13 -0700
> From: Brendon Macaraeg <brendonm@domain.elided>
> Subject: strut tower braces?
> 
> I'm interested in reducing body roll in turns, so I'm
> looking at putting a strut tower brace on my car.
> Any opinions on Racing Dynamic or Eibach bars?
> 
> Thanks for any input,
> - -Brendon

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