Anyone running a "strong-stut" or "butt-strut"?

[TwoJ's]

Nice work. No one expects you to work magic with limited time. Your rendering looks much better. However, the mounting points will still be "out of plane", and there will be pretty significant moments at the diagonals.

But hey, I'm just some student engineer, I'm sure you've got much more experience and you will end up with a nice product. Anyways, I'm in a strengths class right now, so when you end up with a final product, could I bother you for measurements and exact steel type and dimension? I'm not going to steal the design, I just want to do a stress/bending moment analysis. Analyzing simple members is what I'm doing right now, and I'd like to see if I could get some type of numbers as to how much and what kind of loads it could withstand.

[ditchdigger]

You could have whatever dimensions and measurments you want. I have no interest in manufacturing these just thought it would be a neat project in my spare time at work. I am still skeptical that this brace will do much at all.

I design and fabricate industrial machinery all day long so this is just a way to take a break from all that.

The tubing is .06 wall .75"X1.5" oval tubing that was on sale one day. $4 for ten feet, so I grabbed a few. I figured it would be more than enough strength when it was just compression/tension forces. now it is getting more complicated. Either way in my opinion anything is better than a piece of 1/2" cold rolled. That is farmyard engineering there.

Any tips feel free to toss em out here. That is sort of why I am posting so that I can get more ideas.

[TwoJ's]

So you you mean you're not a ditch digger? I joke..


Thanks for the info. I'll take a look in my strengths book and see if i can get some yield and ultimate strength numbers. Do you happen to know the type of steel it is?

[ditchdigger]

Well I think its done. I hit it with some hammer finish paint to keep it from rusting up. When it dries I will bolt it up.


Ran out of sheilding gas yesterday so I have a few pinholes that I dont care about, it is invisible when installed afterall. Grabbed another bottle of argon today and finished it up. It is alot stiffer than I thought it would be. Those extra braces did alot to strengthen it.

I guess the next step is to try it out and see if the car feels any different. Total install time is under 5 minutes. No Jack needed, just a 1/2" ratchet an a 22mm socket.

[cactusjacks1]

Very nice work. The mounting holes on the original looked slotted (assume for fit) - does yours need that?

[ditchdigger]

No, I measured my car and compared it to another E30 and they were both 48.5" to the center of the bolts. I built it to fit my car with a stock exhaust.

[Kwaaahhh]

Well I think its done. I hit it with some hammer finish paint to keep it from rusting up. When it dries I will bolt it up.


Ran out of sheilding gas yesterday so I have a few pinholes that I dont care about, it is invisible when installed afterall. Grabbed another bottle of argon today and finished it up. It is alot stiffer than I thought it would be. Those extra braces did alot to strengthen it.

I guess the next step is to try it out and see if the car feels any different. Total install time is under 5 minutes. No Jack needed, just a 1/2" ratchet an a 22mm socket.

Looks great! Let me know if your going to reproduce! :o

[cactusjacks1]

Looks great! Let me know if your going to reproduce! :o

+1

[ditchdigger]

If it does anything noticeable I think I will make a run of ten or so. It would be nice to team up with someone who has a tubing bender and do it slightly differently.

I will update.

[TwoJ's]

If it does anything noticeable I think I will make a run of ten or so. It would be nice to team up with someone who has a tubing bender and do it slightly differently.

I will update.

Nice job man, it looks great. I bet it will look a lot better mounted too. A single bent tube would be even better.

Will you snap a picture when you mount it up?