Strut Bars - 3 Piece vs. 1 Piece

[DCColegrove]

Racing Dynamics 3 pc. over my S14. Perfect fit. Works for me.....:up:

I like ours better... ;)

[DCColegrove]

I'd like to see a vid of that :D

He wouldn't even let me do still photography there and I had to take all my notes by hand... effin crazy people.

It was very nice to get to play with a gazillion dollar machine though.

[DCColegrove]

That's steel, right?

How much for steel one unpainted? I want to get it powder coated.

If you want Black Powdercoat the price is the same...

If you really want one without paint I'll knock it down 10%

[Das Boots]

Racing Dynamics 3 pc. over my S14. Perfect fit. Works for me.....:up:

[asubimmer]

There are a lot of bent e30s out there...

I used sparco bars until I had an e30 on a 7 post chassis shaker and actually saw what was going on with them in real time (actually broke a Sparco knock off and the BMP bar).

After that I got togeather with John to really solve the problem.



Raw aluminum.

I'd like to see a vid of that :D

[DCColegrove]

the sparco bar is one piece and cheap enough, that there really isn't any reason to buy a more expensive 3 piece one.

DCColegrove - have you noticed some bars not fitting in the front? do you believe in the "two different E30 bodies" that IE sells it's sparco copies under?

There are a lot of bent e30s out there...

I used sparco bars until I had an e30 on a 7 post chassis shaker and actually saw what was going on with them in real time (actually broke a Sparco knock off and the BMP bar).

After that I got togeather with John to really solve the problem.

That'll do....Is it bare aluminum, brushed or anodized?

Raw aluminum.

[Eric]

the sparco bar is one piece and cheap enough, that there really isn't any reason to buy a more expensive 3 piece one.

DCColegrove - have you noticed some bars not fitting in the front? do you believe in the "two different E30 bodies" that IE sells it's sparco copies under?

[erik325i]

My uncle has a brand new M3 and its front one is 3 piece.

The e46 m3 has a 3-piece bar too.

That doesn't mean it's the best. They do that so you can easily unbolt it to do any motor work.

Erik

[Nicademus]

My uncle has a brand new M3 and its front one is 3 piece. I was checking it out at Thanksgiving today. He has a cool 03' Turbo Porsche too.

[Lurker27]

I went with a cheap 3 piece and it seemed to help - the point of a strut bar is to keep the distance between your strut towers fixed - the bar is in compression. The joint type shouldn't matter at all.

The stock geometry is an open U: |__|

The two ends at the top aren't fixed, which means the 2 angles which are nominally at 90º are free to flex - these piece would be in shear. When you add a bar of any type, the metal would need to be in compression for any deformation to occur, and since you have 4 fixed length segments, the only deformation that would be different is if it flattens into a parallelogram, which would take major bending of the frame itself (remember these 2 angles |__| ). In the case of a fixed bar, you have to bend all 4 angles instead of the stock 2. If your car is flexing there and in that manner I'm pretty sure you have bigger problems than what a brace will cure.

[bmwpower]

Yes, the only shot I have of an aluminum one is on an M3.

That'll do....Is it bare aluminum, brushed or anodized?

[DCColegrove]

That's steel, right?

Yes, the only shot I have of an aluminum one is on an M3.

[bmwpower]

That's steel, right?

How much for steel one unpainted? I want to get it powder coated.

[DCColegrove]

Any picts of your front strut bar in aluminum?
Any picts of your front strut bar on a 325i? (site pict is 318i). Trying see distance to firewall.

[DCColegrove]

I'll get that LCAB brace into his hands as soon as possible...

I do think there are some "reviews" on the X Brace floating around out there as well.