Strut Braces!!??

[toyota_ae71]

Gday all just wanting to know if it makes any difference if i put front and rear strut braces on my 1984 ke70??

Edited August 23, 2007 by toyota_ae71

[Medicine_Man]

Why don't you ask your engineer mate?

[toyota_ae71]

yeah don't worry bout that bit i waz thinkin bout somthing else but didnt come out right but do u no if it makes any diff

[Medicine_Man]

If you want to stiffen the body you will want to seam weld it, Depends how serious you want to get..

[Jono]

in some cars a strut makes a huge difference and some cars it doesn't do anything.

depends on how floppy the body is. my mates r31's interior lights would come on during hard cornering because of body flex.

 

a test was done on a e30 318is with a strut brace disconnected on one strut and some sort of marking system set up. the strut towers moved about 1mm during hard cornering IIRC meaning a strut brace is useless on those cars.

 

not sure about the ke70...

[toyota_ae71]

thanks for the info bro i think i will go for the strut braces just after get other things done like port head, shocks, roll cage then the strut braces :yes: :P

[old corolla bloke]

thanks for the info bro i think i will go for the strut braces just after get other things done like port head, shocks, roll cage then the strut braces :) :D

 

an often overlooked and easy way to stiffen the body is by plating and welding the crossbrace between the chassis rails at the front under the radiator. very easy to do remove bumper and rad the stitch in a piece of angle. you will need to make some cuts to the angle to shape it of course.

 

this inaddittion to the strut brace will have a notice affect

 

cheers bm

[jamesrolla]

i run one in my ke70, seemed to stiffen it up a bit but watch it if you ever go 4age because mine made a nice little groove into the strut brace when you rev the engine, i havnt played around with a rear one yet. get a cage in the car while your at it, i put a basic 4 point one into my car and you woudnt beleive the difference its made

[tas_ae71]

i asume you have some suspension in it?

 

or it wouldnt make any diffrence at all.... kind of like my car

[RiverSide]

I tested my old ae71 with and without a homemade rear brace. This thing was super simple.........but the difference it made was MASSIVE.

 

It was the difference between needing a clutch kick, or a simple twitch of the steering wheel to initiate a slide on the test corner.

 

Bracing is under rated..........

[toyota_ae71]

AWESOME didnt think it would make that much difference lol! Its now goin on my list of many things to do LOL! thanks for the info man

[Sam_Q]

the rear brace is a waste of time, the front is worth the effort though. Just don't buy one of those crappy little aluminium ones.

[towe001]

Ditto.

The only time it'd be of use would be in a car that has IRS (hence the name "strut"brace)

Cause of it going between the struts and "joining" them together.

[RiverSide]

towe001...........Have you actually tested the difference with and without a brace? eg: back to back testing?

 

As stated, bracing is under rated, it is a low cost, high return mod.

[towe001]

Yeah point taken on a rear drive car.

My AE82 Seca has one. If i'm feeling keen, i'll either seam weld or weld in a 4-point (or, if i can legally a 6-point) cage to stiffen the body and chassis of my ke55.

 

But where, or how, did you mount the brace ? Where the shockies bolt to the body of the car or where the struts mount to the car ?

 

A ke70 uses a live axle with a four point linkage and panhard bar system to locate the suspension and shockies and springs to support the axle (or body on the axle. Depends on which way you want to look at unsprung and sprung mass).

Whereas, say, a silva s15, is IRS which uses struts and links to both locate and support the rear suspension to the body.

 

A car with struts (from a performance side) needs a strut brace between the towers to stop or reduce camber and or toe (and maybe castor) changes during cornering and uneven road surfaces.

 

Whereas, a live axle car doesn't have to put up with this extra loadings on the suspension pick up points.