Strut brace

[pauly]

ORIGINAL: A9XXC

Lower brace? theres not much below the crossmember!

Aftermarket item that fits between the castor mounts.

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: pauly

Aftermarket item that fits between the castor mounts.

Like the Brey Krause offering

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Never seen one of those before!
Looks like a hefty casting and mounting, but mountrd so close to the engine crossmember, wonder how effective it is?
Cheers
Mike

 

[tref]

I must admit that does look a business-like piece of kit. I've seen some very impressive looking braces let down by terminations that will flex all over the place. It is also in the place Porsche last seem to have paid attention - namely in the 968/M030 caster mounts. I wouldn't have thought a little movement there would make a significant difference, because they are a considerable distance back from teh centrleine of the wheel, I would think a lot of movement would be necessary for it to show up... but... the bushes Porsche used have probably taken it to the limit and maintained compliance, so I could see some gains being possible there. I would have thought a waste of time if the uprated caster mounts aren't already being used mind.
Of course, I'd like to see a blind trial on the same car with or without in terms of lap-times... But wouldn't we all like to see that on everything!

 

[Super_Marv]

Seems strange that they'd fit a lower brace, but not bother changing the caster mounts to the updated 968 type.

I'm getting solid top mounts fitted at the end of this month - anyone else done this? I'm hoping it doesn't wreck the ride too much....

 

[Big Dave]

Ive got a lower brace fitted to my car..[][]
I find it has helped out, but possibly only because im running solid castor mounts, well , with a spherical bearing, no rubber bush. Also Dynatech top mounts, Dynatech upper Strut brace. Gaz 3 way remote front legs.. Billet "charlie" arms + semi slick Dunlop tyres...Oh + M030 front arb..
So i guess with all that little lot + not much give in anything, the only thing left to move is the chassis...
It made the whole front end VERY pointy + precise... I LOVE it...[][][][][]

BUT, + its a pretty BIG but..

Its not that good on a wet track, as most of the compliance needed for wet driving has gone...AWSOME in the dry though...[][][]

Personally if its on a road car , with road bushings, i wouldnt thinks its necessary at all...

 

[blease]

I'm no motoring engineer but I thought the idea was to stop relative movement between the suspension mounts by reducing body flex. Nowt to do with the springs.

 

[scam75]

Correct

 

[Neil Haughey]

They only really do anything if the strut towers are held in tension, or at least that is how it felt on my S2 when I had one fitted (currently sat in garage).

 

[Lowtimer]

Shells flex under suspension loads, and the higher the spring rates you are running the more the shell will flex. If you imagine having completely solid front suspension the only 'give' would be in the shell. With normal road car soft spring rates a healthy shell won;t flex much at all at the front. The main reason for having a strut brace is that by preventing the top mounts moving in relation to each other you are reinforcing the shell so that if you are running very high spring rates you protect the shell from stresses that will ultimately lead to cracking and failure. Very important on cars that are going to be badly abused - rallied down forest tracks, thumped over kerbs on race tracks etc. But we are talking really about race and rally suspension, and off-road applications. On a car with a decent shell design, which the 944 has, and everything in good nick, there isn't really any benefit to be had for normal road use. It is a popular fashion acessory of course, as are a lot of things that look track-orientated.

 

[steves944]

Shells flex under suspension loads, and the higher the spring rates you are running the more the shell will flex. If you imagine having completely solid front suspension the only 'give' would be in the shell. With normal road car soft spring rates a healthy shell won;t flex much at all at the front. The main reason for having a strut brace is that by preventing the top mounts moving in relation to each other you are reinforcing the shell so that if you are running very high spring rates you protect the shell from stresses that will ultimately lead to cracking and failure. Very important on cars that are going to be badly abused - rallied down forest tracks, thumped over kerbs on race tracks etc. But we are talking really about race and rally suspension, and off-road applications. On a car with a decent shell design, which the 944 has, and everything in good nick, there isn't really any benefit to be had  for normal road use. It is a popular fashion acessory of course, as are a lot of things that look track-orientated.

Thanks very much, understood all that!

I do track day and other than the odd trip onto the raised corner strips its perfectly smooth ( well, except Woodbridge!)

 

[944 man]

My answer will be in the form of a question: why do you want one?

 

[aporschefan]

To stiffen the ride a little. Also to reduce under steer, even if it just a little bit...

 

[Frenchy]

Jabriel, they work i have one on my Turbo S seems to make turn in sharper, mine was originaly from the states i cannot remember the name off hand, just bolts on though you can adjust the"bracing" by way of a threaded adjustment on the brace bar............................get one !

 

[aporschefan]

Thanks Frenchy.

Is yours triangulated?

If you do remember where you picked your up from, let me know.

 

[944Scott]

I have not seen a triangulated one for the 944 but there are plenty on the german ebay site.

 

[944 turbo cabrio]

I assume your car has Airconditioning?
If yes then most strutbraces will not work as they interfere with the AC pipes and a "valve" or what ever it is called that on some 944 models is on top of the AC pipes just by the suspension fasteners :-(
I believe that there are 1 or 2 American prducers that make AC friendly alternatives.

All depending on your car then I have 2 German aluminium Wiechers strut bars: one for non AC cars and one for AC cars bot with the "valve" located another place than by the suspension. First one is used but in excellent condition and costs 115 GBP and the other is brand new and in polished surface and costs 145 GBP.

Cheers

Niels

 

[944 man]

Any strut top brace needs to be triangulated against the bulkhead to work properly and really you need a bottom brace too (and some sort of lateral inner wing brace too, if you can find one).

I think that, in order to correct a problem, you have to be certain what causes it - simply adding parts may work, but it probably wont. If your car is pushing then you need more front end grip. The 'accepted wisdom' is to increase the rear roll stiffness, but this is only acceptable if you arent losing rear grip in doing so, because whilst loose can be easier to drive, youve only ended up trading one shortcoming for another.

Do you have oversized rear tyres, as these will always cause a car to push when youre pressing on? On virtually every front engined car theyre far more show than actual go.

 

[Eldavo]

KLA industries pie probably the company you're thinking of Jim.

 

[944Scott]

This is a wiechers on and if you look at the ight of the picture the ac valve appears to be in place.

However the heat shield has had to be altered for it to fit.