I’m curious about the funtional effectiveness of the 3 major styles of strut brace i have seen.
the first is the cheap ones on ebay, they connect the towers directly to eachother, but the bars use a bolt or bushing at each end of the bar creating a pivot point by the mounting brackets.
the second is a solid bar that connects the towers but with no pivot points
the third bar connects the towers together but also connects to the firewall at a third point.
do these bars all perform equally? or do they each provide different levels of frame strength? i mostly mean for street cars, not purly race applications. thank you
How effective they are is really going to depend on the vehicle. Some cars have stiffer chassis and don’t really benefit.
Are you thinking about this on your car? Camaro I assume?
a hinged bar will have two ways to resist motion: a reaction force along the line of the bar and one holding the bar up. if the force is totally horizontal it will translate the force to the other tower, but in a car those kinds of forces never the case given suspension/road forces. Other wise if it is at an angle the force will try to lift the bar and since it is hinged it will allow it.
The one with the triangulation bars could possibly help with rotation about the bar (as in the towers wanting to twist with the bar as an axis, like a swing set) but it really depends on what the bars are bolted to. I really don’t see those being beneficial afaik.
a solid bar will “prevent” movement in all directions. but we dont live in a rigid body world so shit bends, it should help things bend less though. Will you be able to tell? I am not sure.
i didn’t notice any difference in my car between having a strut bar and not having one. im sure it helps, but not as much as an upgraded swaybar
i bet most people just buy them for looks
It did something on my old f-body because I got a wind shield chip with it on…launched at the track and it broke the windshield strut tower to strut tower exactly.
originally several years ago yes i was thinking of adding one to my 91 camaro, but now i was thinking of adding them to an Impreza coupe. but overall it sounds like they are more of a hassle or a cosmetic item than actually effective.
the amount of force that would require one of these is far greater then what you will ever see on the street. its purely cosmetic, unless you have a car that is known for the strut tower mount to “mushroom” and/or crack, then the added plate would be beneficial for reinforcement.
the rigid ones without hinge are the best for actual function. if you really want one, get a cheapo off ebay. these arent worth the money they cost.
Three-pointers on Camaros (4G ones at least) are known to crack the windshield.
That being said, my GTO came with one as OEM; I also had an OEM one on my Cavalier…
The F-Body platform is known to be a wet-noodle when it comes to chassis stiffness; as such, this can have a positive effect on handling/cornering of the car. Unless you’re doing some serious corner-carving the difference on the street probably won’t be noticeable though.
Like LZ said, the 3-pt ones are known to cause windshield cracks in 4th gens due to the forces being transferred differently through the chassis with one of these.
in my 4th gen maxima is made a big difference with a cheap ebay hinged one. I suspect it all depends on the car.