Strut Brace....

85blue

New Member
May 15, 2008
4
0
0
Zephyrhills, Florida
Hello, The "Post an Introduction Post" banner popped up... So, at the risk of gaining an infraction, (I saw no "forum" option to click on the tool bar) I would like some help identifying this particular Strut Brace.
http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff143/85Blue/?action=view&current=FootMeasurements.jpg
http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff143/85Blue/?action=view&current=TopView.jpg
http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff143/85Blue/?action=view&current=Height.jpg
http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff143/85Blue/?action=view&current=EndView.jpg

The person that I bought it from had a MKIII, I have a MKII. Being somewhat "unknowing" about the nuances of the MKIIIs versus the MKIIs, I kind of thought that they might be interchangeable. It appears that I was wrong. Is this the tower brace for the MKIII or the MKIV? If so, what is the normal cost of a brace like this the center bar appears to be Stainless and acts like a turnbuckle? I am in the Tampa Bay Area in Florida...

Thanks,
Larry W. in Zephyrhills...
 
Last edited by a moderator:

sethron71

Authorized Vendor
Jul 19, 2005
871
0
16
40
Las Vegas, NV
www.SethIngham.com
Looks a lot like a cheap one I bought off Ebay years ago, tried to find a picture but no luck. Needless to say it is basically useless. The strut towers really aren't going to flex in towards each other which is all that stops but rather the car twist moving them vertically up and down indepedent. So since that has hemi-joint ends it is allowed to pivot not stopping virtually any of that movement. Look into the Cusco and a few other that are solid and tie together in the middle but do not pivot at the ends.


BTW this should be in the MKIII general section and if you search there, there is a huge thread arguing all this from a while back!

HTH,
Seth
 

figgie

Supramania Contributor
Mar 30, 2005
5,225
16
38
50
Twin Cities, Minnesot-ah
85blue;1116541 said:
So, I'm guessing I'm out $60??? ...or does this brace have an application where it is worth that???


well

do you like how it looks? If you do then you are NOT out $60. Just be aware that it does absolutely nothing :)
 

Facime

Leather work expert
Jun 1, 2006
2,716
0
0
60
Corvallis OR
figgie, he has a mk2, it wont mount up at all (without modification). However, if you can get it to mount on the mk2 it will INDEED be useful as the mk2 is mac strut. If you just want to sell it to a mk3 owner, there are still people who buy them...even VERY knowledgable people who have them on their mk3 :nono:.

as for making it work on your mk2, Im unfamiliar with the bolt patterns on the strut tower, could it be redrilled to fit? if the center bar is too long it could be shortened. Not sure all that is worth it if you have to pay someone to do it, but if you can mod it yourself I would go for it.
 

suprabad

Coitus Non Circum
Jul 12, 2005
1,796
0
0
Down Like A Clown Charley Brown
I wouldn't say it's absoloutely worthless. I mean, there must be some tower flex generated toward the center of the chassis (probably under hard cornering) and it would certainly eliminate that. Obviously, a triangulated strut bar would be more effective, but I haven't seen too many of them.
 

85blue

New Member
May 15, 2008
4
0
0
Zephyrhills, Florida
I could get the foot to fit with minimal drilling but the height is way too high, the bar would have to attach almost directly to the foot to work. I guess I could go down to Reutimann racing, it's less that two miles away to see if they might fabricate a new foot with brace attachment points. This is getting set up for SCCA ITS as soon as I get in gear...

However, thanks for the input, I really like the looks of the bar and the turnbuckle effect... I just don't know if there needs to be a bend in it to top the engine, if so, ->Crap.