Vibrant Strut Braces Please help!

born2speed85 · Post by **born2speed85** » Sat May 13, 2006 5:53 pm

I bought new vibrant adjustable strut braces and was wondering how they can be adjusted? I had heard that you lift the car and turn them till they are tight but I cannot figure out how to do it. If anyone can tell me how this is done please do I need help with this.Thanks

Post by **Diablo0** » Sat May 13, 2006 7:26 pm

You need to preload the bar by jacking the front or rear of the car up depending on which bar you are putting on to take the load off the suspension. The put the bar on, make sure it's tight and doesn't move at all then lower the car back down and you're good to go. When you lower the car down the suspension will compress and since you put the bar on with it up in the air and no load on the body from the suspension pushing inward, when you lower the car down the bar will be under load to keep the body in the same spot it was when the car was up in the air. When you go around a bend or hit a bump the bar will be under more load since the body flexes more at that point.

z3roneo · Post by **z3roneo** » Sun May 14, 2006 1:44 am

Don't mean to sound like a retard or something but does methos work better then just putting the strut bar on while the car on the ground??

I heard bout this bout peeps kinda said it was worthless... Shed some light on me...

scneonchic · Post by **scneonchic** » Sun May 14, 2006 11:21 am

I put both of mine on when the car was sitting on the ground. I didnt think it would make a difference to do it differently

marakka · Post by **marakka** » Sun May 14, 2006 3:53 pm

Alright..... our cars are unibody design right. So when the struts are compressed and holding all the weight of the car, there's a little bit of "sag" of the strut towers. Its tiny, but its there. The strut towers try to collapse inward from the stress. In older cars with weaker bodies, this can be as much as 1/4" or more. I've seen old BMW's that you couldn't put a strut tower brace on because the towers had sagged so much the bolt holes wouldn't line up.

So.... to get the strut towers back to their normal positions (unless permanent change has set in) you would raise the car up and take all the weight off the suspension. That will allow the strut towers to actually move outward a hair. You slide your strut bar on and adjust it out until its tight. This will keep the strut towers from "laying down" in the turns. Make sense? Of course not.

Nick Drake · Post by **Nick Drake** » Sun May 14, 2006 10:56 pm

makes perfect sense marakka. I just can't wait til i have the $ lying around for some strut bars and sways.

Post by **Diablo0** » Mon May 15, 2006 12:03 am

marakka wrote:Alright..... our cars are unibody design right. So when the struts are compressed and holding all the weight of the car, there's a little bit of "sag" of the strut towers. Its tiny, but its there. The strut towers try to collapse inward from the stress. In older cars with weaker bodies, this can be as much as 1/4" or more. I've seen old BMW's that you couldn't put a strut tower brace on because the towers had sagged so much the bolt holes wouldn't line up.

So.... to get the strut towers back to their normal positions (unless permanent change has set in) you would raise the car up and take all the weight off the suspension. That will allow the strut towers to actually move outward a hair. You slide your strut bar on and adjust it out until its tight. This will keep the strut towers from "laying down" in the turns. Make sense? Of course not.

Hit the nail on the head...

I say this but then again I don't even do it and on both of my bars I just said fuck it and put them on without jacking the car up

Call me lazy

lilolneon · Post by **lilolneon** » Mon May 15, 2006 1:22 am

Lazy bastard

sullygully · Post by **sullygully** » Mon May 15, 2006 12:12 pm

Diablo0 wrote:
marakka wrote:Alright..... our cars are unibody design right. So when the struts are compressed and holding all the weight of the car, there's a little bit of "sag" of the strut towers. Its tiny, but its there. The strut towers try to collapse inward from the stress. In older cars with weaker bodies, this can be as much as 1/4" or more. I've seen old BMW's that you couldn't put a strut tower brace on because the towers had sagged so much the bolt holes wouldn't line up.

So.... to get the strut towers back to their normal positions (unless permanent change has set in) you would raise the car up and take all the weight off the suspension. That will allow the strut towers to actually move outward a hair. You slide your strut bar on and adjust it out until its tight. This will keep the strut towers from "laying down" in the turns. Make sense? Of course not.
Hit the nail on the head...

I say this but then again I don't even do it and on both of my bars I just said fuck it and put them on without jacking the car up Call me lazy

Thats because a strut bar makes such a minute difference on our cars as compared to a larger sized car like a mustang would . Mine is there for cosmetics pretty much. But if it works some, meh, thats good to.

Post by **Diablo0** » Mon May 15, 2006 1:45 pm

sullygully wrote:
Diablo0 wrote:
marakka wrote:Alright..... our cars are unibody design right. So when the struts are compressed and holding all the weight of the car, there's a little bit of "sag" of the strut towers. Its tiny, but its there. The strut towers try to collapse inward from the stress. In older cars with weaker bodies, this can be as much as 1/4" or more. I've seen old BMW's that you couldn't put a strut tower brace on because the towers had sagged so much the bolt holes wouldn't line up.

So.... to get the strut towers back to their normal positions (unless permanent change has set in) you would raise the car up and take all the weight off the suspension. That will allow the strut towers to actually move outward a hair. You slide your strut bar on and adjust it out until its tight. This will keep the strut towers from "laying down" in the turns. Make sense? Of course not.
Hit the nail on the head...

I say this but then again I don't even do it and on both of my bars I just said fuck it and put them on without jacking the car up Call me lazy
Thats because a strut bar makes such a minute difference on our cars as compared to a larger sized car like a mustang would . Mine is there for cosmetics pretty much. But if it works some, meh, thats good to.

Very true, one reason due to the fact the strut towers are so close to the firewall and the rear seats since above the rear seats where the speakers are is all steel and thats right above the rear strut towers. The body is already pretty stuff when it comes to that but hey... if it helps even a little bit and looks good too... so be it!

born2speed85 · Post by **born2speed85** » Mon May 15, 2006 2:26 pm

Hey thanks a million guys for the responses. I just have one more question. I don't understand suspension very well so I was just wondering if you lift the car in the air, wont the tires move in slightly? and if so, when the strut bars are put in wont it keep the tires in slightly (positive camber) and cause the car to want to lean more?

OB · Post by OB » Mon May 15, 2006 3:26 pm

Just jackin the car wont put the suspension under load, so i dont think a tower brace will affect camber, cuz the suspension is then technically at its most neutral state.

good points guys.

grambo · Post by **grambo** » Mon May 15, 2006 3:59 pm

FYI, without a strut tower bar, a lowered suspension will put undo stresses on your towers and your welds will eventually crack. Especially non-coilover suspensions.
(I know cuz I cracked the towers on both my Scirrocco and Jetta Mk2. Both had Neuspeed springs and Sways, plus Koni's. I ended up buying the Neuspeed braces to line the towers back up and re-weld em.')
So as much as tower braces don't add much in terms of cornering prowess, they do add rigidity and support to the top-most points in our suspension under heavy loads.

Nick Drake · Post by **Nick Drake** » Mon May 15, 2006 11:23 pm

oh i didn't even think of that grambo, now getting some strut bars are a little higher on my priority list.

grambo · Post by **grambo** » Tue May 16, 2006 10:40 am

I would never lower and road-race a car without em'.

OB · Post by OB » Tue May 16, 2006 11:18 am

^id like to lower MY car. hehehehehehe jk

good point grambo

grambo · Post by **grambo** » Tue May 16, 2006 11:35 am

This weekend is lookin' REAL good dude!!!

OB · Post by OB » Tue May 16, 2006 2:24 pm

no shit? sweet let me know!

grambo · Post by **grambo** » Tue May 16, 2006 3:59 pm

I will dude. Oh, and to keep it on topic.

I'll be removing my strut braces and preloading them upon installation.

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Tue May 16, 2006 7:14 pm

mmm, from what I have read hear, the best thing to do is install the braces on a straight level surface with the stock suspension to install the braces.
If you have a drop kit, make sure all 4 of your wheels are aligned and on a level surface too before installing the braces.
stability is the key issue...

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 2:44 pm

grambo wrote:FYI, without a strut tower bar, a lowered suspension will put undo stresses on your towers and your welds will eventually crack. Especially non-coilover suspensions.
(I know cuz I cracked the towers on both my Scirrocco and Jetta Mk2. Both had Neuspeed springs and Sways, plus Koni's. I ended up buying the Neuspeed braces to line the towers back up and re-weld em.')
So as much as tower braces don't add much in terms of cornering prowess, they do add rigidity and support to the top-most points in our suspension under heavy loads.

I am a big ass n00b please help me out. I got my front Vibrant Strut Tower brace today in the mail. I got a few questions.

1. To install it, to my knowledge all I have to do is raise the front end of my vehicle, remove those 3 bolts on each side and then put those black pieces on and put hardware back in, tighten strut bar using silver bolt on side? Then lower vehicle?

2. Will I need an allignment after this since I took off those 3 bolts holding the strut up?

Thank you.

OB · Post by OB » Fri Jun 23, 2006 3:02 pm

nut should face the front of the car. preloading by raising the vehicle isnt necessary, but some people think its a good idea. yeah just take the bolts out and drop it on there, then bolt it back up and youre set. use the nut to adjust it once the tower bolts are tight (prob a better idea to do this before lowering the car IF u choose to raise it).

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 3:32 pm

orangeblastsxt wrote:nut should face the front of the car. preloading by raising the vehicle isnt necessary, but some people think its a good idea. yeah just take the bolts out and drop it on there, then bolt it back up and youre set. use the nut to adjust it once the tower bolts are tight (prob a better idea to do this before lowering the car IF u choose to raise it).

After hearing what Grambo was saying about the welds, I am going to rasie the vehicle and put it on.

Right on!