Megan racing front strut bar?

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by Mitch

Strut bars already do very little on a modern chassis.

Originally Posted by GrimmSpeed

The first thing that we did before developing any concepts was to determine if these cars actually benefit from a strut tower brace, as we're not interested in providing a part that does nothing. These cars already come stock with triangulation bars to provide additional rigidity, so we wanted to determine how effective these were, and if we wanted to design a brace that included them as well. We will touch on the specifics of our testing in another post, but in the interest of brevity we'll summarize our testing and results here. We made a very simple brace out of metal that fit on the studs on the strut towers that the triangulation bars are bolted to. We then took several data sets with our Faro Arm with and without different combinations of the stock triangulation bars and prototype strut tower brace. We did this to compare how much the strut towers were deflecting when we jacked up one side of the chassis to a calibrated height. This is NOT indicative of the lateral loads the strut towers see in cornering, where the forces are much higher and specifically located. Instead, this test is much more simplified, and results seen here will be more exaggerated when applied to real life cornering.

I took several data sets and then compiled them looking for trends. In my software I held one strut tower in place, and measured the differences in deflection in the other strut tower. I'll post a picture here showing some quick visual results. The blue stud represents the car sitting on the ground, completely unloaded. The yellow stud is the car loaded (jacked up to a calibrated height) with the triangulation bars and our prototype strut tower brace. The green stud is the car loaded with just triangulation bars. Finally, the red stud is the car loaded without the triangulation bars or strut tower bar.



What this initially shows is that the stock triangulation bars do a pretty decent job of minimizing deflection. It also shows us that adding a strut tower brace to those triangulation bars does an even better job at that task. Let the designs begin!!!

Parts of the original post have omitted as I didn't think these added to the thread. My bold.

Originally Posted by Mitch

Strut bars with pivot points at the mounts do nothing.

Originally Posted by mid_life_crisis

There is a hinge at both ends. It won't do squat except add a couple of pounds to the front end.

This.

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Originally Posted by mid_life_crisis

There is a hinge at both ends. It won't do squat except add a couple of pounds to the front end.

EXACTLY. Hinges on strut bars make them totally useless minus looking good.

Strut bars that are solid with no hinges like ours or the grimmspeed one coming out are the only ones that actually might do something.

[Nightbringer]

Thanks for the grimmspeed repost. I love the look of the speedfactory bar, but the air-oil separator kit most people choose ends up being where that plate is if you go with the triangulation bars, doesn't it? Hotchkis' offering looks pretty damn beefy. Anyone with experience? Any venders with deals?

[BlackyRose]

Didn't realize your is only 37 bucks more than the Megan one. Yours is the obvious choice then! But what are the chances of getting one with a different color or you guys shipping your design un-powdercoated.

Speaking to the ft86 speed factory one btw....

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

We can ship one not powder coated. We have Red and Black on hand as well for colors.

[BlackyRose]

Originally Posted by FT-86 SpeedFactory

We can ship one not powder coated. We have Red and Black on hand as well for colors.

I am a novice with engine work, but am ok with simple tools. Does your strut bar bolt onto the existing frame and can it be installed through the top of the engine bay or does it require cutting and/or install from other angles. The Cusco and Megan one just kind of lay on existing holes and you fasten the bolts and washers and 15 minutes later you are good to go

Also, do you have pictures of the red one? Would love to see it!! I am working on a red engine bay conversion

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Originally Posted by BlackyRose

I am a novice with engine work, but am ok with simple tools. Does your strut bar bolt onto the existing frame and can it be installed through the top of the engine bay or does it require cutting and/or install from other angles. The Cusco and Megan one just kind of lay on existing holes and you fasten the bolts and washers and 15 minutes later you are good to go

Also, do you have pictures of the red one? Would love to see it!! I am working on a red engine bay conversion

That's exactly how ours works also. Just simple lay on and bolt down.

Red color we have on hand.

[BlackyRose]

That's is beautiful. Pm me price shipped to 33604. Both versions the one with just the strut bar and the other one with the 3 pieces and the ft86 engraving

[BlackyRose]

So the Cusco one with the blue on it is junk? Apparently a lot of posters think that type of design with the hinges is cosmetic only?

A LOT of people have the Cusco one, hard to believe it isnt functional...

[boredom.is.me]

Originally Posted by BlackyRose

So the Cusco one with the blue on it is junk? Apparently a lot of posters think that type of design with the hinges is cosmetic only?

A LOT of people have the Cusco one, hard to believe it isnt functional...

Placebo Effect
Hinges still allow twisting/swaying. The idea is to rigidly connect the shock towers. Hinges aren't rigid.

[BlackyRose]

Wow, I'm sure there are a lot of people on here who have no idea and spent hundreds on the cysco front and rear....

I'm disappointed now, they looked so nice

[timerbob]

Hinges allow for clearance. It also allows the bar to be easily removed in case it's blocking anything that you need to get to. Most users who purchase strut tower bars aren't taking their cars to the track so rigidity of a bar doesn't really play as much of a role as a track car. In the end, a hinged tower bars still do their jobs. It's also the quality of the bar and the material used. How well does it hold up? Is there any weight added?

[Jvalich]

I have the Meagan installed on my car. Nice quality. I haven't tracked the car yet but have had ample high speed ramp chances and some twist country roads. May not be the " best" one out there but it made a difference.

[NYCsubaruBRZ]

Originally Posted by Jvalich

I have the Meagan installed on my car. Nice quality. I haven't tracked the car yet but have had ample high speed ramp chances and some twist country roads. May not be the " best" one out there but it made a difference.

thanks! someone who actually has it installed is what i was looking for.

so u just have the front strut bar? can u actually feel a difference or could it just be your mind playing tricks?

any other suspension or power mods to the car?