Lude Generation

I've seen many differing opinions on how to fit a front suspension strut brace. Should it be fitted while the car is on the ground (loaded suspension) or while jacked up in the air (unloaded suspension)?

I cant for the life of me understand why you would do it in the air especially if the nuts hold both the suspension and brace in place, the suspension will move and you'll probably upset your geometry settings.

If you're bolting the brace to the existing upper mounts then would it make a great deal of difference whether the car was off the ground or not?

either, it has to be either both wheels on the ground or both in the air other wise you will be loading one side

Is that a joke Merc?

Metalhead wrote:If you're bolting the brace to the existing upper mounts then would it make a great deal of difference whether the car was off the ground or not?

The chassis flexes when the load is on, as the shock towers are forced in ever so slightly. This is then exaggerated when cornering, hence the need for a brace.

All braces will work better under tension as apposed to compression, so the more pre-tension applied to a brace the better. By lifting the car before tightening the brace you'd be applying more compression, in which case the brace isn't likely to perform as it should.

6 voted car on ground against 0 votes for jacked up. I suppose that answers that then. Thanks people.

I'm replacing the securing bolts shortly, does anyone know their torque setting?

I assume you mean the nuts, the manual says 38Nm

Always in the air so when the car compresses and loads up the bar is preloaded.

NafemanNathan wrote:Is that a joke Merc?

Metalhead wrote:If you're bolting the brace to the existing upper mounts then would it make a great deal of difference whether the car was off the ground or not?

The chassis flexes when the load is on, as the shock towers are forced in ever so slightly. This is then exaggerated when cornering, hence the need for a brace.

All braces will work better under tension as apposed to compression, so the more pre-tension applied to a brace the better. By lifting the car before tightening the brace you'd be applying more compression, in which case the brace isn't likely to perform as it should.

nope if you have one side jacked up when its fitted your preloading one side of the suspension if you want it to sit as its designed then jacked up is the way to go

Won't work like that Ratty. You're better off preempting the towers flexing inwards under compression and essentially clamping them inwards reducing the amount they can flex.

By raising the car the towers will flex out, so by bracing them apart in that position they will still naturally want to flex inwards when the suspension compresses, and when cornering, the extra load on one side will cause the tower on that side to still flex inwards but also transfer the load through the bar to the other side which will still be able to flex further outward. This is all assuming the bar doesn't just flex.