Build your own STB?

[NickJones07GT]

Has anyone built there own strut tower brace? I have access to a VMM and a welder so I was considering giving it a go. IIRC the stb is not supposed to act as a lateral spring like the sway bars. So using plate steel for the strut tower attachments and square tubing for the brace, with a design to make it as stiff as possible, should work imo. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on clever third (or fourth and fifth) attachment points that might prove beneficial. What about routing? Anything that seems better than directly over the manifold?

Thanks,
Nick

 

[JAJ]

A triangle brace that goes over the manifold with arms that reach from the struts to the center of the firewall would be stronger than the current design, provided that the firewall is strong enough to add any support. On the BMW E92 M3, the STB is actually V-shaped from the center of the firewall to the struts with nothing over the top. All the fittings are cast aluminum and the arms are aluminum box-section. Very strong.

 

[NickJones07GT]

The edelbrock stb has a firewall mount point so it would probably work. I had also thought about the base of the motor mounts as a possible reinforcement point.

The aluminum would be nice, but I am not very good at welding aluminum so I will probably just do steel. Also I discovered when I did my phb that to get aluminum at a reasonable price that is equivalent in shear and tension to steel it would have to have a wall thickness that would make it slightly heavier than the steel tubing. So I will probably go with a thin walled steel rectangular tubing.

I do really like the Idea of not going over the engine at all. That will give me something to ponder. Thanks JAJ.

 

[AbdullaGT500]

The Sn95 and New edge cars bolt over the top and also bolt to the firewall. I've always wondered why most do not do the same on the S197's.

 

[908ssp]

Bolting an X over the top of the engine or a V is structurally much superior than the common tower to tower bar which is really worthless. The problem with the V is the firewall is not structural you have to reach though and connect to the windshield base without interfering with the wiper arms. Can be done but get complicated. You might instead strengthen the bottom of the chassis. Ford saw fit to add a Z brace to the Boss from the K member to the radiator support sway bar mounts. The chassis ends of the K member bolts to some really flimsy sheet metal and not the frame rails. It is done that way for accident crash protection. On the LS they stiffened the back of the chassis with a X brace through the trunk pass through. Just filling that with sheet metal would tie the roof to the chassis more securely. Here are some pictures of the pieces I made lets see what you can com up with.

 

[Dreadknought]

Any other input guys? Interesting idea...

 

[NickJones07GT]

*Update*
I know it's just a teaser, but I have spent several days crawling around my engine bay with different pieces of tubing, trying to figure this out. I think I might have something going that will work. It is going to take a while as we just got a new project in at work and overtime is premium right now. But I will get to it when I can and post pics.