Installing -Strut Brace - How much to preload

[Wickd89]

I am about to receive a new Rennline upper strut tower bar (the one with two parallel bars; not the triangular set).

I will be able to twist the bars and "pre-stress" the setup.

Can anyone tell me how tight I should twist this bar? Maybe even a torque value if you know....

Can I just tighten it and not effect my current alignment settings??

Thanks, Luis g.

[Dixie]

This is the bar, right?



If you do not want to influence the alignment, simply bolt it in with no load on the bars. Bolt the ends to the towers loosely. Then install the bars loosely. The bars should be adjusted so the bolts pass through the hiem joints with no binding. Now tighten everything down.

[cgarr]

I tension mine quite a bit by hand only, The towers tend to bend outward. You could take a measurement, tighten it then recheck it. poor mans camber adjustment I guess

[Wickd89]

Thank you fellas. Can't wait to see the improvement......

[450knotOffice]

Luis, just give the two bars a little 1/4 turn preload after you feel them begin to firm up. Be sure that you are pulling the strut towers inward ever so slightly as opposed to pushing them out.

[gtc]

Originally Posted by 450knotOffice

Luis, just give the two bars a little 1/4 turn preload after you feel them begin to firm up. Be sure that you are pulling the strut towers inward ever so slightly as opposed to pushing them out.

I just picked up a Brey Krause strut brace from the classifieds. It's instructions recommend lengthening it by 1/2 turn.

http://www.bkauto.com/porsche/instructions/R-1511.pdf

I'm curious as to what the Rennline instructions suggest.

[Dixie]

Just to further confuse matters...

I adjust mine until I gain as much negative camber as possible. Having it on a rack is mandatory. Otherwise, you’re shootin' in the dark.

(And this is for a car that sees mostly track use.)

[Miguel Antonett]

Make it as tight as you can "by hand" inward, and with the car on the ground, go for a ride and do the same. No re-alignment necessary. Enjoy it!

[Nine9six]

Originally Posted by gtc

I just picked up a Brey Krause strut brace from the classifieds. It's instructions recommend lengthening it by 1/2 turn.

http://www.bkauto.com/porsche/instructions/R-1511.pdf

I'm curious as to what the Rennline instructions suggest.

Hmmm,
I would venture to say that quite possibly not all thread pitches are the same from manufacturer to manufacturer.
Not sure if that does anything for your curiousity.

[450knotOffice]

I believe gtc was referring to his instructions to lengthen his strut brace rather than shorten it.

GTC, the strut brace works to counter the strut towers' tendency to pull away from each other during hard cornering loads. You want to apply a pulling load - tension - to the strut brace.

Personally, I wouldn't overdo it. Just take out the slack and then tighten by another 1/4 to 1/2. Any more than that and you'll be applying a permanent significant tension to the strut towers, which will lead to metal fatigue in the long term.

[J Smith]

No preload is the correct way to install it.

[450knotOffice]

Well, that's right...to a point. The very act of snugging the bar so it doesn't flop around prelaods it, by definition.

Luis, the point is to tighten the bars by shortening them until they just begin to snug, then just give them another 1/4 turn or so. That's it.

Let me see your handi-work when you're done Luis. Maybe we can meet at Cars-n-coffee.

[david c.]

I was instructed not to tighten it in the way suggested here.

Rather, the heim joints on my Tarrett bar allow it to be twisted between fingers with almost no force. It's tight in the sense the strut locating hardware is tightened down, but there is no tightening between the strut towers via this brace. My understanding is that the bar simply keeps the towers from getting further apart while the car is moving.

[450knotOffice]

Hey Dave, long time no hear (or see)! How's the 912 doing?

The way I see it, as long as you have no slop in the system, you're fine.

[Wickd89]

Thanks for the confidence that I will be doing it on my own. In my youth, I use to do everything on my '84 GTI but now time is valuable; oh to valuable.

This install will likely go to Paul. I already discussed it with him that the Ventura Fest, so you will be seeing his hand work again... ;-)

Might get him to give my AC unit a quick look. The previous owner said it worked well, but needed an annual recharge. Sounds like a little leak; hopefully in the right place......

[gunlover05]

just installed my ERP single strut bar....quite a nice quality part...instructions say to tighten by hand 1/3 turn from no-load, more if negative camber is needed.

I tighten mine @ 1/2 turn from no-load, as I need some camber.

can't wait to drive her tomorrow

[chrisp]

Drill a hole through the cross bar, insert a long screw driver, and tighten until the hood doesn't close then back off 1/2 turn. The hood should close. That's worth about 1/2 degree of addt'l camber for each wheel.

[Wickd89]

Scott,
I just wanted to thank you again for helping me install the Rennline brace. Your experience and confidence when doing things to our cars is inspiring and I hope to continue to make some "choice" mods.

Always glad to have a beer with a friend and do a little work on our cars!!

Here are some pics of our handwork.......

[450knotOffice]

You're welcome, Luis. I'm always happy to help a friend out. The bars looks great.

And thanks for letting me drive your car. It felt really tight and well-put-together.

See you soon.

[TexasPete2720]

Originally Posted by Wickd89

Scott,
I just wanted to thank you again for helping me install the Rennline brace. Your experience and confidence when doing things to our cars is inspiring and I hope to continue to make some "choice" mods.

Always glad to have a beer with a friend and do a little work on our cars!!

Here are some pics of our handwork.......

Where did u get your carpet?