Upper Strut Brace Fitting Question

[Rippthrough]

Oh yeah, NOW you'll move the f*cking lid....

[darrenjlobb]

Looks good, no adjustment at all though?

Could be an issue given im yet to find two 306's with struts in the same place haha! Looks pretty strong compared to most of the current market, altho a proper plate at each end would look / be strong possibly?

[Rippthrough]

I was going to do plate but it meant fooking about at the laser cutters (and passing over enough cash for 100 of 'em to start with, 'm a yorkshireman, can't be doing that ) and making something for the press to put the curve on it to make it meet up to the strut top properly, ends up just as stiff doing it like this tbh.

No adjustment, no, but the end fittings are tilted up slightly so it tensions as it's torqued down the same as the lower braces do with the slight twist in them, had it on 3 so far and it fits fine, going to try a few more though!
Certainly a lot stiffer than the cheap alloy ones going by the press, about an order of magnitude stiffer in fact

[Atterz]

Ill drive up if you want to try it on another car . Need a harness bar too! Hopefuly you can incorporate a MCS because it makes a big difference in Jap cars and the bulkhead is like paper in these cars!

[Rippthrough]

Yeah, I had one on my car with the old strut brace and it makes a fair difference.

[Eeyore]

looks good

[Matt]

That looks amazing I'd even consider one

[Rippthrough]

Right, bit of a rubbing issue still on the TU engined models (ecu cover again...), and the Ph1 cars bonnet stay bracket rubs the top of the brace - working on shuffling the tube over slightly, but as always, it may catch on some cars.
It's the edges where the bracket is folded over though, so 10 seconds with a ball peen or a file sorts it out - it only just kisses.

Aside from that, bit of testing on the extra's that tie into to the master cylinder to stiffen the bulkhead, they seem to be fine easy enough to adjust - although I've just found that the strut brace is stiff enough that it's possible to push the bulkhead backwards with it and lock the brakes on if you adjust the bolt too much :lol
Good old Peugeot tin foil bulkheads!

Anyhow, I'll make another one up next week with the tweaks and try it on some more phases/models again, just a wee bit of a delay.

[Atterz]

Happy days should make a massive difference to braking then!

[Rippthrough]

Does when it locks the brakes on

[declantg]

Do it with a flat bit in the middle and then drill holes through it, would look pretty schweet.

Inb4slack

[Rippthrough]

^^And be about as stiff as a chocolate teapot like the rest of the ebay shite

[Rippthrough]

[Eeyore]

want!

[spike2002]

Looks good mate.
Altho i have a omp one and i can see advantages and disadvantages between urs and the omp like how urs is mounted to the top of the struts and no ajustment. if you could make this ajustable and secureing to all top strut bolts i think you would be on to a winner

[samass]

sex.
when, how much.
need this in my life.

[Rippthrough]

Looks good mate.
Altho i have a omp one and i can see advantages and disadvantages between urs and the omp like how urs is mounted to the top of the struts and no ajustment. if you could make this ajustable and secureing to all top strut bolts i think you would be on to a winner

There's no real need to pick up on all the bolts, even with just those two it's far stiffer than the thin flimsy plate most braces use, doesn't need to be adjustable either, it's slightly twisted so it tensions itself when you bolt it on, same as my lower braces do, all the adjusters do is give them somewhere to flex and add un-needed weight.

Probably end up a little more than the OMP ones just because of the extra material and welding to do, but they're approx 3x as stiff vertically, 2.5 x stiffer longitudinally and about 8-9 times stiffer laterally....as for the e-tech ones....tissue paper compared to these

Plus, mine has the option of extra bits to add on at a later date

[spike2002]

What im saying is there is alot more stress on 2 bots rather than the 3 i can understand what ur saying but you have only fitted it to 3 cars and you could have trouble as no car is the same.
If where it bolts to the car was a o shape and went around the top of the strut i think it would be alot better and stronger as there will be alot less stress on the top moint bolts.
Im not trying to knock it as it does look good but i think it could be better. Just out of curiosity how much will these be?

---

Also just to add what does this weigh? As it looks heavier than a omp one

[Connor]

Remember those shocks i gave you? Yeah were even

[spike2002]

Tell more about the extra bits
i think you are on to a winner mate but i also think you can improve a litle on it even if it ends up more expensive than the omp.

[Rippthrough]

It doesn't really matter about the rest of the plate though - it won't be spreading stress, in fact it's barely doing anything on the OMP's, as half of it doesn't even touch the top mount properly - but aside from that, the stress will only be transmitted in a small area around where the bolt is clamping, in mine, that's directly to a very stiff piece of vertical tube, into the crescent, again, massively stiff compared to the OMP, and straight into the main crossmember/tubes.

In an OMP, that's through bolted through a piece of 2-3mm plate, stress transmitted sideways through it all the way around the mount, then upwards through a thin plate with two bends in it already, before it even gets to the tube. And it's got an adjuster in the middle that concentrates the stress again.

There really is no point in going all the way around*, the bolts are seeing the same stress as normal, as the contact points are stiff enough to transmit the load directly to the bodywork
Extra bits will be a master cylinder brace that bears down on the brace to improve brake feel and reduce pedal travel, which is why the brace is so stiff laterally. There may also be a fitment for an engine torque damper.

They'll be about £100, so £10-20 dearer than the OMP one (which seems to vary depending on colour for some reason!)

---

Remember those shocks i gave you? Yeah were even

I might let you have the shocks back if you're lucky...



*Trust me, I'm a doctor. Honest.

[Connor]

No honestly, its ok, ill just take one of these



























Or a heavy discount

[Rippthrough]

Your loss, they've got remote canisters now and are gas pressurised

[Connor]

Ok fine... Ill take both

[Dum-Dum]

Looks amazing mate. Would it not be best bracing to the third strut hole as otherwise you have all that force going through 2 pissy little bolts rather than 3

[Rippthrough]

I'm never gonna hear the end of this am I?

[samass]

Combine it with uprated bolts and I dont see an issue...

[spike2002]

Looks amazing mate. Would it not be best bracing to the third strut hole as otherwise you have all that force going through 2 pissy little bolts rather than 3

Someone that agrees with me

[Rippthrough]

Right, if you really, really, want it, there will be an option to have one that picks up on the 3rd bolt.

But given it adds 50% more bends to make, double the tube fillets, and 70% more welding, it'll add chunk of cost for little benefit, so it's up to you lot

[spike2002]

Good man for giving the option.
Ur defenatly on to a winner with this