ok well i was told you guys in this forum know a bit about suspension setups. well my strut bar is adjustable. its an omp bar. now what i would like to know is if the bar is better in compression or tension. any help/advise is appreciated. thanks.

 

So you're trying to decide whether to preload the strut towers with the bar, pulling them inwards vs pushing them outwards? I thought the main/only reason why the strut tower bars on the market have the adjustable ends/centers was to compensate between production variances in the unibody, wear/tear/age, etc. from one chassis to another.

I would think you'd want neither. Make the bar the appropriate length to match up to the holes/studs with the car on the ground and on a level surface; and then tighten it down and forget about it.

The ****'s may point out there is a specific suspension forum for this now...

 

first of all, this isnt even a suspension related issue. strut bars are nothing more to do with suspension than crossmembers.


anyway, its regardless whether in tension or compression. its not a spring. its a structural member.


Modified by Tyson at 9:33 AM 1/7/2005

 

i agree with both XRC and tyson, but since it is silly season, i will propose that having them in tension would be preferable to compression.

i suppose i'm thinking of it like camber which is why i'm inclined to say that.

now whether having them in tension is better than not tensed/compressed, i don't know, since i still don't understand just what strut tower bars actually do. I'm aware of what they're supposed to do, and what people "claim" they do, but no empirical data regarding what they do or don't do so...

 

Okay I'll give it a shot...

I think the best idea would be to jack the car up off the ground befor you install the bar. Adjust the bar so there is zero tension/compression when you install it. Once the car is lowered back down, the bar should go into compression.

The reason I say this is because a lot of the fixed upper strut bars require you to jack the car up to relieve tension on the chassis points. This allows the bar to be installed, otherwise you wouldn't be able to get it on.

 

first of all i didnt put it in this forum, it was moved here by another mod so chill. right now the bar is in compression sitting on the ground