Sparco 20vt strut brace

Hi people, Just got a Sparco original 20vt brace and when I looked at it and where it goes it appears to go on the point where the engine mount attaches!

Am I being a biff or does it just bolt on there? Just wanted to make sure. Anyone got a good picture of one fitted please?

Cheers

Tom

This any help?

Sparco....

Spot on mate:) I wasn't cracking up then, it does go on the same bolt as engine mount on the left as you look at pic.

I'll chuck it on first thing tomorrow then

I fitted mine last weekend, 10 minutes tops!

makes a hell of a difference

Seems to have made the front end a little tighter for want of a better description

As i'm already running billies and apex springs perhaps I won't notice as much?

Still happy though, off to see Flea tomorrow to get it re mapped

I haven't noticed any difference whatsoever!

Is your car on a standard set of springs and dampers?

Standard dampers and eibach springs.

It makes no difference - if you torque up the brace then you should really notice it.

my strut brace was on the car when i brought it,is there a correct way of setting it up?When you say torque do you mean the mounting holes or the adjuster?

adjuster.

I just bolted mine into position as the holes lines up perfectly. What is involved with torquing it up??

there is a length adjuster. Install the brace and then screw out the adjuster firmly.

OK I'll give that a go.

strut braces should make a massive difference i have read.

Made it feel a little more solid upfront I think, nice but not crucial handlingwise.
I strongly suspect it's a bad thing to torque the bar in any direction, this will only stress the structure. The adjuster is there to take up tolerances in width, right?

It's a brace - it's not just supposed to sit there and look pretty!

Of course - it closes the upper structure, which is why it is/feels more solid. I just don't think it's supposed to add constant stress.
Also it cannot change any wheel camber etc. more than a very small fraction of a degree anyway.

Per, you have a point, putting on a brace without a preload will stiffen up the frame, but slender members tend to be a lot stiffer in tension than compression. I imagine that brace will behave similar to a straight steel tube and if you compress the ends together, it will bow and won't have much stiffness but it will have a much higher stiffness in tension.

I think the brace would perform better if it has enough tension preload to ensure it stays in tension under all conditions.

Mind, you would be loading the frame in a way in which it wasn't designed to be loaded - So i guess it's a matter of judgement whether to preload or not.

Really? When you say screw out I take it you mean lengthen the bar overall once its fitted to push the top mounts out.

I did the complete opposite - May explain why i'm not noticing a great deal. I was working on the assumption that if I got it on tight AND drew the top mounts together a touch I would be getting a little bit of camber.

Whoops . . . . . . . . . .

when i got mine, i asked on here about fitting, and was told to tighten, and not to tighten.
i just fitted it, and as it was a perfect fit, i left it and didnt adjust anything.
so, should i adjust the brace, or is it meant to just sit on there and hold everything stiff?
if i am meant to have adjusted it, which way?
push out, or in?

I'm wondering the same thing about mine, it's an OMP one.
Currently I've lengthened it until it got relatively tight, I'm wondering if it might be better to shorten it instead, anyone have an opinion on this?

no no and no,dont tighten the brace at all,all you need is lock the brace in place not push our pull

with cowboy on this

Fine, but why? It's difficult to agree with your reasoning when you don't actually provide any...
I'm not disagreeing, but you've not given anything to help me decide if you're right or not.

what it says on the tin,brace as to brace not push our pull but to brace

my personal view is as follows.
the strut legs are held in position at the bottom via the wishbones to the subframe,so in effect they cannot move in or out at this position.however the top of the struts are held in only by the strut towers which will under heavy loads flex.putting a brace across tthe strut tops effectively creates a box type structure and as we all know a full box is always going to be stronger than an open three sided structure.similar to why a convertible car will always be compromised.
the strut as cowboy states dosn't need to be wound in or out.its only there to create a stronger structure.
this of course is only my opinion.maybe someone could give you more info.
also winding the brace in or out could alter the geometry of the steering,tracking and suspension.causing excessive wear to suspension components and maybe excessive tyre wear.which unless you fully understand should be left as standard

As posted by me earlier I fitted mine no adjusting. Just bolted into position. And I've noticed not one bit of difference and I like to think I have a good feel of my cars handling characteristics. Still it looks nice!

to be honest,i think people inadvisadley expect to transform the handling of thier car by adding the strutbrace.
i would think fiat looked long and hard when the chassis was first designed,and did many many tests.
imo i would think that in normal road use the brace won't give outstanding gains.
the benefits should be apparent through track use and under extreme loads.this is afterall a performance mod and any such gains would only be achieved through perfomance usage.
must admit though they do look

Fitting a strut brace on a 20vt stops that annoying steering wheel wobble up and down over bumps. If you have uprated suspension this gets worse, and a strut brace is a must.

The brace should be tight on its mounts - if it can move laterally it's hardly going to do it's job is it?

so whats the final analysis on it all then?

Makes a hell of a difference, makes no difference, only makes a difference on a track,fit it under tension, fit it under compression, fit it under no load.

You're never short of opinions on this forum, take your pick!!

That's the beauty of it. No matter what you think - someone's going to tell you you're spot on.

In fact it's going to be really difficult to do something with the strutt brace that somebody hasn't recommended.

LOL
lets do it all then

no i think you all have got it wrong,suba shaun and me,we all have told you the same,lock it in place

I just have one more comment on the whole strut brace tightening in, out or whatever.

If it is not supposed to be either in compression or tension, why does a 20vt strut brace have an adjuster? It's quite clearly designed for the coop only so if it only needs to be bolted on, why bother with allowing adjustment?

Production line assembly process tolerances?

The adjustment on the brace is at least 30mm !! I sincerely hope the tolerances are better than that

at the end of the day, Fiat looked at the coupe and decided to put the strut brace on for a reason, they MUST of thought it needed it, not just for when a customer decided to track there car or because it looks nice PMSL !!!

It must do something even if you don't feel like it is, some people seem to think that it makes the world of difference and others don't.
It is a forum after all, people will always have different opinions.

personally i believe that once fitted, it should be adjusted to suit the width and be there as a support, and as a support only. surely its the same as most "screw" type applications.
Don't overtighten and obviously not to loose.

As previous statements, trying to "bend" the chassis / struts / suspension is only ever going to have a negitive effect.