Strut bars: one-piece solid vs. others

M

mishanja

Member
Location
Sugar Land, TX
Car
2013 BMW X5
Well, I was just looking at different strut bars (not for any particular FX model) and ran into the solid, one-piece strut bars. So, is there a big difference between solid vs. not? Is there any advantages / disadvantages to using solid?

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I'm no expert but I think when it comes to strut bars, when you're only connecting two points (the strut mounts) it doesn't make much of a difference in solid vs multi piece. A true strut brace that attaches at three points (firewall) will do a LOT more gooder. :tongue:

I still dream of getting my hands on a SABLIN strut bar.
 
aiya said:
I'm no expert but I think when it comes to strut bars, when you're only connecting two points (the strut mounts) it doesn't make much of a difference in solid vs multi piece. A true strut brace that attaches at three points (firewall) will do a LOT more gooder. :tongue:

I still dream of getting my hands on a SABLIN strut bar.
Click to expand...

Does anyone have a SABLIN strut bar? I would be interested in seeing what it looks like.
 
Solid may be a little bit stiffer, although it would be hard to tell. The argument against using the multi-piece bars like Stillen or GT-Spec is that no matter how stiff the bar is, it's only as good as it's weakest point which is the bolts. If you look, the bolts really aren't that big and don't have very high torque requirements so they won't handle much load. When loaded, the bolts may allow more movement than a solid bar would. On a street car, it's debatable whether this matters.

No car maker uses multi-piece strut bars, they're always one piece. On my 335, it's 2 bars that attach the towers to the firewall. On a 350Z, it's one piece. Even my old Mazda Protege5 came with a strut brace and it was an ugly one piece bar. Only aftermarket companies use 2 piece bars and it's only because they're easier to install and easier to move if you want to work on your engine. I can unbolt one side of my Stillen and push it out of the way to say change the plugs. With a one piece, you have to pull the entire thing.

Installing a one piece car can be a bear. Way back in the day my brother bought a Neuspeed bar for his Honda. It was a solid bar with 4 mounting points; it took two of us to install it because the holes were a tiny bit off and we had to basically force it on.

But as Aiya said, the best bar would be one that tied everything to your firewall since that would resist twisting forces much better. A strut bar basically can only transmit force laterally so if there was any front to back force, it won't do much.
 
I had Stillen, now have NRG. Can't say there's much difference. The NRG was free, so I thought it would look good since it was in black. I'm not sure I would have paid for one since I already had the Stillen though.
 
I actually like the Stillen better also....plus I'm installing a Stillen SC soon and it is the only brace that will fit if you do.
 
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