Trottas lil update, lcr fitted and brace problems lol!

[Trottagti]

Well i orderd my lcr splitter around 2 weeks ago and after stayin behind at work i got it fitted really easy to do actually!











Makes the front end look real aggressive and with my tiny feature from renagade dubs in pvw i fort iv been in the mag so i can have the sticker as i get it every month! lol!

FORTS??

So now the strut brace, found out after fitting it in and tightening it up it pushes the rubber top mounts alot so im having to make another 1 with no adjustment!

So will get back to ya on the new non adjustable one lol!

Heres how it looks!







So a solid one coming soon! Sorry bout my messy boot lol!

[bbspolo]

mate u know mounting the brace there will do nothing!
Because the top mount of the shock is rubber mounted !
u need it mounted from one side of the chassie (not shocks) 2 the other!
Best way i could think 2 do it would be 2 drill then nut and bolt it slightly behind or around the shock mount (much like the front ones mount!)

[Trottagti]

The rubber mounts move a hell of alot wen i had just one bolted on at one end and if u brace them across it will stop the movement alot cos there rubber mounts there ment to move for chassis flex and all that but there for resulting in roll! bracing them top and bottom wen i order my rear arb will make it handle nicer as the polo cup cars have the same setup braces but have poly mounts insted!

[Trottagti]

Theres noway to mount it apart from drilling away and im not prepared to do that lol, il have a think more!

[Tim_GTi]

You got any plans for a lower stance?

[alexperkins]

Any lower with that splitter and it'd scrape every speed bump in existance surely

[Tim_GTi]

I was more looking at the arch gap, you could get a hand in there!

[tegwin]

Like the splitter....But

Im not slating you for trying something new, but im going to say this anway....


.... bracing the rear struts like that is not a good idea! Infact it wont do anything appart from screwup the top of the struts...

The rear struts sit in rubberized bushy type things at the top of the rear strut towers.... the load of the suspension is fed into the top of the strut tower...

The flex in the rubber mount allows for the angular movement of the rear swing arm...

By putting that bar on there, it could potentially prevent the struts from compressing properly and simply snap the top off them...

Anyway, the strut brace is supposed to brace the rear strut towers, NOT the rear struts themselves...

What would work is, replace the upper strut mount bushes with something firmer like polyflex.... and then fit a brace between the strut towers...

Strut braces with bolt holes to bolt directly onto the strut tower...
[img]http://www.autopassion.co.nz/site/image ... es.jpg[img]

I have never seen an aluminium strut brace....the material simply isnt strong enough and will bend...so its adding weight with no benefit.... A steel tube of the same weight would be a LOT stiffer...and less prone to fatigue cracking...

[Tim_GTi]

This is interesting tegwin, I take it that's why you can't find any rear strut braces for this chassis? how do other chassis' work which benefit from a rear strut brace?

[tegwin]

Im by no means an expert...but a lot of the cars I have seen have bolt in rear struts like this :


Note the three bolts that hold the strut inplace....the strut brace braces between these two points....so where the struts feed the load into the chassis the brace sits between them....

I have just checked my polo tech drawings, and the rear strut is indeed located in a metalistic bush, clamped with a steel washer and a nut...The loads are passed through the bush into the shock tower...but allow the shock to move slightly...

You could drill some holes either side of the strut mount on the top of the tower and bolt a suitable strutbrace between the towers....but there is little point, the rest of the chassis is a so floppy (mainly because its all flaoting on big rubber bushes) that adding a strut brace to an almost standard car wont help.... Its just a style thing.... But if the style is effecting the safety...not a good thing!

[alexperkins]

I understand now. Basically the rear is best to bolt on like a front upper brace - otherwise its just joining two struts together, and not the chassis simply put?

[bbspolo]

tegwin perfect description
Sadly im not very hot when it comes 2 explaining things 2 non teck ppl!

[Tim_GTi]

I understand now. Basically the rear is best to bolt on like a front upper brace - otherwise its just joining two struts together, and not the chassis simply put?

That's how I understood it too

[bbspolo]

yer tim thats it!
although there call strut braces they rearly brace the chassie!

[Trottagti]

Im trying to find poly bushes like i said coz i dont want to drill any holes and thats why i designed the bar the way it is but as theres nothing on the market i fort id bash one out, but it looks like im going to have to drill holes on my chassis as making a new bar is now a waste of time as i didnt think things fru lol!

Still looks the way i want it to so drilling is a go ahead i guess!


Well as im goin down the route of making me polo the best it can be im deciding on a manifold or a drop first to set things properly rolling as paint is bang on now and after a total of 3900 quid spent on everything ie pedal box n all the usual problems gearbox, sensors etc!

Its working fine, Dont want coilovers as there heavy units and compared to say pro street springs and shocks there alot lighter so am looking for decent 60mm springs and shocks!

Shoulda droped it first but decisions on the way i wanted to go with the car wasnt decided,

I want it looking real mean and to make it standardly fast ie no engine swap nonsense! think its goin Suspension, manifold, remap and then decat then remap again!

Possibly head work in next year and boot flushed! thats it for now i wana keep rolling on standards as they suit the car well really!