Mason Engineering Strut Bar

[akak1997]

^I lucked out, there was a BMW mechanic there (E30 guy, he's getting his rear strut bar done) when we're installing the bar, he did went and torque everything

[MadMan77]

I am wondering about the diagonal bars. Is that just steel plate? In a previous post you had mentioned that it would be aluminum oval bar stock. What happened to that idea?

[akak1997]

Originally Posted by MadMan77

I am wondering about the diagonal bars. Is that just steel plate? In a previous post you had mentioned that it would be aluminum oval bar stock. What happened to that idea?

That was the original idea, but the oval bar won't fit right. the opening to the firewall is small, for the oval to fit correctly, a longer portion of it needs to be squeezed flat, which kinda defeat the purpose of the oval shape. Also if you pull out the stock bars, you'll notice there's a twist at the end at the firewall side, that twist would be hard to do with a squeezed oval tube.

Also, in the beginning we thought we could do a hole and not a fork like the stock bar for the diagonal bar at the firewall side. we end up scraping that idea. When we're installing the bar, we found it hard place the bolt into the hole on the 2 bars and the firewall mount point. So it ends up being a fork, like stock.

[MadMan77]

Originally Posted by akak1997

That was the original idea, but the oval bar won't fit right. the opening to the firewall is small, for the oval to fit correctly, a longer portion of it needs to be squeezed flat, which kinda defeat the purpose of the oval shape. Also if you pull out the stock bars, you'll notice there's a twist at the end at the firewall side, that twist would be hard to do with a squeezed oval tube.

Also, in the beginning we thought we could do a hole and not a fork like the stock bar for the diagonal bar at the firewall side. we end up scraping that idea. When we're installing the bar, we found it hard place the bolt into the hole on the 2 bars and the firewall mount point. So it ends up being a fork, like stock.

Gotcha. One thought with the nut and bolt connecting the diagonals to the strut tower ring. Have you guys thought about using press-nuts there so people don't have to worry about the nuts/washers getting lost down there.

[akak1997]

John suggested using press nuts, but the mechanic said washer should be OK. If you want, I'm sure John would ship you some press nuts for that instead.

[Fair]

Originally Posted by akak1997

I saw a post on BimmerForums last week and Vorshlag (Terry Fair) was looking for someone to lend their car for development on a strut bar. So I signed up and went to meet John at Mason Engineering...

Big thanks to akak1997 for going above and beyond as a new product tester! Couldn't have seen this product without a tester local to Mason.

We're placing a stocking order for these braces now and have already added them to our website for pre-order. As with all Mason products we will add our own powder coating here, which is different from what you'd get is you ordered from Mason.


Mason E30 lower X brace powder coated by Vorshlag, with high gloss black finish

Check out the pricing and see what you guys think you would rather have... steel or aluminum, and with or without the optional diagonal bracing? (re-using the stock pieces is possible but will obscure the top of the strut tower - which was partly why we asked Mason to make this brace - to give access to adjustment knobs or reservoir hoses at the top of the strut) More than likely we'll keep a mix of both in stock, as we do with other BMW models, but its always hard to figure out the mix of what to keep. We would love to hear your input.

Thanks!

[FazerBoy]

Hiya,

Can you please summarise the relative pros and cons of aluminum v steel?

Can you ship to the UK?

Thanks

Jack

[akak1997]

Originally Posted by FazerBoy

Hiya,

Can you please summarise the relative pros and cons of aluminum v steel?

Can you ship to the UK?

Thanks

Jack

Steel Pros:
1. Stronger
2. Less subjected to thermal expansion
3. Cheaper because it's easier to work with and material cost is also lower.

Steel Cons:
HEAVY

Aluminum Pros:
1. Lighter (1/2 the weight in this case)
2. Looks Nicer, the brushed aluminum look

Aluminum Cons:
1. Weaker than steel in the same diameter
2. Expands more when heated. In general, you don't want a strut bar to change its length because that may screw up your suspension geometry.
3. More expensive because of material cost and it's a bitch to wield.

So really depends on what you're looking for. If you want something that's Stiff as hell in a wider range of temps and don't mind adding a few more pounds, steel is the way to go. If you want looks and not too much weight added to the front of the car, go with Aluminum.

I think our car suffers from compression stress more often than expansion (i.e. top of the strut tower is coming together more than going apart) , so the advantage of steel's strength might not be that much.

[FazerBoy]

Thanks Akak - that's exactly what I wanted to know.

Perhaps Terry can let me know whether they can ship to the UK.

Jack

[1013mm]

i dont think its so heavy that it matters am i right akak?

[Fair]

Originally Posted by FazerBoy

Hiya,

Can you please summarise the relative pros and cons of aluminum v steel?

Can you ship to the UK?

Jack,

Good questions. Our product entry for this part explains this a bit but here's the high points:

Aluminum has 1/3rd the density of steel but only has 1/2 the bending modulas, which is how it becomes lighter option for the same designed bending strength, in applications like this.

The steel alloy unit is less costly and being powder coated black it looks "more stock". The aluminum unit is uncoated (as it is naturally much less corrosive than bare steel), and as akak surmised, the aluminum versions of these strut braces are usually about half the weight of the steel versions.

We ship internationally every day (we probably shipped a dozen Mason bars overseas last week - with unusual sales volume recently from Finland, New Zealand/Australia, Indonesia, and Canada). The best way to get multiple accurate shipping quotes (UPS or USPS) is to create an account on our website and do a "mock order" - you'll see the shipping costs before you have to confirm the order or check out.

Thanks,

[FazerBoy]

Ok, thanks Terry. I will order one in due course.

[FazerBoy]

By the way, Terry, I presume there are no issues in clearing the stock airbox etc as I see there is very little clearance there, and even the BMW Performance brace doesn't have enough clearance to the airbox?

Thanks

Jack

[akak1997]

Originally Posted by jzhang

i dont think its so heavy that it matters am i right akak?

When I's at Mason, he said he worked with Nascar team that doesn't let him use washers coz they adds extra weight . I guess it all depends on what you want. I mean it's just 3lb difference, I can just starve for a day to shave that weight :P

[1013mm]

Originally Posted by akak1997

When I's at Mason, he said he worked with Nascar team that doesn't let him use washers coz they adds extra weight . I guess it all depends on what you want. I mean it's just 3lb difference, I can just starve for a day to shave that weight :P

lol exactly haha

[akak1997]

I'll be at Bimmerfest 09, so if you want to see the strut bar in person, shoot me a PM.

[Berduderunner]

ooo damn... Is this cheaper than the Cross Strutbar?

[wu2x]

Originally Posted by Berduderunner

ooo damn... Is this cheaper than the Cross Strutbar?

The pricing is on the first page..and..........no.

[stovesax08]

Originally Posted by FazerBoy

By the way, Terry, I presume there are no issues in clearing the stock airbox etc as I see there is very little clearance there, and even the BMW Performance brace doesn't have enough clearance to the airbox?

Thanks

Jack

+1

[wu2x]

On the first page, post 17: http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showp...6&postcount=17

The first picture has it showing the strut brace covering the stock airbox.

[Justin(OKC)]

I just want to verify....the aluminum bar IS as strong as the steel bar, correct. It's just $50 more, 3lbs lighter, and is raw (not coated). Any way we could coat the aluminum bar?

[emos325]

how strong is the welding for the optional diag bars? no offense to Mason eng, i have bought from them b4 for my e36, but the diag tab looks like a weak link. just an observation. i am in no way a race engineer. so could you elaborate on the construction of it. thank you in advance. also what about fitment with bms air intakes? or other air intakes? any plans for a rear strut bar? also stronger rear shock tower mount braket/adapter since they seem to be a weak point on bmws.