Mason Engineering Strut Bar

[akak1997]

Originally Posted by 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?

I'm no material engineer but I'd think there's just no way the same diameter aluminum bar would be as strong as a steel one. However, if the question is would the aluminum bar be strong enough for this application, I'd say yes. The aluminum bar is not coated, the steel one would be power coated.

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.

I've asked the same question and according to John, the weld itself should always be stronger than the material you're welding on. The weld wire is made out of stronger material, so if it were to break, it'll break around the weld. If you take another look at the picture of that tab, the weld is perfect. The height of the tab is low enough (as low as possible w/o rubbing on stuff), hence, most the force is transferred immediately to the platform. I don't think it'd break even under hard/track driving. If you hit a porthole big enough to break any of those welds on the strut bar, the strut bar would really be my last concern, most likely your strut is gone, wheel is bend, tires blown, probably get whiplash from it too (ouch!)
Trust me, this bar is as solid as it can get.
The bar was designed to fit the Stock Air Box. It's prototyped when I still have the stock air box on. So, it Will fit. I'm not sure about other intake except for the RR one.
As for rear strut bar, John and I've talked about it. If he were to make one, it'll be on that connects the rear strut towers as well as triangulates to the trunk floor above the rear diff, which would give the best structural improvements.
Here's one he made for E30

However, the rear is harder to get to than the front in terms of install (also some drilling on the strut tower and cutting of the trunk liner would be required) and also, you may loose some trunk space. We're not sure if there's a market for it. Last time I checked with John, he said there still no takers on the front one yet. Not sure if that's because there isn't a post on the commercial forum...

[wu2x]

I thought that it would be ordered through Vorshlag - I've contacted them about the strut bar and waiting for them to get stock, but I didn't know you could order directly from Mason Engineering themselves.

[Justin(OKC)]

Originally Posted by akak1997

I'm no material engineer but I'd think there's just no way the same diameter aluminum bar would be as strong as a steel one. However, if the question is would the aluminum bar be strong enough for this application, I'd say yes. The aluminum bar is not coated, the steel one would be power coated.




I've asked the same question and according to John, the weld itself should always be stronger than the material you're welding on. The weld wire is made out of stronger material, so if it were to break, it'll break around the weld. If you take another look at the picture of that tab, the weld is perfect. The height of the tab is low enough (as low as possible w/o rubbing on stuff), hence, most the force is transferred immediately to the platform. I don't think it'd break even under hard/track driving. If you hit a porthole big enough to break any of those welds on the strut bar, the strut bar would really be my last concern, most likely your strut is gone, wheel is bend, tires blown, probably get whiplash from it too (ouch!)
Trust me, this bar is as solid as it can get.
The bar was designed to fit the Stock Air Box. It's prototyped when I still have the stock air box on. So, it Will fit. I'm not sure about other intake except for the RR one.
As for rear strut bar, John and I've talked about it. If he were to make one, it'll be on that connects the rear strut towers as well as triangulates to the trunk floor above the rear diff, which would give the best structural improvements.
Here's one he made for E30

However, the rear is harder to get to than the front in terms of install (also some drilling on the strut tower and cutting of the trunk liner would be required) and also, you may loose some trunk space. We're not sure if there's a market for it. Last time I checked with John, he said there still no takers on the front one yet. Not sure if that's because there isn't a post on the commercial forum...

Thank you so much for the reply!! I am going to order one. I will do the aluminum one most likely. I really wish it were coated, but I guess that adds a bit of weight....LOL. This bar should work really well with the AST's I think I'm going to do. Look out people, the real modding has begun on my 1er.

BTW, I would be interested in the rear bar.....without a doubt. Especially if it does a good job of reinforcing the mounting point of the shock.

[akak1997]

^^ Are you getting the 5300 with remote reservoir? Don't forget to post pictures when you get them installed! It'll be a sick setup!! I wish can afford those 5300... even 4200 is kinda out of the question...sigh... damn this economy

[Justin(OKC)]

The 5200's are double adjustable with remote reservoirs....they should be very nice. The way I'm looking at it is that it is only $1000 more for the 5200's and I'd rather have something that I can really work with and not be wishing I had done something different. I have a really nice Koni D/A setup on my M3, but I always wished I had just sprung for some Moton CS's. I think if I had, it would have been a little more compliant on the street on a daily basis.

[FazerBoy]

Originally Posted by saikelol

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.

Yes, I saw that picture. What I was really asking was how much clearance there is because if the engine and associated bits move around a little over a bumpy surface then they might come into contact with the strut bar which would not be good news at all.

Jack

[akak1997]

Originally Posted by FazerBoy

Yes, I saw that picture. What I was really asking was how much clearance there is because if the engine and associated bits move around a little over a bumpy surface then they might come into contact with the strut bar which would not be good news at all.

Jack

I'll try and get some picture tonight on how much clearance there is from the engine cover. I still have ~3000miles before I need to go in for Scheduled Maintenance, so until then, I probably won't put my stock airbox back on. But when I do, I'll post pic again.

[emos325]

thx so much for the reply aka. rear strut bar i'd totally get even with a small loss of trunk space and the cutting. to achieve the handling characteristics i want. the power can come later as long as it ride like its on rails i'll be happy. as for the airbox/CAI there was one that was supposed to go down into the wheel well. don't remember who makes it but i'd look into that b4 i'd fit the bars on it.

[FazerBoy]

Originally Posted by akak1997

I'll try and get some picture tonight on how much clearance there is from the engine cover. I still have ~3000miles before I need to go in for Scheduled Maintenance, so until then, I probably won't put my stock airbox back on. But when I do, I'll post pic again.

Thanks. I definitely want a front bar but I want to be sure there's enough clearance with the stock airbox cover in place before I order (especially as I'm in England and it won't be easy to drop back into the factory if any adjustments are needed

Have you been running it at all with the stock cover in place?

Jack

[akak1997]

Hope this helps

[FazerBoy]

Thanks for going to the trouble, Akak - that looks fine to me.

Jack

[SlickShift]

Thanks...so it looks like there's about an 1 1/2 inch clearance between the brace and the engine cover.

[mchaskell]

It looks great. However how much clearance exists between the Mason strut brace and the factory brace? I am worried about these two part interfering due to normal tolerance variations in the manufacturing process.

[akak1997]

Originally Posted by mchaskell

It looks great. However how much clearance exists between the Mason strut brace and the factory brace? I am worried about these two part interfering due to normal tolerance variations in the manufacturing process.

If you get the Mason bar w/o the shorten bar to the firewall, you won't have that tab on the platform and that would clear the factory bars w/o any problem. The Mason diagonal bars are really just a shorter version of the factory bar, the angle is almost identical.
you won't have much clearance between the factory bars and the Mason bar, but I'm pretty sure you've enough so that it won't rub. IIRC, we took some pic w/ the factory bar and Mason bar on even w/ the tabs.... I need to get those from John. I'll shoot him and email see if he got those pictures.

[emos325]

any updates aka?

[akak1997]

seems like John didn't get those pictures from his friend yet.

[mchaskell]

Another thought popped up. Will the strut brace clear the stock air box when the engine in moving about under load? All the pictures show a static engine. I wonder how much movement the engine has under full throttle/no throttle transitions? Will the air box be banging against the strut brace?

[Yearofthe1]

Originally Posted by mchaskell

Another thought popped up. Will the strut brace clear the stock air box when the engine in moving about under load? All the pictures show a static engine. I wonder how much movement the engine has under full throttle/no throttle transitions? Will the air box be banging against the strut brace?

with the clearances shown above, there'd be something seriously wrong with your engine mounts if something can hit that strut bar.

[akak1997]

I think he's concerned about the airbox clearing the strut bar. The airbox is a bit taller than the engine cover. There's a picture on the first page of this post where it show we've placed 2 1/4" thick wood strips on top of the airbox to make sure the bar clears those. We believe 1/4" between the bar and the airbox should give enough clearance. We have a Inline 6, which usually don't vibrate/move from side to side as much as a V6 or a V8. So I really don't think you'll have problems with stock airbox.

[mchaskell]

Originally Posted by akak1997

I think he's concerned about the airbox clearing the strut bar. The airbox is a bit taller than the engine cover. There's a picture on the first page of this post where it show we've placed 2 1/4" thick wood strips on top of the airbox to make sure the bar clears those. We believe 1/4" between the bar and the airbox should give enough clearance. We have a Inline 6, which usually don't vibrate/move from side to side as much as a V6 or a V8. So I really don't think you'll have problems with stock airbox.

Yes, air box clearance is the concern. Thank you for the reply.

[jeremyc74]

Looks great. I didn't have time to read every post, but how long before this goes on sale?

[akak1997]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

Looks great. I didn't have time to read every post, but how long before this goes on sale?

It's ready! This is the link to order...
http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info...roducts_id=358