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-   -   rigidity = POWER (https://www.f150online.com/forums/suspension/299531-rigidity-power.html)

b-dub 09-01-2007 10:59 AM

rigidity = POWER
 
On the 'Stang scene, strut tower braces bring stiffness which = freed up HP! I know they are unibodies, :rolleyes: but would a strut tower brace help on an F150? There's all the room ya would need for one.:cool:

wandell 09-01-2007 01:43 PM

I think the only advantage would be during high speed offroading with a long travel suspension.

built54 09-01-2007 04:33 PM

a strut tower brace isnt going to give you power...

b-dub 09-01-2007 08:19 PM

:cool: No, it won't "give" ya power. When ya rev the engine, notice how it likes to rock from p-side to d-side from the natural rotation in the engine. Your engine is wasting energy to do that. When a vehicle launches, it has to squat first. Both of these are wastes of energy & HP. So, stiffen it all up which = more POWER to the rear wheels. Hence, the "freed up".Ya dig?:thumbsup:

built54 09-02-2007 02:06 AM

i gotcha

Screw-Me-05 09-02-2007 06:52 AM

So you bought a 3 ton TRUCK to race? I'd stick to the stang scene for that and use the truck for pullin that stang to the track in style:thumbsup:

Screw-Me-05 09-02-2007 06:57 AM

So you bought a 3 ton TRUCK to race? I'd stick to the stang scene for that and use the truck for pullin that stang to the track in style:thumbsup: Besides the strut tower brace with no strut towers on these trucks where would you mount a brace to free up some HP(fender to fender) not good but you can make a torque bar and attach it to something solid under the hood but vibration would drive me nuts:help:

illness95 09-02-2007 11:11 AM

Yea i dont think your gonna notice much if any at all to justify puttin one on a Pickup truck... and the strut tower braces are more to stiffen the shock towers to prevent deflection... thus given u better handelin..if u want to keep the motor from rocking side to side get solid motor mounts..

b-dub 09-02-2007 11:44 AM

Thanks guys!:thumbsup: Yeah, I realize we drive refridgerators w/ wheels & a trailer hitch, but a lil' more power never hurts, wherever ya' find it. Thanks again.

msk59 11-24-2011 10:44 AM

So has anyone developed or designed a strut brace for F-150. I have some idea in mind but wanted to see what others have. Please post your ideas.

Thanks

tbear853 11-24-2011 12:18 PM


Originally Posted by b-dub (Post 2795282)
:cool: No, it won't "give" ya power. When ya rev the engine, notice how it likes to rock from p-side to d-side from the natural rotation in the engine. Your engine is wasting energy to do that. When a vehicle launches, it has to squat first. Both of these are wastes of energy & HP. So, stiffen it all up which = more POWER to the rear wheels. Hence, the "freed up".Ya dig?:thumbsup:

And you're going to use more power accelerating the new 3 ton plus strut brace weighing truck.

All those braces and minimising flex in unibodies is about torque reaction and the launch, it does NOT free up HP. Same as with trans brakes that don't free up power either ... but that can help shave ETs by more suddenly shocking the drivetrain to plant tires through .... "torque reaction". It simply shaves a hair off the start. They reduce weight by ripping stuff out to make up for weight added by the braces to reduce flexing which can lead to tearing of sheet metal which leads to more bracing ... unles you've thought it out well in advance.

Bracing also helps a unibody when extra stiff anti roll bars and short springs and stiff shocks are added for parking lot races or road racing as such mods will likewise lead to body problems if not braced. Some cars experience cracks in firewalls and floor pans or the bracing behind rear seats or front inner fenders if not adequately braced for the added stresses.

Think about it, a motor with 500 ft lbs torque and 400 HP is with the trans in 1st gear moving the car up through speed does not know whether it's mounted in rubber cushioned mounts or if the frame is flexed a little, it twist against the mounts the exact same as if they were solid. It will compress the mounts exactly as hard as it twist against them. It twist hard right facing forwards while the output shaft twists hard left and the difference between the two forces is the power available to move the car. Hard mounts make zero difference in power available to move the car, they do provide more instantaneous application of torque to the vehicle on the one side and the drivetrain on the other at the moment the clutch is dropped or the trans brake released to "shock" the chassis and plant those tires through a suspension setup designed to benifit from that "shock".

Like instead of pushing that nail with a hammer, you hit it.

msk59 11-24-2011 09:37 PM

Thanks for explaining your point. The purpose of me asking the question was to see if anyone has tried bracing the top of the truck to cutdown on the body role. Not for street racing or drag racing. Just to make the truck more sure-footed on the road in case of a sudden maneuver.

AndersonS 11-25-2011 03:26 AM

Rear sway bar?

msk59 11-25-2011 06:14 PM

Yes that is one way to go. but i have heard horror stories about driving with it in the snow ice situation. no experience though

kp02-150 11-25-2011 07:23 PM


Originally Posted by AndersonS (Post 4725075)
Rear sway bar?


Originally Posted by msk59 (Post 4725283)
Yes that is one way to go. but i have heard horror stories about driving with it in the snow ice situation. no experience though

I have no idea why this would be an issue. I've always ran the fattest front & rear bar set I could find and deal with snow/ice all the time. Never been a problem.

tbear853 11-25-2011 09:25 PM

You may do fine and never have a problem, but the idea that fat sway bars hurt snow / ice performence has merit. Even stock smaller sway bars compromise performance in one area to enhance it in another.

Imagine two vehicles of the same weight and with a center of mass located exactly at the intersection of the two diaganols drawn from LR-RF and RR-LF so that each vehicle carried 25% of it's weight at each wheel normally.

Imagine that the one has the front and rear axles simply pivoted at the center with no springing to any wheel ...
... and the other with both axles mounted to a solid frame which allows no twisting.

On a perfectly flat plane, each carries 25% of it's weight on each wheel, perfect distribution.

Now place the same two vehicles on real world roadways where seldom is the travel surface all in the same plane. Now the one with the axles pivoting at center still carries it's weight evenly distributed amongst the 4 wheels ...
... while the other with solid mounted axles and stiff frame carries it's weight on the two opposite wheels (LR&RF or RR&LF) while the other two carry none.

This is why off road tractors have freely pivoting axles at one end to provide free articulation without unloading drive wheels. Adding thick sway bars and frame stiifeners is a shift towards that other with the solid mounted axles and rigid frame.

With a locker type differential, weight lost at one wheel on an axle is still lost and picked up by the other wheel, but the locker locks the two together so tractive effort is also transferred and you'll likely do OK. With an open type differential, the unloaded wheel will spin and no power is tractive effort is ttransferred to the wheel carrying that axle's load now.

I have two Thunderbirds, a '92 Sport 5.0 with shortened stiff sport springs and thick F&R sway bars and a '95 LX 4.6 with softer LX springs and thinner sway bars. Both ride on 16X7 wheels with 225/60-16 Goodyear Eagle RSA tires, roughly equal tread depth. Both are esentially, the same body / floor pan structure, unibody cars. Both cars have open rear ends.

The '95 handles OK but with more lean in hard turns, but it'll handle unever transitions without a hint of spin, it never while the '92 can hardly help but spin.

The '92 is great on smoother surfaces in corners but it's hard to leave a parking lot through a drainage transition or pull out of a u[phill side road through a transition to flat roadway without wheel spin, it's really bad if wet.

The '95 allows the tires to more freely folly the roadway irregularities, the '92 acts more like that rigid frame vehicle with solid axles.


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