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240 Strut Tower Brace

VolvoNutt

K-jet Newbie
Joined
Jan 30, 2017
Location
Colorado
‘92 245 DD, for the front suspension, If I were to use Yoshifab’s GT strut tower/firewall brace & their lower chassis brace.

Would it be necessary for anything to go between the two strut towers themselves? Or would that be overkill?? When let’s face it, this is a DD not a race car......or should I forgo the GT brace from Yoshi and buy the crazy expensive kaplhenke 240 strut tower brace?(when it’s back in stock)
Or Could I run wagonmeister’s Strut tower brace with Yoshi GT brace?

Thanks for the guidance, I just want to do this right the first time :>)
 
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You can use a brace or not use a brace. Sort of like staged stiffening. Lots of the STBs don't work with the GT bars iirc.
 
Then where is the best bang for my buck going to be? STB or GT? Look I realize I will never have a monster engine pumping out huge HP #?s or anything like that, this car will never see a track.

That being said I do want my ?play? car to be fun to drive and for me that means it should corner on rails!! Or as near as possible a volvo station wagon can :-)

So I put sway bars on, now on to the next step. Where should I invest my hard earned money? I think lower chassis brace is a no brainer, but what about in the front strut - firewall area???


Educate me!!!:)
 
Then where is the best bang for my buck going to be? STB or GT? Look I realize I will never have a monster engine pumping out huge HP #?s or anything like that, this car will never see a track.

That being said I do want my ?play? car to be fun to drive and for me that means it should corner on rails!! Or as near as possible a volvo station wagon can :-)

So I put sway bars on, now on to the next step. Where should I invest my hard earned money? I think lower chassis brace is a no brainer, but what about in the front strut - firewall area???


Educate me!!!:)

Strut tower -> firewall braces became standard on Australian 240s to stop them falling apart on our roads, so if you want to improve it beyond unlikely to fall apart on roads in 1970s Australia then triangulating the bracing with a strut tower -> strut tower brace would be a good idea.

None of that is even remotely as useful for improving handling as a properly aligned & corner-balanced suspension setup combined with some nice lightweight wheels and high performance tyres, so don't even bother if you haven't gone all out elsewhere yet, you won't notice a difference.
 
I put braces on my 87 244 NA is stages and notice a Improvment each time I added something. Started with IPD tower to tower then added tower to to firewall then a couple years later their lower brace. Love racing but can’t afford to do any. A better program is Ben’s ultimate brace up top and the no longer made IPD lower brace. Its 3 pieces strap metal and easy to make. Braces along with supporting mods make the old 240 handle more like a BMW than a brick.
 
I put braces on my 87 244 NA is stages and notice a Improvment each time I added something. Started with IPD tower to tower then added tower to to firewall then a couple years later their lower brace. Love racing but can’t afford to do any. A better program is Ben’s ultimate brace up top and the no longer made IPD lower brace. Its 3 pieces strap metal and easy to make. Braces along with supporting mods make the old 240 handle more like a BMW than a brick.

Let’s not wax hyperbolically, here.

Before the OP drops the coin on a $150 or $330 strut bar, how about grab some previously loved turbo or ipd sway bars, assuming he hasn’t gone for them first?

Upper and lower gt braces is where I went in leu of a strut bar, after ipd sway bars. They made the curves around town discernibly better, but not like the sway bars did.
 
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Let?s not wax hyperbolically, here.

Before the OP drops the coin on a $150 or $330 strut bar, how about grab some previously loved turbo or ipd sway bars, assuming he hasn?t gone for them first?

Upper and lower gt braces is where I went in leu of a strut bar, after ipd sway bars. They made the curves around town discernibly better, but not like the sway bars did.



Op already got ipd sway bars(turbo bars are most ideal for dd). Ben's strut bar is totally overkill for 90% of people on tb. Firewall braces and lower brace will be improvement you feel and won't hurt the wallet. This is the approach I went on one of my 240's.

I like the David Samuel's strut bar but it won't clear a b21f intake. OMP has a strut bar depending on your preference.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OMP-Italy-...ash=item4d615df55d:g:TbQAAOSwOKZZlFmR&vxp=mtr

s-l600.jpg
 
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I have Ben’s upper brace and booster brace that I have not installed but it’s not overkill to me. It is a lot of coin but it clears a flat hood according to Ben. Had I know about it before I went IPD bar I would have gone that way. I said supporting mods! I tend to be a little over the top on my cars but 300-350 on one strut brace is not that bad considering how good I think it is. David Samuel makes a bar close to the IPD one that may clear a flat hood. Ben’ s brace is wait to clear the B21F intake but for the red 242, going with the best!
 
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I'll chime in. Here is what I experienced with each bar installation.

I firstly installed Yoshifab's tower to firewall braces. They provided the most bang for the buck in steering stability in turns. I then installed Yoshifab's bottom bars, which tie the engine cradle to an existing threaded hole in the frame. They greatly affected the way the car stopped - very controlled and straight with controlled nose dive. These were the biggest bangs for the buck. The front end felt like a part of the car rather than separately attached to the car.

I then installed a CravingBoost tower to tower brace which is no longer available. Why I chose this specific brace is its adjust-ability. Not a requirement but something that worked for me. This brace was less noticeable except under very hard cornering or uneven surfaces. It does provide the last word in front end integrity however, but if funds are a concern, I would submit you could do without that brace until funds are available. It is really discretionary but I am happy I installed mine for sure. There is also the visual when you pop the hood and see that bar. Heh, I admit it.

I had previously scored the flat steel IPD bottom brace with the cross bar but had not installed it. I decided to add it in anyway. What the heck. It installs to the rear bushing cup so a hole was drilled. Kinda hokey but I did it just to get the cross bar in the mix. In retrospect, I could have just gotten way with the IPD cross brace but Yoshi's bars are just so darned stout and they attach to the frame.

After all is said and done, what I will say is the front end is, well, stout, that's for sure. Along with the sway bars, springs and shocks, it handles quite well. Admittedly, I don't drive that hard but an anecdotal comment from the mizzuz sums it up nicely. When a garbage can dropped off a truck in front of me out at speed out on the interstate and I took emergency evasive measures, before she could come unglued we were around the hazzard as if it never happened. She said, "I guess I now know what those upgrades did to the car". Uh, yeah....
 
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I'll chime in. Here is what I experienced with each bar installation.

I firstly installed Yoshifab's tower to firewall braces. They provided the most bang for the buck in steering stability in turns. I then installed Yoshifab's bottom bars, which tie the engine cradle to an existing threaded hole in the frame. They greatly affected the way the car stopped - very controlled and straight with controlled nose dive. These were the biggest bangs for the buck. The front end felt like a part of the car rather than separately attached to the car.

I then installed a CravingBoost tower to tower brace which is no longer available. Why I chose this specific brace is its adjust-ability. Not a requirement but something that worked for me. This brace was less noticeable except under very hard cornering or uneven surfaces. It does provide the last word in front end integrity however, but if funds are a concern, I would submit you could do without that brace until funds are available. It is really discretionary but I am happy I installed mine for sure. There is also the visual when you pop the hood and see that bar. Heh, I admit it.

I had previously scored the flat steel IPD bottom brace with the cross bar but had not installed it. I decided to add it in anyway. What the heck. It installs to the rear bushing cup so a hole was drilled. Kinda hokey but I did it just to get the cross bar in the mix. In retrospect, I could have just gotten way with the IPD cross brace but Yoshi's bars are just so darned stout and they attach to the frame.

After all is said and done, what I will say is the front end is, well, stout, that's for sure. Along with the sway bars, springs and shocks, it handles quite well. Admittedly, I don't drive that hard but an anecdotal comment from the mizzuz sums it up nicely. When a garbage can dropped off a truck in front of me out at speed out on the interstate and I took emergency evasive measures, before she could come unglued we were around the hazzard as if it never happened. She said, "I guess I now know what those upgrades did to the car". Uh, yeah....

Keesue Uh, yeah...... that?s exactly what?s I was looking for!!! Thank you sir:nod:

Now I have an idea how to layout my todo list for the front end :oogle::cool::-D
 
You may have already done this, but to my perception, poly bushings tightened up handling "feel" more than the upper and lower bars did on my rig.


503252F6-3EEB-4EF8-B392-5A67501968A1-M.jpg
 
I’ll admit, I shot down ever trying a strut bar because of my flat hood. :oops:
Don't believe it till you see it.
I was told the same thing repeatedly. I bought a cherrys turbo brace for my coffin-hood car, and saved it when that car was crushed. I never even tried it on the flathood for over a year, because supposedly it didnt fit. One day i layed it on top of the strut towers and tried the hood. It closed, with the brace sitting on top of the strut mount nuts........I promptly installed it and its been on there ever since. I put a big hunk of plasticine on top of the bar and closed the hood , and i have over 1.25 Inches of clearance.....Who woulda thunk?
Btw, if you stack stuff up and use clay/playdoh or something like that you can get an accurate measurement of a known point on the engine to the hood. Then get people with the brace you want to measure from the same point on their engine to the top of their brace. Assuming neither of you has collapsed motor mounts, as long as the motor to brace measurement is smaller than your motor to hood, the brace will fit.

Btw, that old cherry turbo brace is strong enough that i ran a ratchet strap from the manifold on each side of the engine up to it to lift/tilt the engine to change motor mounts......
 
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Does anyone have a picture of that old cherry turbo brace? I have never seen one but have heard it come up many times, people talk about it with great appreciation.
 
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