is350/250 front and rear struts
09-18-06, 08:00 PM
#1
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is350/250 front and rear struts
hey wasup CL,
i may have found some new parts for your is350/is250's.. i was just browsing online.
http://www.lmspower.com/product.phtml?p=30&cat_key=20
http://www.lmspower.com/product.phtml?p=29&cat_key=20
wasnt sure if anyone had seen these yet.. just thought you guys might be interested.
i may have found some new parts for your is350/is250's.. i was just browsing online.
http://www.lmspower.com/product.phtml?p=30&cat_key=20
http://www.lmspower.com/product.phtml?p=29&cat_key=20
wasnt sure if anyone had seen these yet.. just thought you guys might be interested.
09-18-06, 08:18 PM
#2
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Any idea if they do anything useful on a car without struts? I'm doubtful.
09-18-06, 08:54 PM
#5
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Struts depend on the rigidity of the upper mount to maintain wheel alignment. Double wishbone and multi-link suspensions do not.
The primary purpose for strut tower supports (or bars) is to help maintain wheel alignment under cornering and braking loads by providing a link between the struts (and ideally something relatively stationary like the firewall.) The linkage helps resist camber change under load from chassis flex.
Click here for an education.
Unfortunately, our suspension will only marginally benefit from this type of bracing, particularly since the bars appear to be articulated and not completely rigid. So, basically, it's a bling mod for our cars and just adds weight to an already heavy car.
Just so no one takes this out of context, if we had 10" road racing slicks on the front of the car, it may very well be a useful thing to triangulate the upper shock mounts and a mount point on the firewall, but without the kind of rubber necessary to generate massive cornering (and braking) forces, the benefits will be marginal at best.
This reminds me of the "camber kits - coming soon!" for the MkIV Supra when it came out. It was obvious the companies claiming this had never actually considered that Supras came from the factory with fully adjustable suspension for caster on the front and toe and camber on both ends. I bet the company selling these parts can't even tell you why they are "needed" because in all likelihood they just looked at the car and said, "oh, we can make strut tower bars and sell them because everyone knows they're good" while ignoring the underlying physics.
The primary purpose for strut tower supports (or bars) is to help maintain wheel alignment under cornering and braking loads by providing a link between the struts (and ideally something relatively stationary like the firewall.) The linkage helps resist camber change under load from chassis flex.
Click here for an education.
Unfortunately, our suspension will only marginally benefit from this type of bracing, particularly since the bars appear to be articulated and not completely rigid. So, basically, it's a bling mod for our cars and just adds weight to an already heavy car.
Just so no one takes this out of context, if we had 10" road racing slicks on the front of the car, it may very well be a useful thing to triangulate the upper shock mounts and a mount point on the firewall, but without the kind of rubber necessary to generate massive cornering (and braking) forces, the benefits will be marginal at best.
This reminds me of the "camber kits - coming soon!" for the MkIV Supra when it came out. It was obvious the companies claiming this had never actually considered that Supras came from the factory with fully adjustable suspension for caster on the front and toe and camber on both ends. I bet the company selling these parts can't even tell you why they are "needed" because in all likelihood they just looked at the car and said, "oh, we can make strut tower bars and sell them because everyone knows they're good" while ignoring the underlying physics.
Last edited by lobuxracer; 09-18-06 at 09:00 PM.
09-18-06, 09:10 PM
#6
Here is Koni's explanation of the difference between a strut and a shock.
Shocks and struts are similar in that they both damp (slow down) the vehicles motion. The key difference of a strut vs. a shock is that a shock only controls the cars motion while a strut is a locating member of the suspension. What this means is that if you remove a shock the spindle or axle will still be completely attached to the vehicle. If you remove a strut the spindle or axle will be able to move outside of its normal motion. Shocks and struts may or may not have a spring mounted to them either. It is often assumed that any damper with a spring is a strut, this is not the case.
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09-19-06, 06:08 AM
#9
To put it in very simple terms, these items are what people also call "stabilizer bars". What they do is that they increase body rigidity under heavy cornering and reduce the car's structural body sway 
I know what they do, but I don't know if I'll be able to convey this properly to all of you, but here it goes....
You see, when you go fast (key word being fast
) and start taking turns, a lot of force is exerted on the vehicle's body structure, and usually this force is stronger on on side of the vehicle than the other (sorry, but I can't remember which side gets the most force exerted- I think it's the "turning" side or the side where the turn is being conducted, for example, a hard right turn will exert a lot of pressure on the right side of the car and vice-versa). Anyway, over time, these forces not only increase body sway, but can also affect the car's body structure and bend it a bit over time.
The "stabilizer bars" add more rigidity to the car's body structure, therefore reducing the car's body structure sway and increasing handling. What these bars do is dissipate part the total amount of force that is exerted on the turning side of the car, to the other side. By doing this, the total force exerted on the turning side will be decreased and the other side of the car will absorb part of that force.
BOTTOM LINE
: Do we need these freakin' "struts"? NO!!! unless you participate in a lot of circuit races with your IS or you do really hard cornering or you just want your car to look cool for the auto shows, but for most of us that just do daily driving with our ISs, we don't need these struts at all. Hope my explanation helped you all to understand "in simple terms" what these struts do.
***BE ADVISED*** I'm not a trained mechanic or anything along those lines, so I don't know if I'm using the right terminology, but this is my attempt at explaining what they do.
I know what they do, but I don't know if I'll be able to convey this properly to all of you, but here it goes.... You see, when you go fast (key word being fast
) and start taking turns, a lot of force is exerted on the vehicle's body structure, and usually this force is stronger on on side of the vehicle than the other (sorry, but I can't remember which side gets the most force exerted- I think it's the "turning" side or the side where the turn is being conducted, for example, a hard right turn will exert a lot of pressure on the right side of the car and vice-versa). Anyway, over time, these forces not only increase body sway, but can also affect the car's body structure and bend it a bit over time.The "stabilizer bars" add more rigidity to the car's body structure, therefore reducing the car's body structure sway and increasing handling. What these bars do is dissipate part the total amount of force that is exerted on the turning side of the car, to the other side. By doing this, the total force exerted on the turning side will be decreased and the other side of the car will absorb part of that force.
BOTTOM LINE
: Do we need these freakin' "struts"? NO!!! unless you participate in a lot of circuit races with your IS or you do really hard cornering or you just want your car to look cool for the auto shows, but for most of us that just do daily driving with our ISs, we don't need these struts at all. Hope my explanation helped you all to understand "in simple terms" what these struts do.***BE ADVISED*** I'm not a trained mechanic or anything along those lines, so I don't know if I'm using the right terminology, but this is my attempt at explaining what they do.
Last edited by Alex350; 09-19-06 at 06:14 AM.
09-19-06, 09:38 PM
#10
Alex,
It sounds like you are talking more about anti-roll / sway bars, which are sometimes called stabilizer bars. The shock tower bars in this thread are "supposed" to prevent the suspension geometry from changing due to flex in the chassis. I'm with lobuxracer, they are probably worthless, and I'm sure the developer doesn't even care if they are even needed.
It sounds like you are talking more about anti-roll / sway bars, which are sometimes called stabilizer bars. The shock tower bars in this thread are "supposed" to prevent the suspension geometry from changing due to flex in the chassis. I'm with lobuxracer, they are probably worthless, and I'm sure the developer doesn't even care if they are even needed.
09-19-06, 10:27 PM
#11
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Wow, more new toys from LMS again after their turbo charge sound-alike exhaust pipes.
I am in for sure if these will help my wife’s cornering in the shopping plaza.
Heeheehee... I pass for now.
I am in for sure if these will help my wife’s cornering in the shopping plaza.
Heeheehee... I pass for now.
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