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Made some strut braces today out of 3/4 electrical conduit. Cut to length, used sledge to flatten out about 1 1/4" on each end, drilled holes and mounted. Took a little longer then it should have because I primed them, then spray painted them red. All in all, saved about $85 which is what these things cost with shipping. Took her for a spin and it seemed to make some difference when swerving down the road...........
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1993 240, 1992 240GL, 1985 240DL Wagon, 1983 240DL
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Forgive my newbie's ignorance, but how is it that these braces physically improve your brick'd handling? To my eye it looks as if the brace is attached to two solid points. or does the strut tower get that wiggly like the DIY aspect of this project though, thanks!
Andrew
Boston, MA
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Hi Andrew
If I may...
First, take a tin can, lay it on the side and stand on the corner with your one foot. It should hold its form unless you are a sumo wrestler.
Now, open one side with a can opener, lay it on the side and stand on it. Make sure you wear a sturdy shoe so you don't cut yourself. You will crush it. BTW, please remove the food and eat it before you do that.
The hood is not connected structurally to the rest of the body and it flexes as you drive the car. By adding these braces will tie them together as one rigid form.
I want to add one more. If you walk over and stand in the middle of a long span bridge. It will shake and flex. That's good and normal because it needs to be flexible so that it can withstand ever so moving mother nature.
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That is indeed what happens. The strut towers flex slightly under varying loads, this has slight effects on the caster, camber of the wheels, which makes for subtle differences in the steering feel, and subtle differences in the wheel's grip.
Hopefully you'll notice my subtle use of the word 'subtle' there and get the impression that it isn't a major, dramatic effect.
It's more noticeable if you have stiff performance tires as well, otherwise the subtle (heh) improvements in suspension rigidity are just covered up by mushy sidewalls anyhow. Stock soft springs, stock soft shocks, stock soft tires, you might not really notice. Stiff lowering springs, stiff Bilstein HD's, still low profile tires (I have 225/40/17's on my car) and it's more noticeable.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)
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Really can't honestly answer this one. However I would assume with everyone out there selling them they must improve handling. I did notice a big difference when I installed the upper strut braces and not so much on the lower ones, although maybe that's because the upper ones were done first.
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1993 240, 1992 240GL, 1985 240DL Wagon, 1983 240DL
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how long were the pieces of conduit and how far back did you flatten them?
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Here is my procedure:
Measured from bolt hole in firewall to bolt on top of strut
Added 6" to this total measurement
Cut 3/4" conduit to this length
Flattened firewall end of conduit with sledge about 2"
Drilled hole in firewall end conduit
Temp mounted firewall end conduit into firewall with 7mm bolt
Marked off strut end of conduit to allow for about an 1" past strut bolt
Removed strut and flattened out strut end about 1 1/2"(while you still have the brace on, make sure you note the angle you are going to have to use when sledging this end). Also note that you may have to slightly taper the strut end when you cut it to clear the raised ridge around the strut(you will see what I am talking about when you go to mount it)
Drill hole in strut end(make this hole a bit larger as it will be easier to install the brace.
Prime and spray paint if interested.
Hope this helps!
My Disclaimer- do this at your own risk, as there has been discussion on this forum of how these would work or not work in a crash, and possible intrusion into the passenger compartment.
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1993 240, 1992 240GL, 1985 240DL Wagon, 1983 240DL
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Hi Newmex999
Thank you!!!
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Just did the lower braces today
http://www.brickboard.com/GALLERY/volvopic.htm?js_link=&id=10759
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1993 240, 1992 240GL, 1985 240DL Wagon, 1983 240DL
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Now get some more conduit and fashion a strut tower to strut tower brace. You'll feel a difference with that too.
240's were made soft in the front end to do well in real world crashes. That leaves them a bit floppy when cornering.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)
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Took a look at trying to fashion a strut to strut brace from the conduit and my master cylinder sticks up too high for me to be able to put a brace directly across the struts!
Guess I'll concentrate on fashioning the lower braces.
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1993 240, 1992 240GL, 1985 240DL Wagon, 1983 240DL
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it's almost more bling than function, but it has plenty of function, but this is the bar someone over on Turbobricks made in small batches:
Sturdy bent alu tube, welded to machined alu plugs on the ends, that bolt to powder coated welded alu strut plates.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)
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Yep, next on my list of things to do.
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1993 240, 1992 240GL, 1985 240DL Wagon, 1983 240DL
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Well done. Over here Volvo strut braces are known as "ambulance braces" because they were standard on the 240 ambulances, which should indicate they are well worth the effort. Just one thing: I believe they originally came with bolts (aluminium?) that will shear in a crash so the braces won't go through the firewall and into the passenger compartment. It might be wise to refrain from using ordinary steel bolts.
Erling.
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Hi Erling
Well said. Thank you.
Hi guys
Pictures please!!!
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Pictures are up on BrixPix under "technical"
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1993 240, 1992 240GL, 1985 240DL Wagon, 1983 240DL
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Hi Newmex999 - Nice!!! Thank you for sharing.
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Address copied from Brickpix and inserted here, as found.
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Bruce Young, '93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.
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Picture posted on BrixPix under "technical".
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1993 240, 1992 240GL, 1985 240DL Wagon, 1983 240DL
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Did the same a few years ago, and they absolutely make a difference.
Now make some lower braces; they're even easier, and do just as much as the uppers.
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Do the lowers have their own mounting holes? Or do you have to drill them out? Do you have any pictures where they are located?
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If drilling new holes seems like a bad idea (always does to me), you could use the same mounting points as in the Yoshifab (not IPD) braces:
Yoshifab 240 lower brace install
John
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1989 245 241K / 1993 945 127K
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The front crossmember has holes that are threaded for this purpose. You'll have to drill holes in the control arm buckets for the rear attachment.
Go to
http://www.ipdusa.com/products/7149/103886-lower-chassis-tie-bars-240
and look for
PI-228 LOWER CHASSIS TIE BARS INSTALL GUIDE.PDF (659KB)
in the Product Description tab.
This document has instructions and illustrations.
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'80 DL 2 door, '89 DL Wagon
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Every control arm bucket I've ever seen (maybe six?) has had holes already there. I used the existing holes for my lower braces. Though as was mentioned, there are also holes drilled/tapped in the frame rails, which are probably a better place to attach braces.
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Yeah, I already went there... It's probably recommended to "rust-proof" paint those holes after drilling, the best you can.
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Where do the lower braces attach from/to?
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1993 240, 1992 240GL, 1985 240DL Wagon, 1983 240DL
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