strut brace

Technical Area Steering & Suspension
2

Hi,

 

I have recently acquired a front strut brace, I can get one side on but the other side (drivers) side hits the brake master cylinder.

Have I got the wrong brace or do some 1.6 mk2.5’s have different master cylinders.

 

Thanks

Michael

3

Tandam brake servos were fitted to facelift NB, I can’t remember if they were fitted to to big brake cars or standard brake cars but they do position the master cylinder further forward. This may be your problem.

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4

Thanks robbie, is there a strutt brace I can get for mine or does this mean I should give up looking for one.

5

The 1.6 has a bigger brake servo and this is probably the reason the strut brace is not fitting. Hope this helps.

Brian.

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6

It does help, thank you

7

Just be aware that the MX-5 does not have struts, so while the debate is endless over if they do or don’t do anything, and if they made a difference, they would have been on all cars from the factory, you are not missing anything if yours does not fit. 

 

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8

They do now…so Mazda does think they make adifference

The last MX-5 Mk3.75 comes with a front upper strut brace fitted as standard

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9

Yes, but that is not a 2.5 and the debate will always be if they are for noise harshness and vibration.

10

Thanks guys,  I’ve ordered another one, I was just hoping to stiffen the car up a bit and bolting a upper strut brace across the mcphersom struts seamed a logical thing to do, I will let you know how i get on and if it makes any difference.

11

The mk2.5 1.8 Sport came with Mazda strut brace, bigger brakes, bigger wheels, etc.

12

That’s the point being made above, they aren’t mcpherson struts (the 5 isn’t front wheel or 4 wheel drive). I suspect the factory installed them to reduce scuttle shake. 

Josh 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13

If it’s not a mcpherson  strut then what is it, I thought it was shocker with a coiled spring round it.

14

In a MacPherson strut the top of the damper is used as a steering pivot , since this is attached to the chassis any flex will alter the steering geometry, therefore it should be braced ie Z4. The Mx5 has a double wishbone design and it really doesn’t matter whether the top mount moves in this situation as the steering geometry will remain then unaffected.

15

I thought it was just the same just a different top mount , I thought mcpherson meant shocker with a coiled prong round it, ain’t they the sane just different top mounts 

16

The endless discussion begins.

A damper unit which has a coil spring over the top of it is frequently called a “coilover”. It is most often used when replacement after market suspension is talked about. However, the car come from the factory with coil over damper units. McPherson struts are also coil over units as it is describing that there is a coil spring over (around) the damper. This is different to the rear of most small hatches that will have separate springs and dampers.

In McPherson strut suspension the front dampers form a structural part of the wheel alignment. The top of the damper mounts to the strut tower or basically the top of the wheel arch and bolts to the wheel hub at the bottom. The bottom of the damper needs to be restrained else it would just wag about. There are various methods of lower control and in the simplest form it will be a thick anti roll bar. It is cheap and easy.

Cornering loads cause the thin sheet metal bodywork to flex and the top mountains position can move a lot meaning the suspension geometry varies considerably especially as you are generally only looking of a couple degrees of camber at most so it does not have to move a lot to undesirable. A strut brace is like putting a lid on the box and most importantly it stops the two towers moving together and a proper strut brace will be quite substantial in compression. It is not the thin thing with bends in it or the thing that Mazda fits that is held on a couple of uprights by 2 small screws in slots.

The MX-5 uses a double wishbone set up where the wheel geometry is controlled by arms attached to a subsrame. While the lower of those arms is attached to the spring and damper unit and the top fixes to the top of the wheel arch, just like the McPherson strut, the top of the damper is not controlling suspension alignment and while there will be body flex, and plenty of it in the MX-5, bracing the “strut towers” is not doing anything for the suspension since it is not mounted there and if it was, it would need to be more substantial bracing to work.

This picture is pretty representative of the differences, in the double wishbone (parallelogram) set up and McPherson struts (ignore the steering bit) however on the 5 the dampers mount to the bodywork at the top not the subframe as shown. 

2 Likes
17

Thank for clarifying that, now I have a clearer picture of what’s happening.

 

Even the pics are spot on, much appreciated .

 

 

18

OP

If you want to fit it then fit it,Lets see which brace you have, as the Mk 1/2 and 2.5 factory braces will fit any model regardless of the brake servo unless it is aftermarket and as some kind off brake stopper or firewall brace?, the only main reason that they will not fit is the UK breathing snorkel off the air box which can be changed to a Jap spec one.

Hit us with a pic and lets work it out with what you have to play with whether the debate runs on to the end of time if they make a difference or not, you question was how to fit it.

If you want help and straight answers without the debate, send me a P.M buddy and lets get you sorted out to get it fitted, as fitting it is not going to end your life in any way if it gets fitted and does nothing.

M-m

1 Like
19

Thank.you, I pop a pic on here for you to have a look at first, let me know what you think.

 

Cheers

Michael 

20

strut

 

 

servo

 

brace

 

my (STRUT) brace, it wont go over the 2 upper mount bolts as it hits the brake master cylinder.