Front Strut Tie Bar Tightens Up Front End & Improves Handling

I installed a front strut tie bar made by Neuspeed this afternoon and immediately noticed a difference in how well the front end handles.

It's a lot tighter now, it really is, but not quite as tight as HowardZ is with AMSOIL, though!

The tie bar mounts between the two front strut pillars and only takes a half hour to install. There is no need to crawl underneath the car and it only requires a 3/8" drill bit, and 7/16" & 9/16" end wrenches for installation.

A-4 Chassis Part Number - 35.10.71 (Neuspeed)
Price - $89.00
Freight - $20.00

ASI (Anderson & Stiehle, INC)
sales@shox.com
1300 Hill St.
El Cajon, CA 92020
(619) 444-9766 / Fax (619) 444-8261

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2000 Jetta GLS 5-speed: Silver & Gray / Luxury & CWP, Monsoon & CD

[This message has been edited by Turbo Steve (edited July 19, 2000).]

I just don't like the idea of drilling holes on my strut towers to mount this bar. On the old Rabbits, there were some bolts on the strut towers that could be used for mounting these bars, but this front suspension detail is done differently now.
Besides, I thought that the new, significantly more rigid A4 chassis/body was supposed to make this strut tie bar redundant?

Drilling holes is basically a non-issue to me, besides, look at the rewards from drilling those four holes!

This is an excellent mod for under $100. Just be very careful to CENTER-PUNCH the stut brace in place BEFORE your drill the holes. Besides that, it is a piece of cake to install. I covered the holes and nuts with silicone seal to prevent any future rust and to seal things off good. With the Bilstein HD shocks, it is very effective in assisting with tracking during cornering and also stiffens it up to run "Down a set of Railroad Tracks" whilst cruising down the interstate at 80mph too.

Nice post Steve!

Here is mine installed on my A4 Jetta:

But seriously, though: would not your hood buckle when you take a sharp turn fast if the front end was weak??? The gap between the hood and body panels is pretty small, after all.

I can relate to a similar situation (structural weakness) with my Bayliner boat. When I first got my boat when it was 2 years old, it had a small "soft" spot in the floor, which was dry rot. Over the years, the spot grew bigger and bigger, even though the boat had been kept out of the rain.

One spring, when the boat was about 10 years old, while taking the boat out for the first time that year, the whole hull oil-canned violently - it was scary! It turns out that the floor had rotten completely through.

I had a completely new floor put in, and the hull was back to normal. The floor acted similar to putting a bar across in the engine compartment in the TDI.

Ric - Where is the contact of the front wheel with the tarmac? On the bottom of the tire?

Ric - Where is the contact of the front strut with the chassis? On the top of the frame?

Ric - How much energy is therefore angled from the tire contact surface through the wheel bearings on up through the strut to the top of the frame across the frame to the contact spot on the wheel on the opposite side?

It is a shame you know little to nothing about Volkswagen TDIs, it is even more of a shame that you continue day after day to attempt to inform us all of all the things you know nothing about.

SkyPup, it is amazing how little you understand about simple mechanics! A "strut tie bar" will only stiffen the frame from dynamic loads and frame oil-canning (similar to my boat). It will do nothing to decrease frame twisting, such as would occur if one wheel went into a pothole or hit a bump.

Such a tie bar would help, however, when negotiating a speed bump or major dip in the road (such as at an intersection).

Stiffening a frame could actually cause more harm than good. Classic example: the willow tree bends instead of breaks.

If you hit a major bump, and instead of the frame flexing to absorb the energy, the shock is transmitted elsewhere in the car. Do you know where it is going???

VW strategically designed the frame. I have a lot of confidence in their engineering abilities. If you are lucky enough to have actually made the frame better with such a modification, then you should play the lottery!

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Ric Woodruff

1998 Jetta TDI Sport

[This message has been edited by Ric Woodruff (edited July 26, 2000).]

I have to give Ric credit where credit is due, his clunker rides on those Roadrage Rampage Master potatoe skins and his rpms never get above the 1,800 rpm redline, that is key in understanding his complete lack of knowledge on this subject as well as most others! Just plain ignorant!

Isn't Ric's stock A3 Jetta inherently quicker and better handling than a stock A4 because of its lighter weight and stiffer (stock) suspension?

Karl:

I don't believe so.

[This message has been edited by Peter Cheuk (edited July 26, 2000).]

Steve and Skypup,
Does Neuspeed make any claims about what the extra strut does to the crash-worthiness of the car?

I remember reading somewhere about how the structure around the engine compartment, including the hood is designed to absorb energy in a frontal impact. Would this thing help that, hinder it or make no difference in your opinion?

Enough with the wasted bandwidth! I'm starting to feel like the teacher that has to pull detention duty the day when the 5 worst elementary schoolkids have to stay after. I was about to close this thread if it weren't for Autopilot's question. Instead, I'm forced to clean it up. Keep it clean or else I will close threads sooner!

Ric, your boat analogy doesn't hold water to this debate. The strut brace is added to prevent the tops of the shock towers from either spreading outwards or inwards due to cornering forces. This effectively changes the front alignment as the suspension loads up causing the car to feel less precise. By tying the strup towers together, the alignment stays more consistant; the car feels tighter and provides quicker turn-in.

Karl, as far as the A3 chassis being more stiffly sprung, it's because the chassis is less stiff so they compensate by stiffening the suspension. Since the A4 chassis is more inherently stiffer, they can soften the suspension to increase ride comfort.

Autopilot, the strut brace has been known to cause the car to crush differently than designed. In most cases, this is not good. It's a trade-off. Better handling at the risk of increased damage to the car/occupants. Most people feel that the handling improvement outweighs the potential increase in car/bodily damage.

[This message has been edited by Peter Cheuk (edited July 26, 2000).]

Let's see: the engineers know everything, and they could not possibly improve anything from the A3 chassis, right Ric? That's why engineers all over the world continue to make their new cars more stiff than the previous generations. That's why they brag about more tortional resistance and more bending resistance than previous generations of the same chassis, right? Ric, save the comments: they show that you have negative value in these conversations. Maybe you'd be better off if you quit killing neurons with alcohol. You sound like you have very few left, and they don't talk to each other so well.

As far as crushing differently in a crash, there would be little difference in front end crushing except that with a direct front end collision, there would be more resistance, and with a side collision on the front end, there would be more deformation on the opposite side of the collision.

Additional structure is good: that's why they put roll cages in classes where they race improved stock cars.

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Always interested in steep & deep.
Ski resorts closed! Break out the cameras and fly rod ...

I installed front fork braces on both my motocross motorcycles, even through the front forks are the worlds largest White Power 50mm fork tubes with adjustable compression and rebound. The front fork braces are such and outstanding improvement in handling in the rough stuff that it is difficult to imagine why the factory did not install fork braces OEM since the front forks are a work of engineering art of their own and cost over $2,500 just for the forks!

Front Fork Brace - DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I can relate to a similar situation (structural weakness) with my Bayliner boat. When I first got my boat when it was 2 years old, it had a small "soft" spot in the floor, which was dry rot. Over the years, the spot grew bigger and bigger, even though the boat had been kept out of the rain.[/B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Bayliner - BWA HA HA HAAAAAHHHHH
That soft spot was factory equipment!

What would a day be without a war between ric and the Pup.
I have to say the boat anology is silly.
I dare not comment on your boat or it's quality.
I do know that I have driven cars and bikes with braces and they do work well if that is what you are looking for.
I did feel though on the cars that the suspensions always felt less damped. Yes more direct and handled sharper but harsher in a midcorner bump/correction.


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TDIsmokin
Claude

I am an elitist. I drive a TDI!!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Essayon:
Bayliner - BWA HA HA HAAAAAHHHHH

That soft spot was factory equipment!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree. Bayliners were of poor quality in the mid-80's when they were taken over by that scheister company, AMF, just like Harley Davidson was awful quality when they were owned by AMF in the 70's.

However, that Volvo engine and outdrive mine had was a beauty.

Modern Bayliners are quality and value.

Ric

Jack:

Here's the URL containing info you were inquiring about!



[This message has been edited by Turbo Steve (edited September 04, 2000).]

To the top of the suspension world to help answer 3 e-mail questions yesterday.

Strut tower braces are a very good idea if you run uprated tires and suspension and push the car hard. Not only does the brace prevent tiny camber and castor changes while cornering which makes the steering feel much more precise, on A1s and A2s that were flogged hard you could actually get cracks where the strut towers were welded to the front frame rails from the flexing. The brace ties everything together and you won't get those fatigue problems. About drilling holes, it's not a problem. You can apply zinc based paint, corroless or some other good product and the drilling won't cause rust.

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couple of Rabbits, a Golf and a Passat TDI

I spray painted the drill holes with Rustoleum and then dipped each of the tap bolts in silicone seal prior to installation so that they would be no chance of any rust forming above or below. Indeed, for such a minor investment the increased solid handling is very good.

BTW, the silicone seal DID NOT kill either of my MAFs either.

The Neuspeed brace arrived. NITE besure that the measurements are accurate for drilling. I was not impressed with the rivnuts they were Alm. I would have liked to have steel inserts instead. The front end is SO much tighter and the tracking does not wallow as much. I'll paint the bolts this weekend.

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PeterV
'00 Jetta TDI, Upsolute, EGR, Screenectomy, Alientech remote, 3/4 turn VNT mod
Wood Trim Amsoil Hakka "Q" for winter
'00 Audi A6 2.7T

I wouldn't worry about drilling the holes.

I am curious, when I imagined one of these I didn't see how it would clear the casing that passes under and behind the airbox. Was this a problem?

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2001 Silver Jetta TDI GLS Auto
Cold Weather, Leather, Sunroof
(RIP 76' 330K Toyota Corona)

The cross piece is on the '00 jetta does not interfear with air box.

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PeterV
'00 Jetta TDI, Upsolute, EGR, Screenectomy, Alientech remote, 3/4 turn VNT mod
Wood Trim Amsoil Hakka "Q" for winter
'00 Audi A6 2.7T

My wife is a very practical person who I have to encourage to spend money. Don't know what to do here besides enjoy it!

I only mention this about my spouse because she feels that the Upper Strut Brace is almost a safety need for emergency handling of any vehicle as a must do item, while the high-performance tires are more for me to go faster around corners as a nice to do item.

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2000 Jetta GLS 5-speed: Silver & Gray / Luxury & CWP, Monsoon & CD. Engine Modifications

Well, ND had a sale recently and I saw my chance to purchase a Neuspeed front stressbar (the only Neuspeed product on my car!) for a good price. I installed it last weekend. What a difference! Just driving down my recently repaved, smooth as a baby's bottom, street I can feel a difference! The front end on the A3 Jettas must move around a lot because even going down the street the front suspension feels more solid. The front end feels more damped, like I put on new, stiffer front shocks. The creaking noise I used to hear when going diagonally up my driveway is now gone. Cornering is more precise. Driving down the freeway feels more precise. It's a great mod. One that I should have done years ago on this car. It almost feels like a new car right now.

For anyone who has an A3 VW with any kind of suspension mods, this should be a required mod! I used the stressbar for the VR6 cars. No clearance problems at all.