Preload on strut tower braces?

[GTP_MuNkY]

Hello everybody,

I don't post here very much, as you can see by my low post count, lol, but I lurk quite a bit, reading up on some of your projects has become somewhat of an addiction, but an inspiration at the same time.

I don't post a lot here because, well, my car is no where near the caliber of any of yours.

I'm a member on another forum, w-body.com dedicated to those of us with a strange fascination to the GM w-body platform.

Pretty much all of the work I have put into my car has been for handling, so I have spent vast amounts of time just reading up on suspension technologies and whatnot.



My question today comes from a discussion we are having over on w-body in regards to Strut Tower Braces. For those that are not familiar with the platform, the Olds Cutlass Convertible came with a strut tower brace from the factory, and as a result it is a very common swap onto other cars.
A member has developed a rear strut tower brace for use in most of our cars (I own one myself).
Our latest discussion is about preload. Some members have done research and found conflicting stories about the pros and cons of using a STB with preload adjustment on it.

I'm bringing this question here because this is the best place I am aware of for suspension talk. My father, Kenova, got me coming here a few years ago to check things out.

So what do you have to say about pre loading strut tower bars?

Thanks
Jamie

[Tom Welch]

I would guess that a neutral preload if there is such a thing would probably be the best all around way to set up an adjustable brace since pushing apart or pulling together the towers will affect the alignment of the wheels and that would be unpredticable unless you can do this on an alignment rack with the heads hooked up and the computer reading the angles as you adjust the bar. just my opinion.

[BA.]

I have to agree, but then again I'm not technically deep on the topic.
Every STB that I've seen (front or rear) as always a fixed bar, non-adjustable. Seems like adjusting it would foul up the camber settings.