Butt-strutt clearance issue...? comments please.

[keef]

I was in New Orleans on I-10 doing 60 or 70 on the Hwy and went over a hump that bottomed out the butt strutt with a huge clang. Happend twice that day. Same road diff. place. My suspention and wheel setup are stock. My car was loaded (with the co-ed jennifer and other weekend beach gear) the first time and unloaded the second (just me with no gear). My car dosen\'t allow space for the alternate bolt arrangement. The body brace is flush at the rear of the car.


http://members.roadfly.com/keef/default.html

2001 3.0i, Jet blk/beige/beige, Sport and Premium, Dinan stage III software, HFTB, and CAI, Supersprint, Strong Strut trio, Whalen shift Machine, Stygar's clutch stop, Leather Z MkII armrest, Classic Carriers boot rack, clear bumper markers (amber bulbs), G-Tech Pro dash dyno, V1, colgan bra, I/O port/Forbes camera mounts, Hamann pedal set

[Eric in Sac]

What an awful sound. Some scrapes on the Butt Strut but that is it. No bending, bolts still tight etc. Sent shivers up my back though. I've never bottomed out on speed bumps or had any issues other than that one time. (County road with dip)

I'd just make sure it's still tight and wouldn't worry about it.

I have a stock set-up. 99 2.3

[pilsungny]

Haven't hit the butt strut yet. I drive a 1.9l that rests on an Eibach/Koni suspension.

[staylor]

Stock suspension 2002 3 liter with Butt Strut mounted in basic position with one washer above, one below. I drive some pretty crappy roads up here in Western New York and I've never touched the Butt Strut to the pavement. I have scraped the front spoiler twice dropping into the pot holes we have in spring- the kind that are in groups such that you can drive around one but the one 3 foot ahead of it nails you. If you're running both washers above the strut for clearance, are you doing this to clear the exhaust? If so, maybe you can get the pipes raised up a bit by a muffler shop so you can run the strut higher by moving the washers around.Doug

[Paul & the Strong-Strut Team]

The other readers offer excellent advice as there are optional installations for the butt strut. Raise the exhaust hangers and this will allow you to raise the butt strut a corresponding amount. We would be interested in knowing what the ground clearance is from the bottom of the butt strut.

[POG]

from I-10 around N.O. as that has to be the closest thing to a roller coaster on pavement. I've actually seen tractor trailer rigs broken in half on that road from the waves. I think it has been blamed on some unusual sort of clay which absorbs water and makes the road buck up. But if you are going to have to continue to drive I-10, you should remove your Butt Strut IMMEDIATELY and send it to me. I will pay shipping!

[wernst]

I have a Butt Strut and Body Brace on a stock 2000 2.8, yet for some reason, the clearance on mine is much less than most. My Body Brace scrapes on nearly every speed bumb there is. But I keep the BB/BS anyway because it works so well.

As for the scraping of the butt strut at speed. It has happened to me twice whilst travelling at around 75 MPH and there was a dip in the smooth freeway, and the suspension compressed enough to let the BS scrape with a nerve-shattering screech. It has happened twice to over two years.

Closer inspection reveals that it is actually the bolt heads that connect the back of the Body Brace to the Butt Strut that are scraping. Note that they protrude down below the lowest part of the Butt Strut by 1/4 inch. If you don't have a Body Brace, then you don't have these bolts.

If that's what is scraping on your car, then I would worry much less. For starters, those are Grade 5 bolts, and they are pretty much the strongest and best-built bolts you can buy without a perscription. It would take a hell of a lot to shear them off.

But suppose for a moment that they did shear off. No problem. Get some more bolts and put them back on, and note where the problem occured and don't drive there again.

At least, that's my philosophy...

-Llama

[eric5150]

I've got some gnarly railroad crossings by my work, and if I have to scoot through the intersection at an (ahem) accelerated pace, I can bottom the Butt Strut out, but it IS just the bolts getting whacked, although it sounds absolutely horrific.

Perhaps recessing the bolt/nut on the bottom would cure this? I dunno what that would do for structural integrity (Paul's department, there) - but that would eliminate some of the hits I get.

But there is NO WAY that the trio is coming off of my car unless I get rid of the roadster. It's worth every penny.

Eric

[EZRishel]

change the shocks and springs. For me, this is an almost daily occurance, but I suspect it has to do with my highly aggressive driving style on very twisty country roads. I have put off making the suspension changes because:

1. The S 54 engine blew and that cost me the car for two weeks. Then I had to endure the break in period which meant it really didn't matter during that time frame.

2. I haven't got a clear idea of what shocks and/or springs I should be buying. I think Paul recommended Konis, but I don't remember any recommendations from anyone about springs, and I don't recall any recommendations about which Konis to buy. (I may drive this car hard, but it is also a daily driver and I don't want to jar the caps off my teeth either.)

I have never looked under the car because I wouldn't know what I was looking at anyway and I don't frequent places that have a lift. I assume that changing the shocks and springs will solve the problem if I understood the advice Paul gave me.

Would I give up the trio? Not a chance!

[tortuga3030]

Don\'t worry about it though, they are made of heavy steel, nothing dainty or elegant about them.

Would rather whack aftermarket bolt on stuff than the chassis...

I\'m sure the Z will fall apart before the bars fail...Steve H

Oakland CA
1999 MZ3:
Can share experience with the following Mods:
Sharked, Conforti CAI, Strong Strut Butt & Body, BAV Tower Brace, CAI, Stone Guards, Whalen Knob, hard-Wired Vallentine 1, Soft Boot, Goodyear F1-GS-03, DRLs, Upgraded Horns, Bilstein Sports (Boge's toast @ 23k: No rebound, dead spots etc), E46 M3 Cabrio RSMs, strong strut aero ducts, whalen seat bushings, Redline MTL in trans,Redline 75W140in diff,Amsoil 5w-30 in mill,clear corner lenses,cheapo painted bulbs,understeer.com Fan removal Mod, UUC trans enforcers (-Removed UUC's: too much vibration: Rogue units installed NICE), UUC Under-Drive Pulleys,
Cheapo Sub FIX!, Plasma Coils, All Metal Radiator

2003 325 XiTA Snow Mobile:
Sport/Premium/Xenon/Cold Weather/Auto/Black-Black

Ex-rides: BMW: E30 M3, 2002 tii, Bavaria 3.0, 528i (E12)
Other: 62 Dodge Truck, 63 MBZ 190D, 68 GTO 400 HO 4 spd, 70 Triumph GT6, 72 Datsun 510, 80 MBZ 300D, 99 Ford F350 Powerstroke (too big to park...)

Other Bad Habit:
1983 Santana 30/30 Raceboat

[Paul & the Strong-Strut Team]

so you can set the ride quality the way you like it

[EZRishel]

If so, to what?

Thanks! See how good the service is from www.strong-strut.com ? Why would anyone buy struts from anyone else?

[Paul & the Strong-Strut Team]

We are not big advocates of any spring that lowers the car even though we carry the Vogtland springs that do just that. We feel the disadvantages outweigh the advantages unless the car is used in competition or that the owner knows in advance, what the drawbacks are. Lowering the car does improve handling as it lowers the center of gravity and the shorter and firmer springs resist body roll. This equates to a faster steering response as does the increase in negative camber, also a byproduct of lowering the car. In most cases, ride comfort will be degraded and tire wear will increase. Naturally, ground clearance will suffer as well and this can be important for the front air dam as well as clearance in the rear should you happen to have a rear strut brace.It also becomes a factor in a "stock" car when driving over speed bumps. We encourage a change in shock absorbers as they offer some of the benefits of the shorter, stiffer springs without the drawbacks. In our opinion and experience, the ideal setup is a set of Koni adjustable shocks (or equivilant) and available body bracing accessories to prevent the sheet metal from flexing (please excuse the commercial aspect) The experts that understand these dynamics tell us the first thing to do is to start with a stable platform (firm up the chassis) then add whatever suspension parts you feel you need to achieve the level of comfort and performance compromise you strive for. In many cases, firming up the chassis sheet metal and a good set of shocks is the ideal solution and does not cost a fortune to do it.

[EZRishel]

OK. Now I order some shocks and keep the factory springs. This is my next improvement for the car. Now all I have to do is find someone to put the shocks on for me. :)

You have to respect these guys for their level of customer service and the quality of their struts.

[Chip]

Stock 2001 2.5i - put Butt Strut on in June and no problems until this week. Standard install. Scraped on an abrupt speed bump at low speed yesterday, then on a gravel road tonight. Both times really surprised me, especially since I was in 1st gear and going slowly so had plenty of time to see ahead. I really hope nothing was damaged - gotta' get it on a lift tomorrow.

Chip

[Cookie (SFO)]

And was that Santana 30/30 the one Kevin used to have over at Coyote Point?

[Mark'sZ3]

I installed the butt strut, body brace, and the front strut (the famous trio) on my '97 2.8 Z3, with stock suspension, about a couple of months ago. It was a very good investment! The car really handles a lot better than before, and feels more solid. I have hit either the body brace or the butt strut (couldn't figure out exactly what hit) a couple of times, but I feel it was due to "special conditions" (going up on a steep hill coming out of a parking lot and then getting onto a flat main road). Also bottomed out on a speed bump once, but all in all no problems.

Keep it installed, you'll hate yourself if you take it off! (the butt strut and body brace that is)

[wcampbell6]

On my commute this morning in DC, I accelerated to get around some traffic and a bad man-hole cover (that was significantly raised) slammed into my butt-strut.

I began hearing a scraping sound and pulled over immediately. It was my passenger side body brace bar. The man-hole has bent the butt-strut back right in the middle. It's twisted and I'm sitting here at work wondering what other damage I've caused.

I've always been a little nervous about the clearance, but with the crappy roads in our nations capitol, my fears have been realized.

I'll update you with more details when I get under the car.

[Monolith]

Relatively cheap part to replace but you'll have to drop the subframe.

[wcampbell6]

That's good to hear. They don't look too damaged, but there probably are. At least I've dropped the sub frame before on my 1.9 and know what it entails. I guess I could do the weld on Ireland camber and toe kit while I've got the sub-frame out. Right now I'm just curious to see how hard it will be to get the struts off.

I also might have stripped the hole at the x-brace/body brace intersection. I guess that can be re-tapped and a bigger bolt installed. Still a process.

Anyone around DC have a lift or know of one I could use? It'd be easier than laying on the ground.

Thanks