A1 Crossmember Brace

[mardak at gmail.com (Mark F.)]

On 11/6/05, David Utley <fahrvergnugen@cox.net> wrote:
> BTW,
>
>   To those that do not believe you need a crossbrace, then why does my
> pickup pop its' hood in hard right turns?
>
> There is an answer I am searching for, and this is the most scientific way I
> can demonstrate that A1s -need- a crossbrace...


Where to begin...

Eric's bar will not help you with this problem.  His bar arguably
transfers the load of the engine's upward torque on the front engine
mount/crossmember to the side "frame" rails to ease strain where the
crossmember meets the rails to prevent cracking at this point.

Your pickup's hood pops because the engine bay is twisting while
cornering.  It probably has a bunch of miles on it, and 70's unibody
designs are hardly stiff to begin with.  I'm guessing the increased
wheelbase of the Caddy also exaggerates this twist.

Think of your engine bay as a box without a top or bottom.  Adding a
skinny bar along the bottom edge of one side will not do a thing to
prevent twisting of the box - that's not what Eric's bar was designed
to do.  The solution to preventing twist is to "X" brace the box.  How
you would do that for an A1 chassis, I dunno - I'm not an engineer,
although I play one on TV...

Later,

Mark.
75
86
90 Audi Coupe Quattro - 10vt ** For Sale **