What did you do to your Aussie S550 today..

[KermiStang]

@Bagration has got me motivated. Time to start emptying all the boxes of toys .

(But not get too serious )

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[KermiStang]

BMR CB006 Install.

I started installing the BMR CB006 front brace. (No company affiliation)

In reality it nearly takes longer to jack car than to fit it. It connects to existing lower control arm bolts at the front and to existing holes in rear front subframe attachment tubes. As seen in a YouTube video I checked out prior to install, the pressed out holes in the back frame may still have the small metal disks that should be fully pressed out at manufacture. They are still attached by a sliver of metal inside the tubes. Mine had all four still attached (two top holes, and two bottom holes.) These are easy to remove by just levering each a few times with a screwdriver and they just snap off. Then just get the small discs of steel out of the frame so they may not rattle. Next you can fit some large pre-drilled alloy spacers (supplied) inside the tubes that the new rear brace bolts (supplied) pass through. These stop the hollow tube compressing when you do up the substantial brace connecting bolts.

However after fitting the brace (not torqued up the bolts yet) I was having a close look at the fit. It’s beautiful quality piece, and fits like a glove, but with the 10R80, I noticed how close the transmission cooler lines were to the top of the brace. (See pics)

I'm not too worried as with the trans’ and engine obviously bolted together, and there are some support mounts for the trans cooler lines. They would not move (well maybe a fraction) in this area and the majority of any movement in the lines is forward of the engine mounts where it goes up towards the inlet to the radiator.

I can bend the lines up a little bit by adjusting the cooler lines support mount to the engine, but will feel more comfortable if I epoxy a thin high temp' rubber sheet between the top of the brace and the trans' cooler lines just to make sure there is no metal to metal contact. The cars with manuals will be fine.

There is a pic of the whole K Brace in. Solid and nice engineering. Having a look at what it’s mounted to, just like some of those scary rear suspension deflection videos, you could see how it would flex a fair bit under hard cornering. The metal thickness is not like on the old Falcons that’s for sure.

Looking forward to giving it a nudge soon but may fit some of the rear subframe “anti hop” parts as well before I do.

 

[Bagration]

BMR CB006 Install.

I started installing the BMR CB006 front brace. (No company affiliation)

In reality it nearly takes longer to jack car than to fit it. It connects to existing lower control arm bolts at the front and to existing holes in rear front subframe attachment tubes. As seen in a YouTube video I checked out prior to install, the pressed out holes in the back frame may still have the small metal disks that should be fully pressed out at manufacture. They are still attached by a sliver of metal inside the tubes. Mine had all four still attached (two top holes, and two bottom holes.) These are easy to remove by just levering each a few times with a screwdriver and they just snap off. Then just get the small discs of steel out of the frame so they may not rattle. Next you can fit some large pre-drilled alloy spacers (supplied) inside the tubes that the new rear brace bolts (supplied) pass through. These stop the hollow tube compressing when you do up the substantial brace connecting bolts.

However after fitting the brace (not torqued up the bolts yet) I was having a close look at the fit. It’s beautiful quality piece, and fits like a glove, but with the 10R80, I noticed how close the transmission cooler lines were to the top of the brace. (See pics)

I'm not too worried as with the trans’ and engine obviously bolted together, and there are some support mounts for the trans cooler lines. They would not move (well maybe a fraction) in this area and the majority of any movement in the lines is forward of the engine mounts where it goes up towards the inlet to the radiator.

I can bend the lines up a little bit by adjusting the cooler lines support mount to the engine, but will feel more comfortable if I epoxy a thin high temp' rubber sheet between the top of the brace and the trans' cooler lines just to make sure there is no metal to metal contact. The cars with manuals will be fine.

There is a pic of the whole K Brace in. Solid and nice engineering. Having a look at what it’s mounted to, just like some of those scary rear suspension deflection videos, you could see how it would flex a fair bit under hard cornering. The metal thickness is not like on the old Falcons that’s for sure.

Looking forward to giving it a nudge soon but may fit some of the rear subframe “anti hop” parts as well before I do.

Great job. Note that the K brace needs to come out when you do your headers. This upgrade is worthwhile and in the Canberra roundabout jungle this is absolutely an incrementally noticeable improvement.

 

[PKs]

BMR CB006 Install.

I started installing the BMR CB006 front brace. (No company affiliation)

In reality it nearly takes longer to jack car than to fit it. It connects to existing lower control arm bolts at the front and to existing holes in rear front subframe attachment tubes. As seen in a YouTube video I checked out prior to install, the pressed out holes in the back frame may still have the small metal disks that should be fully pressed out at manufacture. They are still attached by a sliver of metal inside the tubes. Mine had all four still attached (two top holes, and two bottom holes.) These are easy to remove by just levering each a few times with a screwdriver and they just snap off. Then just get the small discs of steel out of the frame so they may not rattle. Next you can fit some large pre-drilled alloy spacers (supplied) inside the tubes that the new rear brace bolts (supplied) pass through. These stop the hollow tube compressing when you do up the substantial brace connecting bolts.

However after fitting the brace (not torqued up the bolts yet) I was having a close look at the fit. It’s beautiful quality piece, and fits like a glove, but with the 10R80, I noticed how close the transmission cooler lines were to the top of the brace. (See pics)

I'm not too worried as with the trans’ and engine obviously bolted together, and there are some support mounts for the trans cooler lines. They would not move (well maybe a fraction) in this area and the majority of any movement in the lines is forward of the engine mounts where it goes up towards the inlet to the radiator.

I can bend the lines up a little bit by adjusting the cooler lines support mount to the engine, but will feel more comfortable if I epoxy a thin high temp' rubber sheet between the top of the brace and the trans' cooler lines just to make sure there is no metal to metal contact. The cars with manuals will be fine.

There is a pic of the whole K Brace in. Solid and nice engineering. Having a look at what it’s mounted to, just like some of those scary rear suspension deflection videos, you could see how it would flex a fair bit under hard cornering. The metal thickness is not like on the old Falcons that’s for sure.

Looking forward to giving it a nudge soon but may fit some of the rear subframe “anti hop” parts as well before I do.

Good job AJ. You have prompted me to re-look at my Steeda brace to see if it may be the cause of some occasional noise that I get. I did think it was a rotational noise of some sort but lately it seems to sound like more of a pump like noise coming from the left of the car. The dealer thought it was the fuel surge valve solenoid vibrating against a metal line near the intake manifold where I had re-positioned it but I did isolate that and the noise continues. Where is your high temp rubber purchased.

 

[PKs]

Great job. Note that the K brace needs to come out when you do your headers. This upgrade is worthwhile and in the Canberra roundabout jungle this is absolutely an incrementally noticeable improvement.

Hey Paul. I assume that the brace has room to be re-fitted without interfering with the extractors.

 

[KermiStang]

Hey Paul. I assume that the brace has room to be re-fitted without interfering with the extractors.

I can can answer that one Pk's with a yes. Prior to buying the headers we both (independently) asked this question and BMR stated the ARH would have no clearance problems with the brace. To date I believe the Kooks LTs are the only ones they know of that won’t with this brace installed and I believe BMR have that written somewhere as a caution.

 

[PKs]

I can can answer that one Pk's with a yes. Prior to buying the headers we both (independently) asked this question and BMR stated the ARH would have no clearance problems with the brace. To date I believe the Kooks LTs are the only ones they know of that won’t with this brace installed and I believe BMR have that written somewhere as a caution.

Thanks AJ. I have the Steeda brace installed but it is much the same dimensions I imagine.

 

[KermiStang]

Good job AJ. You have prompted me to re-look at my Steeda brace to see if it may be the cause of some occasional noise that I get. I did think it was a rotational noise of some sort but lately it seems to sound like more of a pump like noise coming from the left of the car. The dealer thought it was the fuel surge valve solenoid vibrating against a metal line near the intake manifold where I had re-positioned it but I did isolate that and the noise continues. Where is your high temp rubber purchased.

Could also just be the coolant pipes intermittent on the bottom of the bell housing too if they had to bend the engine mounted coolant pipe support up a bit when they put the brace on. There is not much room above the pipes to the bell housing either...

So for the rubber strip I’m using an off cut of some old hi temp anti static mat I have that was part of an industrial workshop bench top. (Old workplace score) If that does not work out I’ll try some silicone self amalgamating tape around the pipes in this area. The brace will have to come off (easy) and I’ll temp’ remove the cooler line engine support so I can “wedge” the lines down a bit to gain space to tape from the bell housing. It will be tight but doable, and then won’t rub on anything upper or lower.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/tommy-tape-25mm-x-3m-specialty-tape-black_p1560101

I’m sure there would be others .

 

[PKs]

Could also just be the coolant pipes intermittent on the bottom of the bell housing too if they had to bend the engine mounted coolant pipe support up a bit when they put the brace on. There is not much room above the pipes to the bell housing either...

So for the rubber strip I’m using an off cut of some old hi temp anti static mat I have that was part of an industrial workshop bench top. (Old workplace score) If that does not work out I’ll try some silicone self amalgamating tape around the pipes in this area. The brace will have to come off (easy) and I’ll temp’ remove the cooler line engine support so I can “wedge” the lines down a bit to gain space to tape from the bell housing. It will be tight but doable, and then won’t rub on anything upper or lower.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/tommy-tape-25mm-x-3m-specialty-tape-black_p1560101

I’m sure there would be others .

Thanks again AJ, I will check it all out during the week.

 

[WD Pro]

Thanks AJ. I have the Steeda brace installed but it is much the same dimensions I imagine.

Just have a look at the design of the bracket that mounts the brace. The BMR brace offsets the mounting hole in comparison to the main piece of brace tubing (BMR brace sits further forward). This is why the BMR brace has a recess for the drain plug.

WD

 

[GT 550]

AJ just a thought, understand the concern about the metal to metal contact but the rubber solution might then reduce the room for movement all together and thus if there's regular contact over time a degree of fatigue could set in particularly at the fittings. Hard to tell angles etc from the photo.

 

[PKs]

Just have a look at the design of the bracket that mounts the brace. The BMR brace offsets the mounting hole in comparison to the main piece of brace tubing (BMR brace sits further forward). This is why the BMR brace has a recess for the drain plug.

WD

Yep, my job for tomorrow (Sunday). Lift the car and check how close everything is. Then if required a trip to the auto store for some insulation bandaging. I somehow hope I find nothing untoward with my installation of the brace as I have taken the car 4 times to the dealer for the same noise and I only told them the other day that I am sick of the noise and about time it is finally fixed. Update tomorrow night.

 

[KermiStang]

AJ just a thought, understand the concern about the metal to metal contact but the rubber solution might then reduce the room for movement all together and thus if there's regular contact over time a degree of fatigue could set in particularly at the fittings. Hard to tell angles etc from the photo.

Cheers, yep I’d looked at that, and it’s a good point. Had the same issues on aircraft hydraulics. It’s hard to show / visualise without a 3D drawing, but as I mentioned the main movement/lever arm is forward of the existing cooling tube support mount on the rear of the engine, which is also forward of the BMR brace. (This is a pretty tight mount) From that mount back to the side of the gearbox it’s location seems very stable. Yep it’s hard to see in the photos, but it’s only about 2.5mm below and 3-4 above. Ford have a single plastic clip that holds the two alloy tubes apart a bit, and this is on the centre line of the car just behind the engine sump plug. Just to be safe I’m going to remove the temp 2mm rubber pad and use the high temp silicone tape wrapped in thin wraps around each tube in about 3-4 horizontal locations above the brace centre. This will leave a bit of room above and below the cooler tubes while protecting from any metal on metal contact above or below, if it was to happen.

 

[PKs]

Well what I did today was, I took AJ's idea with the silcone wrap and I do believe that I may have solved the noise that I was getting down around the left wheel/gearbox area. I have the Steeda K brace on my car and before doing anything I checked the clearance between the brace and the auto coolant lines where they coincide near the sump plug. A piece of very thin cardboard could not be run through the space so I guess at times there would have been metal on metal and perhaps coolant travelling through the lines and reverberating through the brace was why I was thinking my unwanted noise sounded like a pump working. It didn't do it all the time and mostly not until the car was warmed up after 2 or 3 kilometres and mostly in the 45 to 65 klm/hr speed range.
I dropped the brace down but not completely off the car and wrapped some of that silicon tape around the coolant lines as best I could in the confined space that I had. The hard plastic line spacer I slid along to the left end so it was not making contact with the brace.Took it for a test drive and seems all good. I will give it a few more drives before I cancel my upcoming dealer appointment.
Thanks for your tip AJ.

 

[KermiStang]

Well what I did today was, I took AJ's idea with the silcone wrap and I do believe that I may have solved the noise that I was getting down around the left wheel/gearbox area. I have the Steeda K brace on my car and before doing anything I checked the clearance between the brace and the auto coolant lines where they coincide near the sump plug. A piece of very thin cardboard could not be run through the space so I guess at times there would have been metal on metal and perhaps coolant travelling through the lines and reverberating through the brace was why I was thinking my unwanted noise sounded like a pump working. It didn't do it all the time and mostly not until the car was warmed up after 2 or 3 kilometres and mostly in the 45 to 65 klm/hr speed range.
I dropped the brace down but not completely off the car and wrapped some of that silicon tape around the coolant lines as best I could in the confined space that I had. The hard plastic line spacer I slid along to the left end so it was not making contact with the brace.Took it for a test drive and seems all good. I will give it a few more drives before I cancel my upcoming dealer appointment.
Thanks for your tip AJ.

Great to hear it worked out Peter. Good idea with the plastic clip too. I was going to see if I could get another one (or three as they may be something that may break down the track and can’t be expensive) and maybe put one on drivers side of brace while moving the orig clip to the left. Maybe an overkill but if it’s only a few $ I’m happy to do it. Or get the pipe dia’ and get two Adel clamps of the same size and mount them together as a much better separator. I’ll add it to my long list

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