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Bought a used smerc strut bar from a member here and it came with 6 washers. After putting one bracket in place and hand tightening the oem bolts, there seems to be a significant gap between the bracket and the frame. Normal?
With the bracket and empty space between the bracket and the frame, are you supposed to re-use the oem bolts or do I need something longer?
Are these washers used to take up the space between the bracket and the frame???
I realize now that the washers shouldn't be on top but when I took the pics I didn't actually think they would be needed to fill this gap. But the member I bought the bar from said the washers are really used to take up the space.
Last thought, is there any difference in the mounting location for a pre FL and FL car? Perhaps the location for the pre FL car is flatter?
2012 P31 C63 Coupe Trackrat, 2019 GLE63S Coupe Beast
That's really weird. I just had mine off last weekend and didn't notice a gap like that at all. I seem to remember that those surfaces were flat, not curved.
There's definitely some curve to it. I grabbed these pics off google and it looks like other bars have a small lip under the bracket to account for the extra space. And the bolt hole on the bracket is recessed to make up for using the oem bolt
I don't want to force the bolt down since it seems like those bolts don't require a lot of torque. If Im adding washers to account for the gap then its probably losing about 30-50% of the threads to secure it. Seems very sketchy
2012 P31 C63 Coupe Trackrat, 2019 GLE63S Coupe Beast
Just looked at my strut towers. Definitely different. Where the bar plates mount, there are raised flat surfaces. The plate is flat against the strut tops with no gap. Now that I look at it, the plates might have a very slight curvature to them. Next time I have them off I'll check, but best for you to use washers for now. Maybe you can bend them slightly?
In my eyes those brackets look like they have a slight curve to them. I wonder if it was made like that or the curve came from tightening the bolts down.
I don't think I should I be smacking the bracket with a hammer to add a little bit of bend to it so Ill use a washer or 2, tighten it down and see if forms to the curve after tightening it.
I see you have different bolts then oem. Is that because you added the strut bar and added longer bolts or because you have coilovers (or something else)?
2012 P31 C63 Coupe Trackrat, 2019 GLE63S Coupe Beast
OEM on my car at least were nuts. The struts had studs in them from the factory. Needed longer studs when I first installed the bar.
I have KW Clubsports now, and they required new bolts. Torqued them to 30 ft/lb as I couldn't find a proper torque spec, and that seemed to be about what most people had theirs at around the web. Doesn't seem like a lot and doubt it's enough to bend 1/4" steel plate.
Just looked at my strut towers. Definitely different. Where the bar plates mount, there are raised flat surfaces. The plate is flat against the strut tops with no gap. Now that I look at it, the plates might have a very slight curvature to them. Next time I have them off I'll check, but best for you to use washers for now. Maybe you can bend them slightly?
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