[DeTomaso] (no subject)

[Ken Green]

But what if the suspension is placing stress on the body sheet metal when the car is resting on the tires?  You might argue that you should jack up the car, remove the rear wheels and tires and one end of the shocks to let the sheet metal come to a relaxed position, and then adjust the brace to hold that position.  
 
Ken

From: John Buckman <jb841 at cox.net>
To: detomaso at realbig.com 
Sent: Wednesday, April 4, 2012 9:16 AM
Subject: [DeTomaso] (no subject)

> What's the advantage to setting up the brace with rear spread by the 
> weight of the suspension, tires & wheels pulling down as opposed to installing 
> it with nothing attached at the pickup points, a more neutral state?

With the brace loose or removed, the attach points will spread when the car is raised (at the rear crossmember).
If the brace were to be installed with the car raised, then the brace will become "active "when the car is lowered, 
and it will remain active during virtually all conditions of driving (until there is air under the rear tires).  This puts 
a continuous (and possibly excessive) load on those thin sheet metal mounting tabs.  The brace should be 
installed with the car resting on the ground.

The first time that the brace bolts were ever loosened on my car, the car was at rest on the ground (garage floor) 
and the mounts (tabs) did not move.  The factory undercoating was still covering the bolts, washers, and nuts.  
This is not to say that the factory "setting" was correct or incorrect, it's the way that my car originally was (and still is).  Just an FYI.

I just makes sense (at least to me) that the brace should be "inactive" with the car at rest with its wheels on the
ground.  The brace should not be used to "adjust" rear wheel camber.

John 
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