Hi all, I have a 2009 R56 JCW hardtop and am looking so too get some strut tower defenders for some mushroom protection. The car came with the OEM JCW strut bar installed.

My questions to y'all:
1) does just the strut bar alone achieve a level of protection?
2) is the defender that can work with my strut bar?
3) or do I have to pick a defender that had the strut bar integrated?
4) or is the tower defender even necessary?

 

as far as I know, strut tower mushrooming hasn't been a problem with the 2nd Gen cars. Only a 1st Gen issue.

 

I'd love to sell you some plates and or bar with plates but in all honesty it isn't necessary on the Gen 2 car like it is on the Gen 1 car. So I'd just save your money and stick with what you have.

 

^ gotta love the straight talk from one of our forum vendors!

 

I'd like to point out it's not AS necessary as it was with the first-gen. I have a 2012 MCS and here in Indiana, I've hit a few good potholes and flared my right one in particular out. They're definitely not a necessity, but consider your environment and how much wear they might get depending on if you live in a shitty city that gives negative ****s about road maintenance. That's one of my next projects because my passenger's side camber has been thrown off by it.

Also, I'd like to offer some novel advice: avoid potholes.

 

And I thought our roads here in Massachusetts were bad....

 

The worst one and I think the one that did it was in the rain here where a pothole was hidden and blew the tire it was so hard. That was against a set of railroad tracks so after a couple of months, they finally reimbursed me so I didn't have to take them to small-claims court since I'd just bought new tires for the car 5 days prior. . . I was salty. Then about a month later, we were driving through Tennessee trying to pass slow drivers and hit a pothole on the interstate; I'm sure it was about 85mph and trashed my wheel bearings on the same wheel. I don't have good luck with potholes.

 

Great advice all.

I live in Richmond VA, and I can't say that the roads here are any good. I spend my drive to work in the pot hole slalom. I also have the JCW suspension, so anyone I do hit is... painful

so if I do decide to get some defenders, are there any that would fit with the JCW strut bar? I wonder if there is enough bolt for both to be attached and tighten the nuts?

 

If the bolt isn't long enough, I'm sure you can go to a local hardware (specific to industrial purposes if you have one) that can size you a bolt to replace that one. We have a place here called Evansville Bolt and Nut which usually supplies companies, shops, or whatnot with bulk materials but they'll sell me a bolt, nut, all-thread, or anything else I need and they'll cut it to size for me. If it doesn't fit for you and you can't find a place like that that will do that for you, let me know and I'll run down to EBN and get some for you.

 

That's a great point. I had not thought of that.

Thanks all for the advice. Super helpful!

 

Someone just recently posted here on NAM that had found longer replacement bolts with a part number.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-solution.html

Hope this helps