hey thanks for the link!

 

Moderator: I respectfully request that we change the title of this thread to...

JCW strut brace = crap

I think this would be far more accurate and descriptive. Thanks for your consideration.

 

Here comes the crapwagon again

 

I read a rather extensive review in Sport Compact Car about several chassis braces, and I liked the phrase they used "bracing one flexible chassis member with another flexible chassis member doesn't do !@$$".

Basically, IF your strut towers are actually flexible (which, in the MINI, they're not) and you are tying them together, then all your doing is making sure that when one bends, the other does too...

If you were REALLY serious about bracing the tops of the struts, you have to triangulate the brace into the firewall, so that as they try to flex, the load is redirected into trying to shear the braces off the firewall (which won't happen cause you welded them on really well, ya?!).

The MINI would probably benefit more from the loss of weight of not having a strut brace... remember what Colin said "Performance through light weight!"

RM2K5

 

lol. Remember, Colin had the tendency of breaking things on the last lap also...

 

yea ur totally right,
but if ur using a brace to ensure that the tops of the strut mount's dont warp ( big issue w/mini) due to aggressive driving' &/or hittin' potholes W/lowered & stiff suspensions, then a beefy mounting plate on a good brace will work, right!? i feel that the only brace that worx real well by design is that OBC one a couple people have them on here -one beign 'Misftoy', check it out.
the whole front Or rear brace deal on later cars, (not jus the mini) probably is a waist of time, not money cuz its a "bling bling" factor for some of US
i like the look of them & for me i notice a great deal that somethin' good is happening when i run them.
that triangular design that Neuspeed has woul be great but they dont make them for Mini's

 

Have people seen the isse with the JCW strut brace bolts splitting in two? Man, that's pretty scary stuff - you can read the discussion on MINI2 here.

 

one data point out of how many sold? What does that mean and look whos siding with him ... a direct competitor to JCW. Duh

 

What it means is anybody who's installed the JCW may want to check their bolts before they lose their front end.

It also means that there's yet one more reason for those who dislike JCW to support their "Craptastic" view of the vendor.

 

LOL. If ONE person here says the screws on their sway bar were split, does everyone have to get check their? Just wondering.

As for the second part ... https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...light=JCW+crap
needs to be added there

Covered by warranty so should not be an issue. All on MINI's nickel, right!

 

Nobody has to get anything checked. I never said have, I said may. I just figured that if this has happened in two cases (based on the full postes in the MINI2 the thread), that people might want to take a look. (Sort of how when ONE airplane crashes due to a mechanical failure, ALL airlines double-check their aircraft of the same make just in case.)

Personally I don't have the JCW strut brace so I don't care one way or another. I just thought that it was a failure case that might be worth bringing to the attention of JCW strut brace owners.

 

Good point!



The mere fact that a competitor had to jump into that thread stirs the pot a musky dark color but I have read other threads by him where his advertisment idea is negative politics. In other words, he loves to bash the competition any chance he gets. I'm not to sure how well that approach would work in the US.

That is why I am suspicious of the thread. If you haven't read his history of advertising, you wouldnt be as suspicious of his intents as I

 

these are random nuts that failed, not the jcw bar it self!! so it would not qualify to be part of the JCWerks is 'crap' thread

 

I was kidding

I just reread the thread and cannot believe anything written about it.

The originator bolted it on himself, NOT MINI so he's screwed right there. No warranty protection

Second, GUESS who took it off for him and then BASHED it about a while ... yup the vendor.

The nuts might have broken ... could be true, but THAT vendors attitude of negative advertising is really poor practice.

Make NAM feel like a big PEACE PARTY!

 

Ah, but THAT vendor has to compete much more directly with JCW in the UK now doesn't he? I'm not condoning his behavior, but understand the desire to trash JCW if possible.

I suspect many a strut brace (JCW or otherwise) have been put on by owners themselves so the potential for cracked nuts is a possibility if the nuts are susceptible to user error.

 

I think its a cultural thing. Bashing the opponents is accepted practice. Negative advertising is expected. Negative advertising here would probably not sit well with many people.

Can you imagine Ford saying: Don't buy that GM Crap? Chevy's are pieces of ...."????

How would that sit with the US public? Prolly not well. Over there ... well its their side of the pond

 

So I have a CRAP MINI as well

 

I have been working with Manufacturers for over 25 years and now and then a vendor supplies a bad batch of something out of spec which causes failures. Most of the time it is innocent so not a slam against JCW. One of my customers said, "all manufacturers have problems with products from time to time....it's how they handle the problems that counts." If you have this brace....check the bolts..... I'm sure JCW will replace under warranty or recall.

 

Since I have so much of the CRAP its oozing out my ears ... I just looked and dont see nothing.

oh wait, do I have to open that bonnet thingie?

 

Sorry if I somehow missed it....but are there any pics of the damaged brace? Or of the original for that matter before the craptastic thing broke?

We plan on having a lovely MINI FULL of all the crap we can afford so long as it is 100% JCW craptastic.

*happy member of team craptastic

 

Just to clarify, it's not the brace that's cracked, it is the bolts that hold the brace (and your front suspension on) that one or two people have had split in two. This link to MINI2 includes photos of the offending part.

 

 

SO go look on MINI2 and YOU WILL SEE THEM

 

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showpost....8&postcount=12

 

SpiderX posted his JCW strut brace on MINI 2, so we could look at the weld quality compared to another JCW bar?

Please point me to where in that that thread it is, because I must've missed it.