Any reviews on DS WORKS braces, any experiences or issues

[Patman]

That thread is super nice to to read and gives a lot of very helpful information. Thank you for sharing!

Since I cannot weld and want to avoid it in any kind of way in the car's interior, is it possible after stop drilling the cracks to fill it up with a specific kind of glue/epoxy?

[karter16]

Thanks for your thoughts karter16,

my main problem is, that the right upper front mount (cavity underneath the rear seats) of the RACP has already cracks and I want to avoid any welding in this inside area of the car.

Did you have any cracks before installing the 6point yurkan brace? If so, how did you fix them? Just stop drilling them at the end point to prevent further enlarging or did you just install the brace over existing cracks?

Thanks for your information
Patrick

Yup I had some cracks around the factory weld. Cleaned out, stop drilled and welded. Then cleaned up with a carbide burr and painted.

See here: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...676#post285676


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[Patman]

Thanks for your thoughts karter16,

my main problem is, that the right upper front mount (cavity underneath the rear seats) of the RACP has already cracks and I want to avoid any welding in this inside area of the car.

Did you have any cracks before installing the 6point yurkan brace? If so, how did you fix them? Just stop drilling them at the end point to prevent further enlarging or did you just install the brace over existing cracks?

Thanks for your information
Patrick

[karter16]

Hi guys,

can anyone report if the Practical Performance RnD gusset Cups installation can be combined with a 6point brace that keeps the rear seats (yurkan e.g.)? I'd like to go with the following setup to reinforce my M3's RACP:

- Vince Skins
- Vince gusset Cups
- 6point brace that keeps the rear seats
- solid fully aluminium bushes for the subframe

IMHO this should make my non track M3 Coupe street bullet proof.


Can anyone help me out?

Thanks in advance
Patrick

Disclaimer - I do not have Vince gusset cups to measure.

I do have the Yurkan 6 point RACP brace that allows use of rear seats.

There's two things I can see that would be a problem.

1: and I think this is probably the bigger problem. Looking at pictures of the gusset cup it doesn't appear that the cylindrical section would be large enough for the front points of the brace to sit inside. You would need to get measurements to be sure.

2: the gusset cup adds vertical height to the front mounts and the brace would have to sit above this. It's been designed and manufactured to sit directly on the top of the front point.

My gut is that these wouldn't be compatible with each other.


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[Patman]

Hi guys,

can anyone report if the Practical Performance RnD gusset Cups installation can be combined with a 6point brace that keeps the rear seats (yurkan e.g.)? I'd like to go with the following setup to reinforce my M3's RACP:

- Vince Skins
- Vince gusset Cups
- 6point brace that keeps the rear seats
- solid fully aluminium bushes for the subframe

IMHO this should make my non track M3 Coupe street bullet proof.


Can anyone help me out?

Thanks in advance
Patrick

[karter16]

The 6pt install also seems to require quite a bit less hacking in the trunk compared to the vincebar which I like.

That's exactly why I've recently decided to go with a 6 point brace solution.


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[dukeofchen]

I think the reason the 6 point brace works is because the stresses that cause RACP failure are distributed through the floor and the whole brace, instead of just into the RACP as it would be if there was no brace in place. So the 4 points being bolted into the subframe mounting points and 2 points on the shock towers should be sufficient for most builds. Having a gusset cup type of pocket reinforcement in addition to the brace is a nice addition, but I don't think there's a single conclusive answer to say "yes" that's needed or "no" it's not. The harder your car is used, the more reinforcement is advisable, right? That's part of the reason why most cars that have full cages have the subframe points incorporated and welded into the cage design, in addition to of course rigidity.

Makes sense, thanks! I suppose at the end of the day there will never be a true 1:1 comparison on the same chassis, but based on that reasoning all of these solutions should provide more than enough reinforcement for my street car. If I'm going to get all the way in there then why not go for the theoretical rigidity and racecar aesthetic 😏. The 6pt install also seems to require quite a bit less hacking in the trunk compared to the vincebar which I like.

[fattycharged]

Very interesting to see those differences side by side. I really want to know which one fits better lol.

Well ya, me too, but as I continue to find out, I'm getting slow AF in the garage these days...my brain thinks I'm still 20, but my knees, hands and back keep reminding me of all the dumb shit I did when I was 20.

I spent all my free time last night repairing a brand new set of Ohlins that's top pin nut decided it would eat a thread halfway down, no clue how or why...but that was a fun waste of time and frustration

[Nate047]

some terrible side by side photos I snapped quickly, but you can at least see the difference in front mounting points.

Very interesting to see those differences side by side. I really want to know which one fits better lol.

[Nate047]

If the seat-in version doesn't accommodate reinforced gusset cups would that fail to fully mitigate the structural weakness, or would it just be marginal at that point? How would you guys weigh the pros / cons of (1) 6pt w/o gusset cups vs. (2) 4pt + gusset cups vs. (3) vincebar + gusset cups?

My car will probably never see anything beyond the street so bulletproofing is the main priority, but trunk space is irrelevant to me so if there's a combo that meets the standard for mitigation with a theoretical edge in terms of rigidity that seems attractive.

I think the reason the 6 point brace works is because the stresses that cause RACP failure are distributed through the floor and the whole brace, instead of just into the RACP as it would be if there was no brace in place. So the 4 points being bolted into the subframe mounting points and 2 points on the shock towers should be sufficient for most builds. Having a gusset cup type of pocket reinforcement in addition to the brace is a nice addition, but I don't think there's a single conclusive answer to say "yes" that's needed or "no" it's not. The harder your car is used, the more reinforcement is advisable, right? That's part of the reason why most cars that have full cages have the subframe points incorporated and welded into the cage design, in addition to of course rigidity.

[fattycharged]

some terrible side by side photos I snapped quickly, but you can at least see the difference in front mounting points.

[dukeofchen]

If the seat-in version doesn't accommodate reinforced gusset cups would that fail to fully mitigate the structural weakness, or would it just be marginal at that point? How would you guys weigh the pros / cons of (1) 6pt w/o gusset cups vs. (2) 4pt + gusset cups vs. (3) vincebar + gusset cups?

My car will probably never see anything beyond the street so bulletproofing is the main priority, but trunk space is irrelevant to me so if there's a combo that meets the standard for mitigation with a theoretical edge in terms of rigidity that seems attractive.

[bigjae46]

I'd be concerned with using the bolts from the rear shock mount as a main anchor point. I'm sure low strength M8 studs weren't designed with this in mind. I'd guess that you'd thicken the metal in the area to improve the strength of the metal around the rear shock mount, not the other way around.

I do think the bolt through design on the subframe mounting points is the best solution.

[bmw m3 s50]

Nate, I'd like to plan to install mine sometime by end of weekend. I believe I can test fit both of them, but not 100% the Yurkan doesn't need more cut on the front mounts to install. I will get some photos of them side by side. If I decided to install the Yurkan, which I may, I need to sell one of them off, I will just spray paint it with some "Steel-it"


*Dusan just confirmed that you can't run the reinforcement with the 6pt that allows the use of rear seats, but they can make one for the style2 6pt

That is correct. You can run the style 2 brace with the reinforcement. You need to let the them know that your going to running the style 2 brace with the reinforcement kit so he can enlarge the gusset cups to accommodate the type2 brace.

I am getting the type 2 brace since I plan on doing a rear seat delete.

[fattycharged]

Let's see the side by side, TBH I have some fitment issues with my Yurkan 6-point brace. I don't know how much of that might be due to the fact that my car has had a replacement RACP panel installed. But I'm going to have to bore out the holes a little and maybe get some spacers for the front 2 mounting points.

Nate, I'd like to plan to install mine sometime by end of weekend. I believe I can test fit both of them, but not 100% the Yurkan doesn't need more cut on the front mounts to install. I will get some photos of them side by side. If I decided to install the Yurkan, which I may, I need to sell one of them off, I will just spray paint it with some "Steel-it"


*Dusan just confirmed that you can't run the reinforcement with the 6pt that allows the use of rear seats, but they can make one for the style2 6pt