Does this make sense?????

PinkieT · Jun 1, 2018

I bought a Maximum Motorsports strut brace for my 98.. There is nothing in the instructions or description that says it won't fit with a cold air intake. http://www.maximummotorsports.com/Assets/install/pdf/chass_stiff/MMSTB-5r4.pdf
I tried to install it but it hit my BBK CAI big time. I contacted Maximum Motorsports and their response:

Mr. Songer,

Cut out a section of the air inlet tube as needed to clear the STB tube. Have a 1.5" diameter section of aluminum tubing welded into the air inlet tube where it has been sectioned out. Trim the section of 1.5" diameter aluminum tube smooth with the surface of the air inlet tube. The power loss from the air restriction caused by the obstruction in the side of the air inlet tube is going to be immeasurably
small.

Sincerely,
Jack Hidley
Maximum Motorsports Tech Support

Simple geometry - a 3" tube has a cross section of 7.07 square inches, and a 1.5" tube is only 1.77 square inches. I can't see how necking down the intake tube by 75% would have an "immeasurable" power loss. I have an Accufab plenum and 75mm throttle body to help airflow, and now they want me to choke off the intake tube by 75%? Somebody please explain...

evilcw311 · Jun 1, 2018

Thatâ€™s the dumbest shit I ever heard!!!!! Lol

By their answer thatâ€™s like saying a 90m tb flows the same as a 45m.

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ttocs · Jun 1, 2018

this is not a new problem, nor is it m&m's that you have put too much cool stuff on your car. There are entirely too many different types of CAI's made between quality names and crap you can't expect them to say it will or will not fit. I can't tell you how many times I put another aftermarket part on my car only to find it hits a different aftermarket part.

PinkieT · Jun 1, 2018

ttocs said:
this is not a new problem, nor is it m&m's that you have put too much cool stuff on your car. There are entirely too many different types of CAI's made between quality names and crap you can't expect them to say it will or will not fit. I can't tell you how many times I put another aftermarket part on my car only to find it hits a different aftermarket part.

True that last part. However, sure would have been nice for MM to say "This brace will fit a stock motor with factory intake, no guarantee it will fit any aftermarket CAI". If I had seen that, I probably would have walked away from the deal. The American Muscle brace I put on my wife's 98 Gt convertible with a BBK CAI was half the price of this MM brace that won't fit my 98 GT convertible with a BBK CAI.

ttocs · Jun 1, 2018

Did BBK say it would not work with this bar? Why not be mad at them? you need to assume that with any aftermarket part that its made to work with other stock parts and that it might not with other aftermarket.

I got a steeda rear adjustable sway bar. Worked perfect with the stock diff cover but then I went and put 31 spline, cobra diff and why not finish it off with one of them fancy covers? I even took the time to pain the cover since power was out for a weekend and I had time. When I went to install it, the bar doesn't kind of rub 2 of the fins on each end it flat out passed about 1/2" through them. Should I be pissed at steeda or ford racing since neither warned me about it? In the end I got my carbide bit and ground the part of the fins that were in the way. No I was not happy about it but I was never mad at ford or steeda. The more cool stuff you plan on adding to your car you can expect things like this to happen. Another good example was I put an aftermaket aluminum over flow coolant tank. Had it powdered all perty and installed it, it made me so happy. Then I went to install the new crank pulley for the vortech and well FML the pulley hits the tank............... For that one I ended up making my own lower tank mount that pulled it in about an inch and got me the 1/4" I needed to make them both happy. Now neither of these problems would effect performance like yours would again when you have too much cool shtuff sometimes you have problems.

I have often wondered if/which strut bar would fit my car now and been holding off just for this reason. With the intake spacer I am running and the larger alternator I am sure it will probably hit almost any bar. Because of this I have been considering just cutting the front of it off and leaving the rear portion going to the firewall. Just adding that section should still make it much stiffer. Not as much as with the front on there but it might not take more then just a cut and the right rotation/bend on that front piece to be welded back in to fit. cool stuff = fun stuff like this.

PinkieT · Jun 1, 2018

Gotta argue with you here. Yes, my toys are mongrels and have a variety of stock and aftermarket parts. My 70 Road Runner had a twin disk hydraulic clutch and a Tremec 5-spd. The Tremec kit was a lot more complicated than a strut brace but bolted right in. So did my Edelbrock heads. It had power steering off a donor car and front disks off a 73 Dart. They all fit better than this brace. If American Muscle can sell a brace that works with a CAI for $86, I would think MM's $170 bar could do the same. Not hard for them to try it with a few and if it doesn't fit, say "The brace will fit factory intakes. It will not fit most aftermarket cold air intakes without modifying the intake or brace". That, or they can design the brace with a CAI in mind.

I will say that Jack just e-mailed back with further explanation. He wasn't asking me to neck down the BBK to 1 1/2" and neck back up, he wanted me to cut a slot where the BBK hit the tube and weld in a split section of smaller diameter tubing. Kind of like clearancing header tubes with a hammer, but more elegant. I agreed with him that the airflow wouldn't be significantly affected, but cutting and welding on thin chrome plated metal - it'll look like hell when done. Maybe I'll swap the BBK onto my wife's car and take her cheap Amercan Muscle intake and butcher it instead.

ttocs · Jun 1, 2018

oh well then maybe its different in the ford or just the mustang game. I guess it really would be nice if they could go out and order one of each and every intake made and make a list of which would and would not fit. Or instead of that just do a complete redesign of it so it fits everything like american muscle but I am willing to bet there is a kit that it does not fit with as well.

did you send pics with the question or just say it would not fit and how can you make it fit? I ask because I would assume, as probably M&M did that it wasn't going completely through the intake but just bumping/rubbing it. In which case a small bump in the intake probably would not make much difference. I see all the time where people have had to "clearance" headers in one way or another that are made to fit in the car its in and I have always assumed that in that case, like yours that the form followed the function. Would it have been better if he told you to lightly hit it with a big hammer until there is room? Its really the only other choice short of selling it and trying another. now that I think about it I have had 2 diffferent braces and might still have one that I can gurantee would clear your intake. You will need a high rise hood if I have it but it will fit your intake.

evilcw311 · Jun 1, 2018

All this fuss over a cai. Lol

Scott after seeing yours in person I donâ€™t know how youâ€™d fit a strut tower brace without actually trying to go over the intake. And not sure you have the room to do that. I agree that youâ€™ll probably just have to cut the front section off and leave the rear.

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PinkieT · Jun 1, 2018

No, it isn't different in the Mustang game. I have aftermarket sway bars, uca and lca in the rear, brake hoses, headers, coils, plug wires, rear shock tower brace, rotors, chin spoilers, and more. They had no problem playing together with each other and with factory parts. If you take a look at all the CAIs on the market, they are pretty much universal.

evilcw311 · Jun 2, 2018

PinkieT said:
No, it isn't different in the Mustang game. I have aftermarket sway bars, uca and lca in the rear, brake hoses, headers, coils, plug wires, rear shock tower brace, rotors, chin spoilers, and more. They had no problem playing together with each other and with factory parts. If you take a look at all the CAIs on the market, they are pretty much universal.

Itâ€™s the same with any platform and any aftermarket part. Some will bolt on and got great and others wonâ€™t. Itâ€™s part of customizing cars. Some have the basic skills to only bolt on basic pieces and others have the patience and skill to modify and fabricate tons of super custom stuff thatâ€™s not necessarily meant to work with anything else.

Why do some turbo kits fit with some k members but not others?!? Why do some exhaust bolt up with no clearancing but not others?!?! Why do some wheels fit over some break kits but not others?!? Why do some intakes fit under the factory hood but not others?!?!?

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96blak54 · Jun 2, 2018

Dang! You guys got some serious typing skills!

evilcw311 · Jun 2, 2018

96blak54 said:
Dang! You guys got some serious typing skills!

You should see pinkie decorate a cake!!!!!

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Frank.JD.Perez · Jun 2, 2018

I contacted mm to see if theirs would fit my jlt when my steeda one was hitting. They also said they have never had their brace fit over a jlt. I had to modify the intake and the brace itself to make it fit. Since you have no holes you should be able to move it around to fit

PinkieT · Jun 2, 2018

Frank.JD.Perez said:
I contacted mm to see if theirs would fit my jlt when my steeda one was hitting. They also said they have never had their brace fit over a jlt. I had to modify the intake and the brace itself to make it fit. Since you have no holes you should be able to move it around to fit

Yeah, my choices are to 1) modify the CAI, 2) modify the MM passenger side strut tower to firewall brace, 3) find a brace that fits and sell the MM (what brace will fit? No way to know until I try to install) 4) install the MM and put the factory intake back on. I have a Kenny Brown brace meant for a New Edge Mach 1 I picked up used because it bolts under the camber caster plate so I wouldn't have to drill the strut towers, but it hits the hood. I can understand that not fitting because it was never meant for my car, but the MM was. For now, I'm going to put the car on the road as is and figure out the brace later...

PinkieT · Jun 2, 2018

96blak54 said:
Dang! You guys got some serious typing skills!

I was a safety/loss prevention consultant for insurance companies for over 30 years before I retired. My work product was reports. My last employer insured municipalities and I would interview the department heads, visit the buildings, and write reports on all of that. Some were 30-40 pages. I don't miss that at all!

evilcw311 · Jun 2, 2018

PinkieT said:
I was a safety/loss prevention consultant for insurance companies for over 30 years before I retired. My work product was reports. My last employer insured municipalities and I would interview the department heads, visit the buildings, and write reports on all of that. Some were 30-40 pages. I don't miss that at all!

Iâ€™ve had to deal with guys like you and big wigs from customers together when the insurance companies felt that the customer was t securing their facilities good enough to truly protect merchandise and the behind the scenes stuff.

Iâ€™ll just be nice in saying that Iâ€™m so glad that times have changed and now I deal with dhs more as they just straight up say whatâ€™s gonna get done and then I bill the customer after we get them up to par!!!!! Lol

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PinkieT · Jun 2, 2018

No, not loss control as in preventing theft/stock shrinkage. I did loss control for small and medium businesses for fire, liability, fleet, and work comp for much of my career. Last 12 years I was working with cities, villages, park districts, and health departments evaluating their operations and making recommendations on changes that could prevent claims.

96blak54 · Jun 3, 2018

Back on topic, here is a suggestion! Re-route the intake tube in a more open location like poking out the hood....lol

evilcw311 · Jun 3, 2018

PinkieT said:
No, not loss control as in preventing theft/stock shrinkage. I did loss control for small and medium businesses for fire, liability, fleet, and work comp for much of my career. Last 12 years I was working with cities, villages, park districts, and health departments evaluating their operations and making recommendations on changes that could prevent claims.

Yeah I understand. We donâ€™t just do what we do for security. Cameras and access are used to monitor whatâ€™s going on for liability and accountability when someone gets hurt. Itâ€™s also used to monitor who is when and where in event of disasters such as fires and earthquakes and explosions and such.

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