Unsure about purpose of this front suspension part

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Here is the part in the parts list.
"SUPPORT, FRONT SUSPENSION"

>>17428988
Just looks like a baby reinforcement for a Macpherson Strut. Not all suspension arrangements need such things, like strut braces.

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I am asking because I recently installed a strut bar ad removed the parts in question. I used pic related made from laser-cut 4mm stainless steel. Both parts are connected with a 30mm square tube. All holes were anlarged to 10mm to remove the heat affected zone.
I noticed that the car body's surface at the relevant area is not totally level. The part where the damper is mounted with the 3 nuts is slightly recessed compared to the area directly around it. So before installing the new parts I put a washer on each stud, so that the level of the stainless steel part is raised slightly. Everything should be perfectly fine this way, but it bothers me that I do not know the purpose of the parts I removed. Thanks in advance.
Oh, as expected, I did not notice any change in steering behaviour. I just did it because I like building stuff and had a little time to kill.

>>17429026

Did it fit with those supports still in place?

>>17429026
If you fit a strut bar you don't need that tiny support anymore. The strutbar does it a million times better now.

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>>17429052
Yes, it does indeed look pretty sturdy now.

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>>17429039
No, the initial supports had to go in order to make the new parts fit.

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>>17428988
From an engineering standpoint, it serves to strengthen the connection between the suspension strut, and the subframe.

Imagine those three bolts retaining the strut top without the reenforcement. It's easy to imagine that an impact (large pothole or gutter impact at speed) producing a strong and sudden downward or rearward force on the strut could tear those three nuts clean through the soft subframe metal, rendering the car uncontrollable.

With that bracket in place, all downward tearing forces on the two inboard nuts is spread over a larger surface area, preventing tear-through.

You can see similar strengthening brackets used behind bolts in critical engineering areas such as constant velocity driveshafts on rear-wheel drive vehicles (where they bolt onto differentials and hubs), and bolt-in ball joints (where they mount onto control arms).

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Pic related shows the aforementioned recession in the stud area, and one of the 3 whashers I used on each side for compensation. The new part now sits flush with the body at the outer area and at a proper distance to the car body in the stud area.

>>17429103
Thank you good Sir, this explanation makes perfect sense. So the part in question basically acts like a big washer. As my new parts also spread the force across a bigger area as they sit flush at exactly the places the old part extended over, I am now pretty confident my modification will not cause any dangers.

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>>17429124
You should be fine! I like your ingenuity.

For your next project:

: unbolt this masterful creation and re-affix your struts with the standard bolts and place
: raise the front of the car so that both front wheels are at full droop
: hold your frankenbar over the struts - how far are your bolt holes from lining up? This is how much your subframe flexes under mere static load.Now, imagine the changes in suspension geometry during dynamic load such as hard cornering...
: have a cup of tea
: cut up a new crossbrace for the frankenbar, and drill mounting holes (further outboard) so that this thing can bolt up when the car is at droop. Be careful not to let your struts fall out completely during installation.

You may notice some real gains in cornering stability now. Installing a strut brace at droop, means that when static vehicle load is applied the bar is under compression. It is now much more effective at resisting inward movement.

>>17429154
Oh thanks, but I did all that in the first place. I raised the car on both sides on jackstands, and moved some pieces of wood under the tires so that they would not drop when the struts where unbolted. I bolted on the new parts, carefully measured the distance of the holes for the bolts to the bar, and drilled the bar. Then I bolted on the bar temporary, as the bolts were not accessible well. I removed everything, unscrewed the bar-bolts one at a time, and put them back with loctite and decent torque. This way, the alignement I found during temporary assemply was kept. Afterwards, I put the whole assembly back in place and it slid right on the studs with one slight fistpunch. I put some loctite on the studs and torqued the nuts down with the required 64Nm. Then I removed the wood support from under the wheels and lowered the car back to the ground. :-)

>>17429195
>>17429154
Y'all motherfuckers got too much knowledge for /o/, it's time you graduated.

Does anybody have the picture of the stancefag struts?

>>17429096
>>17429100
That thing looks flimsy as fuck. Did you make that yourself?

>>17429026
You don't even know what a brace is, yet you just made a brace that's bigger and stronger than the one you replaced, and you're wondering if you need the old brace still?

What the fuck is wrong with you?