engine and drivetrain Front Strut Brace - It DOES make a difference!!!

[bmcallister]

I few weeks ago I posted asking folks for their opinions on front strut braces.

At that time, I believe posted that I was getting the one from IE. Following the advice of mlyttle (a very good guy by the way) I bought the one from TEP instead.

I noticed a nice difference right away. Handling feels tighter, particularly during turn in when entering a corner.

I definitely recommend putting one in.

The one from Top End Performance seems to be pretty effective. Warning: While it looks like it should be a very simple bolt-in affair you will probably have to tinker around with it a bit. I had to widen the holes on the the mounts that bolts to the strut tower - the three holes did not quite line up. Then I had to elongate two of the holes in the cross member so it would bolt into the mounts that bolt onto the tower.

But once it was in and I drove the car, those minor disappointments went away. I'm very glad I put it in. Now I want to get the one for the rear towers...

So, for anybody out there wondering if they should get one, my opinion is definitely yes! Just get one that is designed to be more than engine bay "eye candy" (NOT a knock on IE's brace - I have no opinion of it since I did not buy one. Almost all of my suspension upgrades are from IE and I like their products.)

[M3M3]

:-)

dang bryan...now you are ahead of me...i still have to make those same adjustments to make mine fit.

[allbim]

Save your money and don't bother with a brace for the rear towers. They are not strut towers, just shock towers. There is no side-load on them and the upper shock mounts are so close to the rear bulkhead that they cannot possibly move enough to make any difference. BTW, a brace running from side to side does nothing to keep the mount from moving up and down. It only reduces movement from side to side.

[bmcallister]

Save your money and don't bother with a brace for the rear towers. They are not strut towers, just shock towers. There is no side-load on them and the upper shock mounts are so close to the rear bulkhead that they cannot possibly move enough to make any difference. BTW, a brace running from side to side does nothing to keep the mount from moving up and down. It only reduces movement from side to side.

Yes, that's true. Any recommendations for the other front end movement?

Thanks,

Bryan

[M3M3]

but the rear "brace" does make a nice battery bracket! :-)

agree on the value as a suspension stiffener...until one converts to true coilovers in the rear.

[allbim]

Save your money and don't bother with a brace for the rear towers. They are not strut towers, just shock towers. There is no side-load on them and the upper shock mounts are so close to the rear bulkhead that they cannot possibly move enough to make any difference. BTW, a brace running from side to side does nothing to keep the mount from moving up and down. It only reduces movement from side to side.

Yes, that's true. Any recommendations for the other front end movement?

Thanks,

Bryan

Are you talking about the vertical movement of the upper strut mount?

If so, I'm not aware of anything you can buy and bolt on to stop that.

[02hobiedave]

I installed this but the other one for the front will not fit I have tried everything. How much did you have to remove before it would fit.

The back was a piece of cake to put in I installed new BAV springs and Bilsteins at the same time and it took about 45 min a side. I bought a kill switch and mounted it in the hole of the frame on the left side. I also used the original grounding strap and attached it to the bolts on the right side body and the brace. I used an E30 cable from the switch to the front firewall. From the switch to the battery I custom made a cable 3/00 with soldered ends and it works great.

[Scott Sislane]

I had a really hard time installing mine too, and it took a couple hours of working the brackets around & down... major balancing act. (I eventually pulled out the BFH.) I did not alter the holes though.

After I had it on for the summer, I removed the spacers above the struts, and also removed 1 1/2 coils from the springs. Once the car was sitting with it's new stance, the whole thing comes apart nicely, and goes back together easily. Or is it that things just settled after driving it for 3 mo's?...

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[bmcallister]

I installed this but the other one for the front will not fit I have tried everything. How much did you have to remove before it would fit.

I took about 1.5mm off of the inside of each of the two outer holes of the strut tower mounts (so if the three holes form a triangle, the two that form the base of the triangle, closest to the fender, are the ones I elongated). After that, I had to elongate the holes for the cross member about 2mm on the outboard side - so as to make the distance between left and right cross member mounting points greater.

I understood the crossmember needing some tweaking, but the holes in the strut mount not lining up was disappointing. I'm thinking of calling TEP to let them know they need to do a little remeasuring. When I originally called to order it I asked about fitment. They said every car is different, especially with age, etc. I'll buy that argument for the need to modify the cross piece. No excuse for the three tower mount holes not lining up though.

On the cross-member, I wanted to elongate the holes as little as possible. With the tower mounts bolted firmly to the tower I would line the holes up as best I could with a thick screwdriver, then take a little metal out of the holes, try again, and so on. So it was a really tight fit. All metal removal was kept to a minimum, of course.

The cross member seemed to want my tower mounting points to be a little closer to each other. I doubt that if I had elongated all three holes in each mount I could have avoided working on the holes in the cross member - AND, I didn't want to do it that way.

I figure I will probably get the cross member welded to the tower mounts, so I limited the changes to the minimum needed to get the tower mounts to fit. I'm satisfied with how the tower mounts bolted in to the studs from the strut tower bearing - very snug = no movement (I have NO desire to weld the tower mounts to the tower). So I think elongating the two outer holes and leaving the inside one alone is the way to go. The cross member can be reinforced by tacking metal spacers inside the member where the holes truly need to be. Then of course some welding of the cross piece to each of the mounts.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck! Let me know what modifications you have to make to get it to fit. If the TEP kits are consistent (although not accurate), it would be interesting to learn a little about the range of variation from car to car.

[Guest Anonymous]

I few weeks ago I posted asking folks for their opinions on front strut braces.

I noticed a nice difference right away. Handling feels tighter, particularly during turn in when entering a corner.

I definitely recommend putting one in.

My experience is somewhat different than yours and maybe a lot has to do with how hard you actually push the subject vehicle and other modifications (springs/shocks/tires/wheels/bushings) I was given a strut bar and do not know its exact origins. I installed it on a fairly stock but well maintained tii. New rubber suspension bushings, 19mm sway bars, bilsteins, E30 15" rims with 190 width tread. I could not tell any difference - what so ever.

Since I never pushed that all original creampuff through a hard slalom, I tried it on another car that had urethane bushings, 25mm sway bar, and lowered springs. The interesting thing was that I inadvertently left one side of the bar loosely secured and heard a new clanking noise when the car was making a sharp turn. This was the sound of the body flexing against the bar. Once I tightened things up the noise disappeared and the suspension felt slightly stiffer on turns.

I can't say the difference was enough to make me feel a new winning edge, but like using bigger brakes, there does seem to be a slight improvement when and if you push things hard. My feeling is the difference is not terribly significant for a daily driver, but it obviously doesn't hurt.

[02for2]

So, is there a front strut brace out there which you can use with the stock air cleaner?

Cheers!

[M3M3]

after you have struggled to get the tep to fit the front there is one other mod to it that is recommended. notice how it blocks the view with a timing gun of the bellhousing timing hole......

drill a big hole with a hole saw dead center in the flat metal on the top of the cross bar. now you can time the car through the new hole without removing the strut bar.

actually, should do this BEFORE putting bar on car...;-)

[Scott Sislane]

after you have struggled to get the tep to fit the front there is one other mod to it that is recommended. notice how it blocks the view with a timing gun of the bellhousing timing hole......

drill a big hole with a hole saw dead center in the flat metal on the top of the cross bar. now you can time the car through the new hole without removing the strut bar.

actually, should do this BEFORE putting bar on car...;-)

ya, I thought of that AFTER I had it in, and still need to do it.

[Pierre]

I few weeks ago I posted asking folks for their opinions on front strut braces.

I noticed a nice difference right away. Handling feels tighter, particularly during turn in when entering a corner.

I definitely recommend putting one in.

My experience is somewhat different than yours and maybe a lot has to do with how hard you actually push the subject vehicle and other modifications (springs/shocks/tires/wheels/bushings) I was given a strut bar and do not know its exact origins. I installed it on a fairly stock but well maintained tii. New rubber suspension bushings, 19mm sway bars, bilsteins, E30 15" rims with 190 width tread. I could not tell any difference - what so ever.

Since I never pushed that all original creampuff through a hard slalom, I tried it on another car that had urethane bushings, 25mm sway bar, and lowered springs. The interesting thing was that I inadvertently left one side of the bar loosely secured and heard a new clanking noise when the car was making a sharp turn. This was the sound of the body flexing against the bar. Once I tightened things up the noise disappeared and the suspension felt slightly stiffer on turns.

I can't say the difference was enough to make me feel a new winning edge, but like using bigger brakes, there does seem to be a slight improvement when and if you push things hard. My feeling is the difference is not terribly significant for a daily driver, but it obviously doesn't hurt.

You are 100% correct. The deflection is ever so slight that most people can't feel it unless you have some significant stiffening of the suspension, sticky tires and driving the car hard.

The fundamental reason to install a strut bar is to eliminate that minor deflection under hard driving. Not that your lap times will improve by much or that you will appreciate the added stiffness, but you will save the structure from further metal fatigue. 02s are old and when you bend a piece of metal no matter how slightly but repeatedly over decades, you get fatigue, weakness, more deflection, cracks and eventually, failure.

As mentioned above, the rear shock towers do not need reinforcing unless coil-overs are used.

[finkbuilt]

So, is there a front strut brace out there which you can use with the stock air cleaner?

Cheers!

I got this one from W&N. It may clear the stock air cleaner.

http://www.finkbuilt.com/blog/fuel-injection-conversion-complete/