EOI: Front and Rear Strut Braces

Luca · Post by **Luca** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:22 am

The whiteline front strut brace cost me $195.

Sorry fto12345, I didn't look into a rear strut brace. I can't even tell you if Whiteline make one.

I like the feel of the back without it anyway. Being a front wheel drive car I don't mind if the front feels more positive than the back.... I also don't like the idea of a bar going through the boot.

PS: If you are considering buying the whiteline #578 strut brace, remember that it may make light contact with the bonnet on the left and right most bonnet frame supports. So you may want a rubber spacer prevent the two scratching each other.

SilentBob · Post by **SilentBob** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:37 am

Whiteline most certainly do make a rear strut brace.....
Part number is KSB526.

Its sitting in my boot

SilentBob

Luca · Post by **Luca** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:07 am

Cool.

I'm sure thats made FTO338 and sunraider happy.

Hey Bob, did you find the rear strut brace made a big difference like the front did? ... and if so did you like the difference the rear made?

I'm just curious, because with koni adjustables all round, I've always felt the back has good stability, but just enough body flex to compensate for the front understeer. Whereas the front, prior to the strut brace, always felt like it had heaps of flex.

Really interested to hear your thoughts...

ScottyTav · Post by **ScottyTav** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:19 am

Thanks for the pics. Do you have a pic of the rubber padding you are talking about? If it is touching and you go hard around a corner, won't it put ll the flex against your bonnet and end up creasing it over time?

Luca · Post by **Luca** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 11:05 am

Actually I just used some heavy duty door/window seal rubber, that you buy from any hardware shop. The purpose is not to space the bonnet away from the brace, but simply to prevent them from scratching each other... I don't want to scratch my engine bay paintwork, or my nicely polished titanium brace

As for creasing. All I can give you is my amateur opinion. I really don't think there would ever be enough force on the bonnet to cause damage (certainly on my car anyway).

The bonnet frame, like the rest of the car is made from hollow U-shaped channels to which the skin/body panel is applied. It is this frame that is making contact, not the panel itself. The bonnet can also flex slightly, and does every time you drive. It would take something a lot more severe than something touching it in the engine bay for a crease to occur.

The reason I made a point of it is, I would hate for you to buy the brace then realise you don't want it cos it touches your bonnet... that would be a waste of your money. So I give you the good with the bad.

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 11:26 am

can anyone else shed light on their car / strut brace set up?

Is this common for the strut to touch the bonnet? I bought a strut brace from a wrecker, and it was also just touching on one side of the bonnet... it pissed me off, so i took it off...

theoretically, the strut really should have some clearance with the bonnet? (unless the bonnet has a kink in it...)

MrFT000 · Post by **MrFT000** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 12:27 pm

Hey, Ive gone a Cusco Strut Brace setup and i think its great and also looks really good.

The front Cusco OS was on the car when i got it and i bought the rear for $220.

See pics below.

SilentBob · Post by **SilentBob** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 12:34 pm

Luca wrote: Hey Bob, did you find the rear strut brace made a big difference like the front did? ... and if so did you like the difference the rear made?

Well my steps of suspension improvment were as such
1)Cusco HA Coilovers all round...result, obvious...lowered, stiffer and handled a lot better....you now feel every pea that you run over

2)UAS Front strut brace..result, sharper turn in, but the back end now felt 'looser' to an extent, in that during braking or let off under sharp cornering i didnt feel exactly confident that my car would come out the same way it went in, ie front before the rear

3)Whiteline Rear Strut Brace...result, not huge, certainly not as noticeable as the front, but resulted in reducing the 'oversteery' tendency that the car had...(i think a wheel alignment would also help here but ive been lazy

)

I dont mind the rear brace in my boot due to the fact i fabricated a sub enclosure to fit exactly between strut brace and back seat i havent really lost any space I wouldnt have had if i wanted to keep the sub....

SilentBob

sunraider · Post by **sunraider** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 1:20 pm

$155 USD each both front and rear available.
i havent called them yet.. will call today/tomm and update asap.

SilentBob · Post by **SilentBob** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 2:09 pm

FYI thats pretty expensive seeing as you still need to factor in shipping
the whiteline ones are under 200 bucks from memory,
you can even get the Cusco ones for about that(last time i got a quote on Cusco rear strut braces they were $195 and $225 dependin on oval or flat bar i think, and that including shipping)

personally if you are gonna try a group buy i would try somewhere locally....(or even Kempys in NZ as i recall a group buy being done by the UK guys through them)
if you want name brand like cusco try perfectrun etc(thats where that above quote was from) or whiteline for decent value for money

SilentBob

Luca · Post by **Luca** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 2:53 pm

EURO wrote:Is this common for the strut to touch the bonnet? I bought a strut brace from a wrecker, and it was also just touching on one side of the bonnet... it pissed me off, so i took it off...

Hey Euro, I don't know if this is correct ... but it's what I've been told. (So someone please correct me if I'm wrong)

A bent brace is supposedly better than a straight brace as it has a tendency to flex to absorb some force rather than transmit it as a shock wave to the opposite tower. This gives a more consistent/positive feel to the suspension.

And apparently the reason why they make them bend upwards is because most of the force is compression/expansion. If you were to bend a brace towards the windshield or nose of the car, forces would have a tendency to transmit as a forward-backward force to the opposite side, making the shock towers sway. Exactly what you are trying to stop. By bending them up (or down) you tend to transmit the force into the opposite shock tower, which can then be absorbed by the shock itself.

And the reason you don't bend them down... because you'll be hitting the engine instead of the bonnet

So ... unfortunately for us, Whiteline built this one with almost no clearance to the bonnet (as do several other manufactures).

ScottyTav · Post by **ScottyTav** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:59 pm

The UAS one just looks like crap to me and is $195 I think?
The Whiteline one hits the bonnet but looks cool and is about $195-200.
So we are best getting the Cusco one then right?
How much are these and where is the best place to get them?

afterburner · Post by **afterburner** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 11:06 pm

It should be possible to get one that doesn't hit the bonnet and clears the engine as well. I have the factory front and rear strut braces, and the front one doesn't do either. The only bad thing about it is that it is quite hard to get the brake reseviour cap off.

Here's the front

Here's the rear

As you can see both are of the 'flat bar' type, which helps make them fit.

Luca · Post by **Luca** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 9:23 am

Hey afterburner, thanks heaps for the photos! Much appreciated. I'd never seen the factory braces before.

Did yours come with your car, or did you buy them?

Is it an optical illusion or does the front curve upward too? It looks like the bend points are closer to the center. That would make sense because mine touches on the outer sides where mine bends.

And I agree it should be possible to buys a curved titanium strut brace that doesn't make contact with anything. ... as you have just shown.

Unfortunately I couldn't find one at the time I bought mine.

So looks like they are the ones to buy boys and girls ... if they could be found for a reasonable price.

ScottyTav · Post by **ScottyTav** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 10:00 am

Looks good! Does anyone know where you can get them?

paladin · Post by **paladin** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 1:12 pm

perfect run can do them for 150 + about 45$ is postage but they have to come from japan which takes a while

sounds liek the cheapest so far?

ScottyTav · Post by **ScottyTav** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 1:25 pm

Perfect Run?

ScottyTav · Post by **ScottyTav** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 1:51 pm

I found them. I will give them a call now.

ScottyTav · Post by **ScottyTav** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 1:56 pm

D'oh! Answering machine. I will email them now.

afterburner · Post by **afterburner** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 2:21 pm

Luca wrote:Hey afterburner, thanks heaps for the photos! Much appreciated. I'd never seen the factory braces before.

Did yours come with your car, or did you buy them?

Nah they came with the car - standard fitment on the GPvR