Strut Brace - Is it worth it?

[phunky_monkey]

On my VX R8 it made a difference to the overall turn in feel, so I reckon it was worth the $$ as well.

Did the same for my VX, well worth it in my opinion.

[klink]

Strut braces are more noticeable when your getting massive weight transfer onto one side of the car... such as when on the race track. However, through it through a tight winding mountain road a few times with the strut brace off and then do it again with the strut brace on and you will feel the difference for sure

Just curious did you prefer it on or off?

do you have bigger sawybars aswell?

i have signature swaybars and a whiteline strut brace, i personally dont like it.

Without it on the car will step and hold a stable 7-30 angle put it on and it wants to put you at 9 oclock very bloody quickly.

2 people who drive my car regularly can tell if its on or off without popping the bonnet and both prefer it without.

almost feels like the front is now too stiff.

but if you can see if someone can take you for a drive in there car with it on and without, so you know.

[iamhappy46]

I prefer it on, I like throwing the car into a corner and powering out. I dont like the feeling of flopping around like a fish out of water... as the car often did a nice windy wet road, I was impressed with the stability of the VYII strut brace

[Peddstaff2]

Ahhh - strut braces...or as we call them "tower bars". In terms of making and impact to overall vehicle handling and performance etc I agree with most on this thread that springs (1st), shocks (2nd) and bushes (3rd) would make the biggest difference however the effect of strut braces/tower bars is very much misunderstood and underestimated. We call strut braces "the fifth spring" because if you picture a car veiwed from the front of the car it is like a box design....without a strut brace you have the top of the box missing. A quality strut brace acts to increase chassis rigidity and its main benefit is that it maintains dynamic alignment angles. Without a strut brace the load when cornering etc on the top strut mounts is extreme. I noticed a lot of posts mentioning a "cracking" sound.....might pay to check the condition of your upper strut mounts....one of the most common selling items we have for late model commodore is our 5851 upper strut mount (with 5030 strut bearing) because we have a lot of knocking, binding, notchy complaints with the original as well as some that even collapsed....especially if the car has either a) done some km's, b) been driven hard! Our 5851 is stronger and more durable and will make a notcieable difference to not only handling performance but also assist in shock absorption.

Anyway back to the strut braces....we sell a Pedders Tower Bar/Strut Brace and also Whiteline which (of course) are great.

We did a technical paper on both strut mounts and strut braces some years ago now for our trade customers throughout Australia so when I get in the office today I will see if I can drag them up and post the info to this thread.

Cheers guys!

SCOTT PEDDER

Hi again guys....I dusted off our technical papers on strut brace/tower bar and also bearing plates/top mounts and have included them in a new technical section on our dedicated Ls1 Forum Website section. I apologise in advance for some of the artwork etc....the Strut Bearing Plate Technical Paper was produced in the early 90's! We will continue to develop the technical section as we have hundreds (probably thousands!) of similar technical papers and pieces of information which I now know you guys would like to see.

Here is the link to access this tech section http://www.pedders.com.au/products/94/183

Some good bedtime reading!......

Cheers

SCOTT PEDDER