this spring i'm putting in my 350 TPI i'm building and also cleaning up the engine bay a bit and repainting it. I want to have a nice looking engine bay but also want to have good performance. right now my suspension is:
-KYB shocks
-subframe connectors
-"wonderbar"

and i'm wondering how much i can benefit from a strut tower brace. Its not going to be a race car, but i do like the look of strut tower braces. just wondering everyone's opinion...

 

http://www.bmrsuspension.com/?page=p...&productid=376


ANYTHING you can do to stiffen these cars is a benefit..........

 

so the stiffer suspension the better? i'll have to look into it then when i get the new motor in. thanks

 

Stiff suspension is a matter of what you have in mind for the car. I'm speaking to stiffening the chassis.
STB, SFC, Wonderbar,............... then ya get into the whole rear of the car..........ALL the stock suspension parts are flimsy...........

 

General consensus is to install aftermarket strut mounts before a stb.

 

For full benefit, before or in conjunction with an STB, I'd advise aftermarket strut mounts which eliminate the rubber in the OE mount.

JamesC

 

I agree those old rubber junk ones wear out and you end up with a lot of play inside the strut mount

 

He is right. You will get more benefit from new strut mounts than a stb. It's not worth doing the brace until after the mounts

 

When I got my alignment done at a reputable shop after the front end rebuild the old geezer said our cars didn't need a STB b/c the towers could withstand 20,000 lbs of force which is way more than could be put on them by driving. FWIW.

 

where can i find decent strut mounts? other than hawks?

 

http://www.foundersperformance.com/p...er-Plates.html ask for their new one that they just came out with

 

ok, from the sounds of it, i shouldnt get into it this year. this year is the engine install, maybe next year i'll spend money on the interior or the suspension. plan on lowering it too when i do the suspension upgrades too. thanks guys for your input. when it comes to lowering (on stock wheels) how far would you guys go? i saw on here once before someone making 17-18" crosslace rims, which i think would look good.

 

To me, even a flimsy STB is MUCH better than nothing.
Before STB, I would take this high speed freeway entry ramp. When pushed, the car's balance would go away. It felt like I needed more rear spring, or something.
After STB, the same approach, to the same ramp, and the car felt fine. I realized what I had been feeling was the front end flexing.
This was year's ago, before sub frame connectors, before x, before y, before z.
My take is a STB should be what you do after poly sway bar bushings, and before all the other stuff.

 

I just put a UMI STB on my car, definitely worth the $170, just for the way it made the car feel tighter. I had SFCs before I installed it, and the STB seemed to further stiffen the car, and reduce whatever squeaks and rattles were left.

I don't really push my car to the point where I might feel a difference in cornering though(yet), so I don't know if it made an improvement in that area.

 

thanks guys

 

That's good that some of you guys feel a difference with a STB. Car and Driver mag did a test and they found out that aftermarket STB don't strengthen front ends of cars.

 

A STB is one of the last braces you would want to install on a third gen for handling; but the brace does strengthen the car. Your alignment will stay more consistent under high Lateral G's.