does a strut brace help a VL?

[Pistol]

just seen a pic of this calais turb and it had a strut brace over the engine, i thought these were only beneficial to front wheel drives.... do they actually help at all??

[VT-565]

yeah, they do help. the later model commodores have a drop in firewall which are glued and are bolted in at the sides. this reduces front end rigidity between the strut towers. adding a strut brace increases the stiffness between the towers and aids handling etc.

[Pistol]

cool so its worth gettn one but d'ya kno where? dont doubt new ones are easy to get, but how much? are wreckers likely to have one?

[jetspin_vn]

Don't get a wrecked one, get a nice shiny new one. Nolothane or Whiteline. Around $220 - $280.

[SNY.3LT]

Are Strut Braces made out of Solid Steel/Other material, or Hallowed out Tubing of Steel/Other material?!

[VT-565]

There are different types between the different manufacturers. the nolathane item for a vt is solid whereas the whiteline is tube....dont be concerned about strength differences between solid and hollow either...in most cases, tube or box section is exceptionally stronger than solid.

[bangers]

i got a nolathane one for about 170. its hollow alloy. its just to stop the shocks moving and collapsing into the sides of the towers. i saw a lowered one without it and the shocks had moved so much they were about to start tearing the towers or bend the shocks. definately worthwhile getting a brace

[Hector martinez]

yeah they stiffen up and help in handling and aren't that much