Front strut brace worthwhile?

[Slippy_Trippy]

I have read two different opinions on the worthwhilness of front strut braces on VTs, one being good and one being bad.

What is the general concensus for a road car?

-Slippy

[Joey_21]

dont no bout vt but i had one on my old vr could feel i slight difference less body roll but you wont feel like your in a racecar or somthing.

[walesy]

yeah im looking at gettin one for my caprice too, for such a big heavy car it handles quite good but anything that improves that cant be bad

[baracuda]

got one on the VZ and tis great better road holding especialy less sway during round-abouts

[holden boy]

just get it anything to make it stronger is got to be good.
got one for my vx and im happy with it goes nice around corners now but then again i got it st away when got my car so not sure what it went like when pushing the limits before i got it

[VYMAD]

Got one for the vy as the studs are already there to bolt straight in place. Cost 50-60 bucks from holden. Makes a little difference to handling but it's probably more cosmetic than anything. Pretty cheap add on though for 60 odd bux.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

I'd be interested to hear the bad reason.

A lot of cars come from the factory with strut braces now, so it is something that has filtered from the aftermarket into OEM production. It must be good.

[jazza15]

I believe they are good because the VT firewall was glued in, where the vs/vr firewall was welded in.
So it would compensate for this lack of stiffness in this region, plus the extra weight in the VT making this worse.
The most common 'bad reason' is that "they make no difference unless you are going about 100km/hr around a corner... on a racetrack". As most of you said, they will make at least a little bit of a difference, both cosmetically and performance wise, which is why I will be installing one for my VT soon.

[vxcalais_01]

I wanted to put one in and the suspension joint reckons it weakens the pillar etc over time ? IS this correct ?

[Longman]

Best $47 I've spent on the VT.

[kart_racer]

I believe they are good because the VT firewall was glued in, where the vs/vr firewall was welded in.

VR/VS was not welded in. They were glued in from the VN to save costs. The VT ended up suffering the same fate.

I wanted to put one in and the suspension joint reckons it weakens the pillar etc over time ? IS this correct ?

If anything, not having a strut brace allows flex between the strut tower and the body, and can cause it to crack away (has started to occur in my car). It would be reasonable to expect that a strut brace would prevent so much flexing and actually stop the cracking from occurring.

[HoldenOnn]

I wanted to put one in and the suspension joint reckons it weakens the pillar etc over time ? IS this correct ?

I doubt that it weakens them. Check all the cars which have had them from brand new eg some model HSV's etc. These cars are sometimes driven hard and are now many years old, and I have never heard stories about the strut towers or the front suspension falling apart or cracking etc.

I got mine from Holden for $48 (genuine + trade price) including the nuts and I can notice a slight difference on corners in my VZ Calais. But for $48, I thought why not for that price.

[VYMAD]

I wanted to put one in and the suspension joint reckons it weakens the pillar etc over time ? IS this correct ?

I would tend to disagree with the "suspension joint" for the same reasons as the others have said; it adds stiffness to the strut towers and distributes the stress across the two, in effect bracing the upper front end, hence the name: Strut brace.

[Slippy_Trippy]

My local Holden dealer said VT's never came with them stock and could only find me ones to suit VY. Is the sizing different between that and the VT.

If not where does one obtain a suitable one for the VT?

-Slippy

[Longman]

The VT never came with them, hence there are no holes in the strut towers. I just bought a VY one from Holden for $47 and drilled the holes myself, only took a few minutes as I had the struts out at the time. Note that the brace does not come with bolts, you need to buy them separate. I went to bunnings and bought some high-tensile ones for $2 a pop. After market braces are also available from makers like whiteline and nolathane but cost a lot more than the holden ones.

There is a how-to on this forum for installing the VY ones with photos. I would suggest that if you go the genuine holden route that you buy it from holden and not ebay, as they are all dearer on fleabay.

[Reaper]

I'd be interested to hear the bad reason.

A lot of cars come from the factory with strut braces now, so it is something that has filtered from the aftermarket into OEM production. It must be good.

I guess there is no bad reason. I couldn't see how it would make anything worse however the ones fitted to the VY were a function of the GM "Marketing engineering" department and any benifits were marginal - being kind.

I wanted to put one in and the suspension joint reckons it weakens the pillar etc over time ? IS this correct ?

Not sure how they figure that one....

Reaper

[minux]

I'd be interested to hear the bad reason.

A lot of cars come from the factory with strut braces now, so it is something that has filtered from the aftermarket into OEM production. It must be good.

A lot of the cars that come with the basic 2 point brace are just using it as one more selling point. The braces you buy on holdens from factory are about as useful as tits on a bull.

I got mine from Holden for $48 (genuine + trade price) including the nuts and I can notice a slight difference on corners in my VZ Calais. But for $48, I thought why not for that price.

Any change you have noticed is purely placebo. They really make no difference.

I guess there is no bad reason. I couldn't see how it would make anything worse however the ones fitted to the VY were a function of the GM "Marketing engineering" department and any benifits were marginal - being kind.

Well said reap, almost every strut set-up i have seen on cars from the factory are just a marketing ploy. In fact any strut to strut set-up really will not do anything except lighten a back pocket. Yet to see evidence apart from the companies who make the product where it proves otherwise. It would be much more beneficial to do suspension correctly and have it all matched to the car(not just dump cheap shit springs in).

[HoldenOnn]

Any change you have noticed is purely placebo. They really make no difference.

Possibly so, but for $48 I thought why not

[Reaper]

I wanted to put one in and the suspension joint reckons it weakens the pillar etc over time ? IS this correct ?

Not sure how they figure that one....

Actually on further reflection I take it back - it could do more damage than good. Any 2 point brace is really acting independently to the centre line geometry of the car. Assuming you had a piece of metal strong enough to move the shock tower, you would have it going from II in a straight line to // or \\ going around corners. Put simply you need to have to tie it to something that isn't going to move to be sure you are holding the strut towers in the appropriate position.

Furthermore, if the shock tower was engineered to take a load in one direction and then gets an unexpected load in the other direction, things might not be pretty.

Reaper

[minux]

Possibly so, but for $48 I thought why not

Well, at least your willing to say that lol. Some people on here they basically claim their car goes from a stocker to a V8 supercar

[Slippy_Trippy]

A lot of the cars that come with the basic 2 point brace are just using it as one more selling point. The braces you buy on holdens from factory are about as useful as tits on a bull.



Any change you have noticed is purely placebo. They really make no difference.



Well said reap, almost every strut set-up i have seen on cars from the factory are just a marketing ploy. In fact any strut to strut set-up really will not do anything except lighten a back pocket. Yet to see evidence apart from the companies who make the product where it proves otherwise. It would be much more beneficial to do suspension correctly and have it all matched to the car(not just dump cheap shit springs in).

For the person asking negative reasons I'd seen, here they are.