Strut Braces - All the same?

[Nuci]

Hey all,

Going to buy a front strut tower brace for my DC5R soon, and was wondering if there are some that are better than others? What are people's experiences? Chading one thats well priced, looks the goods, and does the job. Any help would be great. Cheers.

[pablos8]

I'm not 100% sure on what brands better than what but I think most people opt for cusco or ultra racing.. might because of availability though..

as for strut bars working or being "effective" it is debatable hehe

alot of the time it tends to be a bling factor :)

[Tai]

Most effective strut/chasis bars are the ones that are solid one piece or held by at least 2 bolts at the mount points to reduce pivoting.

Ones like Ultra Racing, Carbing, Benen, etc will be good.

I find the ones like spoon, cusco, vision, etc are useless as its only held by one single bolt that can easily pivot/move under load.

But thats my opinion, I could be wrong.

[Cartoon]

u will find there are 2 common bracing, 1 is strut brace and the other is a chassie brace, this is all to do with there mounting. personally i belive a strut brace does help with the chassie bracing and personally i would get a 2 point that is held by a min of 2 bolts and is solid. hollow aluminium bars are crap!

[Honwent]

Decent strut braces are usually adjustable so that they can be tensioned up. Non-adjustable ones that don't fit perfectly will do nothing but add weight to the vehicle.

[OMG.JAI xD]

All strut braces work regardless of brand or design. Its mostly the material its made off that effects the performance.

The weaker the material the less effective it is on performance.
From personal experience. Ive had 2 dc2 integras in the past. 1 was braced up. X bar, c pillar bar, boot brace, subframe brace, 3pt strut brace, front chassis brace along with a set of skunk2 springs and shocks.
And the other integra I had, only had a front OEM chassis brace and subframe braces. But used cusco basic coilover with type R rear LCA's.
And i found the one with coilovers handled ALOT better.

[Zilli]

as above, dont worry about the brand, people get so caught up in marketing and brands.

If you want an effective strut top brace get a rigid one... as they are their to create structural rigidity, so you want a one peice item that is lightweight and solid... i.e. the original ITR one is a compromise as it is not one solid peice...

[Normz]

I recently bought a mugen strut bar for my DC5R and have to say their pretty solid and have a 3 bolting. The only issue with a mugen strut bar is the ends will poke through your insulation (reduce sound) below your bonnet.

[Tegzieboi_BAR]

Decent strut braces are usually adjustable so that they can be tensioned up. Non-adjustable ones that don't fit perfectly will do nothing but add weight to the vehicle.

I would have to disagree... A well designed brace should not need adjusting if its designed for your car. If u install it properly (ie. raise your car) it should fit just fine.

Something like a carbing or Ultra Racing 3-point solid braces are the best... i went from stock DC2 brace, to DC2R brace, to Mugen (1st Gen) brace and now use Carbing... Carbing is light as f**k and is by far the most rigid out of the lot. Improvement is quite noticeable in ur turn-in response. Ofcourse half the reason i went for Carbing is bling factor... If ur on a budget i would get Ultra Racing. Similar design, just heavier.

[Tai]

Solid vs adjustable comparison

Borrowed from

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ULTRA-RACING-4-Point-Front-Lower-Bar-Honda-Integra-DC5-/150475480158?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories

http://www.ultraracing.com.my/vgreenwap/image/Side%20Menu/material%20and%20design/Bending%20UR1W%28100psi%29%5B1%5D.jpg

http://www.ultraracing.com.my/vgreenwap/image/Side%20Menu/material%20and%20design/Bending%20UR%28psi100%29%5B1%5D.jpg

http://www.ultraracing.com.my/vgreenwap/image/Side%20Menu/material%20and%20design/Bending%20Z1.jpg

http://www.ultraracing.com.my/vgreenwap/image/Side%20Menu/material%20and%20design/Bending%20Z2.jpg

[Tegzieboi_BAR]

thats probably not the sort he was talking about... n kinda looks like a cheapo $50 eGay brace... but yeah certainly gives u an idea.

[Bludger]

u will find there are 2 common bracing, 1 is strut brace and the other is a chassie brace, this is all to do with there mounting. personally i belive a strut brace does help with the chassie bracing and personally i would get a 2 point that is held by a min of 2 bolts and is solid. hollow aluminium bars are crap!in my oppinion, there is no difference between the two and i consider them to be one and the same.

[Cartoon]

no difference between chassie and strut bracing?

[Bludger]

yeah.

[Cartoon]

when you look at the mounting points a strut brace will mount directly to the strut towers which ties the struts together and the mounting is through the chassie so it will have some benifits in bracing there to.

A chassie brace is not connected to the strut towers at all and bolts only to the chassie.

[Tegzieboi_BAR]

Strut brace is technically a type of chassis brace: that mounts directly to the struts. Chassis brace is more like "c-pillar" brace, floor brace, lower arm bars etc.

Long story short, look for the most rigid brace with smallest amount of movement for best results. Obviously something that can be as rigid as solid steel but much lighter will cost u big bucks. Sometimes it's not really worth it, but for good steering response I suggest a decent front n rear strut braces as a minimum.