Rear Strut brace

[Zxrob]

Rear strut brace.

Aftermarket ones, Do they add any additional noticeable stability.

Rob

[MrChris]

General rule of thumb is to start at the front with bracing if you haven't done so already. The back is pretty stiff as standard.

[Zxrob]

General rule of thumb is to start at the front with bracing if you haven't done so already. The back is pretty stiff as standard.

I have

Got front strut brace and underneath centre brace, I was just curious as to whether they added noticeable stability

Rob

[Petrus]

Rear strut brace.

Aftermarket ones, Do they add any additional noticeable stability.

Rob

No.

The two towers have a chassis cross member conncting them.
The OEM cross makes it as strong as it comes. You could replace the cross with tensioned steel stay cables even,

[Zxrob]

No.

The two towers have a chassis cross member conncting them.
The OEM cross makes it as strong as it comes. You could replace the cross with tensioned steel stay cables even,

Thats what I thought, However, anyone who fitted one saying different

Rob

[Carolyn]

My car came to me with a TRD rear strut brace fitted, so I kept it.  When I was designing and producing braces I did comparison testing for front, underneath and rear, running with a brace on and off and feeling the difference.

I can honestly say that the superbly engineered rear strut brace did bugger all.

[AJRFulton]

In a road application I'm not sure there would be much advantage. Not even sure there would be any major advantage in a race application.

[Dev]

The upper brace as mentioned doesn't make that much of a difference or no difference at all but the lower rear brace that is fitted under the car makes a tremendous difference. The TRD pencil arms are good but any of the Toms replicas is a substantial improvement. The rear feels solid just driving around and when on the edge of letting go is far less abrupt. 

[The Other Stu]

I'm in the yes camp.

I had a standard brace on and I've been bitching about the handling. I bought a Cusco brace (it was cheap) to see if it made any difference.

I drove quite a few miles last weekend and felt that the car felt much more "planted". I got home feeling rather confused until I remembered I'd added the brace a few weeks back.

Biggest difference for me though, was the small underbelly brace (which @Carolyn helped me fit on the ramp).
That definitely made the car handle better.

I wish I'd bloody kept it, rather than letting it go on the old car (completely forgot it was there until I'd sold the car). The new car needed its tracking done and I'd assumed it would make the car drive like the old one. it didn't

[Carolyn]

I'm in the yes camp.

I had a standard brace on and I've been bitching about the handling. I bought a Cusco brace (it was cheap) to see if it made any difference.

I drove quite a few miles last weekend and felt that the car felt much more "planted". I got home feeling rather confused until I remembered I'd added the brace a few weeks back.

Biggest difference for me though, was the small underbelly brace (which @Carolyn helped me fit on the ramp).
That definitely made the car handle better.

I wish I'd bloody kept it, rather than letting it go on the old car (completely forgot it was there until I'd sold the car). The new car needed its tracking done and I'd assumed it would make the car drive like the old one. it didn't

Ask @Snelbaard if he has any of his in stock. 

[The Other Stu]

Ask @Snelbaard if he has any of his in stock. 

Ta.

Is it the same as the one I had? (I can't remember where I bought it - could have been him!)

[Carolyn]

I think yours was a Cusco.  But Snelbaard's is at least as good.

[Beachbum957]

Most people report a rear strut brace makes little difference if any, but the "underbelly" brace or breastplate makes a big difference as it makes the center tunnel a torque box.  Snelbaard's is a copy of the original Corky's brace which is very strong and lightweight and highly recommended.

[Snelbaard]

They are in stock too. I'll also be welding up the very first rear strutbraces this week. I have to say they probably add very little in terms of rigidity, but people like to get a set of matching front and rear braces and that I understand.

[chalced]

May not really improve handling, but sure as hell looks nicer !

[1979scotte]

Imho they all need a a good front strut and a mid brace after that it's personal preference.
I think if you track a car or have really stiff coilovers you may notice a difference but I don't think I missed my rear brace when I took it of my turbo car.