Morning all,
Looking at getting a front strut brace, found one on eBay, but as I know absolutely nothing about braces I thought I would ask the experts s:) :) s:)
m http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Toyota-MR2-Roadst ... arParts_SM (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Toyota-MR2-Roadster-MRS-2000-2008-Front-Strut-Bar-Brace-/200274691703?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM) m
Could you let me know if its a bag of nails, or worth a go for the money ?
Many Thanks, Vaughn.
Depends what you want it for and what your willing to spend?
Ive got one and I cant say for use if it has or hasn't made any difference. Im sure it helps and looks little better instead of nothing. I can also still use the bin lid which was I may concern.
You can get better but you'll pay a lot more.
i used to have the exact same one on my car. I think if you already have decent suspension it wont make much of a difference. Although i did fit mine before my coilovers and i think it did reduce understeer on hard cornering. I think they are certainly worth getting if even only for cosmetic purposes. You will haveto cut some bits out of your plastics to make them fit with the brace but its pretty simple.
can't comment on that one but a good front strut brace will add 15mph to your cornering speed and greatly reduce understeer
I got this one, had to shorten the washer jet pipe to stop it getting pinched between the bonnet and the top of the brace. Easy job, just cut 3" off it and stuck it back on. I had to remove the bin lid, not had any issues so far, rarely use the storage space... bar this weekend, terrible wet weather, bin full of clothes but no water got in...
Seems to be ok, things felt a bit tighter/sharper. I've not tried any of the other braces though so cant say too much comparison wise... I think if your going to be hitting some track days and going for all round bracing/handling mods, maybe get one of the better known ones. If your like me and just fancied getting one to tighten things up a bit, go for it.
I prefer the rear brace personally... solely for the looks... didnt notice ANY difference when i put it on...
However... with postage its what, £60? For another £60 maybe look at the TTE springs if not already got... think they're around the £120 mark...?
Yeah TTE springs are a far better mod if you havent done them already
car is stock, and no plans for track days n the like.
When I take my hardtop off, I find that there's quite a bit of flex in the chassis, so just wanted something to tighten things up.
I have ordered an Ultimate floor pan brace from PaulM, am just thinking if I would even need one of these strut braces in conjunction with the floor pan brace ?
depends they address 2 different issues
best to have both then s:D :D s:D
Mine is the Cusco front strut brace and this weekend I had it side by side with Jim's and to be honest to look at them there doesn't seem to be an awful lot of difference between them.
I have front brace and I think it makes loads of difference!
Have to agree you lose rigidity when you remove the hardtop but the front brace does really work, rear one however! not sure!
Maybe buy a decent one not an ebay one?
PS
This one does fit the 2008 Model Roadster, which is a very very rare car!
I've sent the eBay seller an email as I'm in Hong Kong at the moment on my honeymoon. If they are close to where I'm staying, I will try to get some cash discount and get a couple sent back, guys!!! Here's hoping he replies before tomorrow when I leave for Bangkok (and hope to track down lucurypart.com)!
Andy
Interesting, the Honeymoon turnms into a car parts buying trip s:lol: :lol: s:lol:
"Sir, you say this is something to remember your special time by?" s:wink: :wink: s:wink:
Quote from: "Wabbitkilla"Interesting, the Honeymoon turnms into a car parts buying trip s:lol: :lol: s:lol:
"Sir, you say this is something to remember your special time by?" s:wink: :wink: s:wink:
After 8 and a half years of Being together, she is quite used to me by now, pal!!! Lol!
Andy
The piccy the ebay chap is using is of my car (I said he could s:) :) s:) ).
You have to cut away some bits of the plastic lining to fit it, but with a sharp stanley knife it is relatively straight forward (watch yer fingers!)
You can still retain the frunk lid.
It will crush the jet washer plastic piping (only on the passenger side) if you dont re-route it in some way (again fairly easy).
I would recommend spraying the metal round fixing plate before fitting as mine started to rust after about 18 months.
Improved handling immensley on a what was a fairly stock car at the time.
Mel.
offered the seller £35.01 (excluding p&p), he accepted... if anyone else buys from him, worth trying an even lower price.
Quote from: "chalced"You can still retain the frunk lid.
Does anyone know if this is the only one that will allow this? I would like to keep mine intact if possible.
Quote from: "kentsmudger"Quote from: "chalced"You can still retain the frunk lid.
Does anyone know if this is the only one that will allow this? I would like to keep mine intact if possible.
The Cusco does as was because this looks like a copy of it.
It allows you to retain the frunk lid however without adapting the lid you cant just lift it on the hinges, to gain access you simply undo the clasps and pull the lid towards you, to replace it line up the hinges and push forward and it clips back on, simples
Ah, Thanks for that - Really would like to keep a hinged lid without too much butchery if possible..
it doesnt involve any butchery, the hinge is only a spring clip anyway. try it on yours, open it slightly and pull forwards and off it comes, line it up and push and its back on as before and fully stock.
I ordered both front and rear braces from Hong Kong, both were sent in same box but i was still charged x2 postage about £29 i think.
Contacted seller he said post was calculated by weight.......yeah right.
On the ends of each bar there is a tube welded for the bolt to go through which fastens the brackets to it, on mine the bolts were quite a bit narrower than the tube and i thought surely there is going to be movement here which makes the whole thing pointless.
So i got an old washing machine hose, stripped off the outer casing and cut 4 equal lengths of the inner core, slipped these over the bolts (perfect fit) and inserted the bolts into the tubes, again a snug fit, tightened up and job done s:) :) s:)
my front strut brace arrived yesterday, fitted it yesterday afternoon.
Hardest part of the install was where to cut the plastic covering on top of the strut bolts.
Have to say, haven't really noticed that much of a difference - that said, I do have the hard-top on at present, so maybe that stiffens things up alot to start with, hopefully I will see an improvement of handling with hard-top removed.
Hi Vatovey,
Can I ask, with the hard top off have you noticed the difference?
Just for the record, I PM`d Vatovey and he said the handling has improved a great deal with the hard top removed.
just to confirm, during the last of the summer days I did remove the hard-top for a while, with the strut brace in place I found that driving without the hard-top was very similar to when it is in place, where'as previously I felt there was quite a bit of flex in chassis, overall - very nice mod for those without hardtop's, but for those with hard-tops - don't expect to see much difference when it is on.
Just got a phone call from home - Mrs Smudger is curious what is in the long parcel from Hong Kong, is it to fix the scanner she needs for her time-sheets? - Nope! s:lol: :lol: s:lol:
Also can she have the car to go to work in tomorrow - Nope! s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:
Quote from: "kentsmudger"... long parcel from Hong Kong...
...is not long enough - They've sent a rear one s:flame: :flame: s:flame:
Jeremy, i have the bar spare for a front one if you want it!?!?!?!? Should fit your brackets.
Thanks, but i just checked and the fittings are different diameters and the holes don't line up s:( :( s:(
Trying to decide now whether to faff about sending it back to Hong Kong for a refund, or if I should just keep it and negotiate a discount on another front bar.
Anyone want to make me an offer for an unused rear strut bar?
Just email saying they sent the wrong one, i emailed em saying that they'd sent me the wrong front strut brace - didnt think that the bonnet closed properly... they apologised and sent me a new bar, hence having 2 bars! No problem, didnt want the other one back etc. no postage.
Seem like fair guys...
Quote from: "JiMR2"...they apologised and sent me a new bar...
Oh, bugger - Just seen this after deciding to keep it and negotiating a discount on a front one - Could have got one for free!
Never mind.
Quote from: "Chinese gentleman"Please let us extend our sincere apologies for this fault. As our new colleague is still new and he is still not very familiar in our products, he packed incorrect strut bar to you.
s:lol: :lol: s:lol: - Blame the newbie!
Quote from: "kentsmudger"Quote from: "Chinese gentleman"Please let us extend our sincere apologies for this fault. As our new colleague is still new and he is still not very familiar in our products, he packed incorrect strut bar to you.
s:lol: :lol: s:lol: - Blame the newbie!
He's probably being flogged as we speak s;) ;) s;) s:lol: :lol: s:lol:
Finally fitted front and rear bars today, and had a trip out to test. Although I was sceptical, having put my weight on the centre of the front bar and felt it flex far more than I thought it should, they do make quite a marked difference considering their low price and similar build quality. I guess they resist compression and tension much better along their length than across it and a bar is a bar -
1) The steering wheel no longer shivers and shakes over poor surfaces, noticeable even at low speeds, larger bumps are now felt more through the seat than the wheel. I no longer have to hold the wheel so tight, it now feels as if it is more firmly bolted into the dashboard.
2) Turn-in is more direct and and more precise. There must be a little less understeer, as several times I aimed through a tight curve and had too relax the lock by a few degrees as the car was cutting closer to the inside curb than intended. The front of the car seems more solid to lean on when turning in too.
3) The feel from the car through the steering wheel is now much 'cleaner' and smoother. There is much better information there about how much grip the car has, from the front wheels, and the rear wheels too which I was not expecting. When my empty, twisty lane test-route turned out to still be a bit icy and greasy, there was much clearer warning that the rear end was about to slither and it felt much more natural making it easier to throw just the right amount of lock at it and feel it come back in line.
As everyone says that the rear bar does not add much effect, I may unhook it for a bit and see how much difference I can actually detect - There is plenty of metal across the rear of the chassis already and I only fitted it because I got one accidentally!
As this is such a simple and effective mod, the question is not 'why didn't I do this before?', rather 'why did Toyota not do it in the first place?'
Kentsmudger recommended!