Bracing

[Pete McCue]

Evening all. I've noticed a bit of scuttle shake when driving on less than perfect roads, (ie; most of the UK!), and started thinking about additional bracing. I'm definitely not going to remove or start cutting about the under bonnet plastics so a front brace is out. That leaves a chassis brace and rear. I like the idea of the chassis brace but how effective are they?

[shnazzle]

Very.
Especially a good middle brace.

A good solid front brace as well. Combined, it's a "car should have come with this from stock" situation

[Pete McCue]

Very.
Especially a good middle brace.

A good solid front brace as well. Combined, it's a "car should have come with this from stock" situation

Excellent, thanks.
This is the one I was looking at.
Anyone fitted this one?
https://barbarianracing.co.uk/product/toyota-mr-s-spyder-centre-chassis-brace-bar-3/

[Nvy]

What braces are you after? I have most of the braces and my car is for sale so I can take them off for you.

List:
Middle brace
Rear cross member
Rear shock tower
Front shock tower

They have greatly increased the car stiffness and improved the stability.

[Pete McCue]

Hi Nvy, thanks very much for the offer but if you're in Bulgaria, by the time we sort postage and duties(?) it's probably not going to be viable. They don't seem to be overly expensive anyway. Thanks anyway.

[Carolyn]

For the most instant noticeable result the best brace is the front shock tower.  Replacement plastics are easy to get hold of.  I have a couple, and one from J-Spec will cost little more than the postage.

I have TRD rear tower brace which is very well engineered and I honestly can't tell the difference whether it's on the car or not.

[Gibla]

. I'm definitely not going to remove or start cutting about the under bonnet plastics so a front brace is out.

I have got 2-3 complete sets of uncut under-bonnet plastic inc the frunks if you rethink :- in my experience the upper front brace is an excellent addition to counter scuttle shake

**note** missed @Carolyn post when I posted my reply......it wasn't meant to duplicate

[Nvy]

Hi Nvy, thanks very much for the offer but if you're in Bulgaria, by the time we sort postage and duties(?) it's probably not going to be viable. They don't seem to be overly expensive anyway. Thanks anyway.

I am going to sort it out for you, that means no duties or anything extra.

All my braces are not produced anymore so together with them you will have a piece of automotive history.

[Jared]

Which is the most effective, middle chassis brace or breast plate.
Was thinking one or the other as both would add about 5kg and be a bit over kill for a street car.

[Beachbum957]

We have a 2002 with a lot of bracing.   The one that made the most difference was a middle brace or breastplate as it boxes the center tunnel into a torque box.  Snelbaard makes a very good one that is very effective. Some of the others like Cusco don't do much at all.  If you are running stock suspension, it may be all you need.

Most other bracing made a noticeable difference only with stiffer suspension, as that puts more loads into the chassis.  Some helped a bit, some didn't do much.  We have a long discontinued Tom's front lower brace that helped, and have used both a TRD and Snelbaard strut brace.  Both cut cowl shake, but did require removing or cutting plastics.  A lower rear brace seems mostly cosmetic and didn't do much. Most people report the rear strut brace also has minimal effect.  An Autopower roll bar probably not common outside the US made a noticeable difference as it stiffened the chassis behind the seats.

We also have a small steering rack brace made by Snelbaard that is a copy of one originally made by Toms.  We didn't expect much but it cut steering kickback and vibration on rough roads, even with stock suspension.

[Jared]

Breast plate sounds best then