whosniffedme

Our cars may be very rigid, but to say that braces do nothing to them is just asinine. I guess just about 100% of race drivers know nothing if that's the case, because if you go look at any purpose built track car they're going to have additional support.

As far as which one is going to benefit you the most, that's a very vague question as each car has specific needs. If I were you, I'd start with a strut brace and feel the difference that makes and see if it's worth your time getting a rear shocks brace in the trunk. If it makes a huge difference for you, then it might be worth it do fork out a little dough and do the whole seat delete x brace ordeal. For the front struts and the rear shocks though, it's guaranteed worth your money. It will definitely decrease flex, it's simple physics.

908ssp

Not if there is so little flex and nearly every bar is built too light to make any difference.

mapitts

I ask again then. Why does Ford put a strut tower brace on GT's equipped with 19" tires? It is not listed as an option so you are not paying extra. Ford did not have just a bunch of material laying around and tried to get rid of it instead of throwing it in the scrap. The strut tower brace will have to flex to a certain degree.

908ssp

Perceived value. People think it does some good so they think that $20 brace is worth the added cost.

mapitts

Ford wants to loose $20 per car with a brace to ease my mind? You still did not answer my question. I do not own a Mustang GT with 19" wheels, but I know that you get a strut tower brace with this option. Reckon Ford may know something here or are they just crazy with the whole design, manufacture, install, and keep stock on hand thing?

Vader GT

Good question OP, & as you can see one that is highly debated. In my opinion, for what most of us do with our cars, I would say the strut tower brace is mostly for looks. I say this as most of us street drive our cars & hardly push them to their limits, nor are most regular folks trained to push the S197 to it's limits. Yes, I do have one, but not sure I felt an instant diff like some have stated. Steeda wrote this on their site about the S197 & the sub-frames/body barce they sell:

"We spent countless hours fiquring out where the S197 Mustangs could benefit most from chassis stiffening. Here is the end result. There are several vendors out there treating your S197 like it was an old fox body, making large braces for areas that are not weak on your S197 and that add a lot of unnecessary weight.

We took a strategic approach with Steeda's 3-point torque box and frame rail braces. These braces are made from 4130 Chrome Moly material. This material is twice as strong as mild steel and half the weight of mild steel.

These braces are compact and light weight. They are much lighter than the unnecessary braces many competitors offer and specifically designed for the needs of the S197 Mustang. They tie together the inner/outer frame rails and the rear lower control arm mount. One of the few areas on the S197 that could use additional bracing."

Here is the link: http://www.steeda.com/store/steeda-m...box-brace.html

So looks like they addressed the S197 specifically & did NOT treat it like earlier mustangs. Make sense to me as I have had several gen's & the S197 is by far the best chassis platform I've driven. They also know a thing or two about road racing.


On my fox, I have sub-frame connectors & do feel they made a diff. I base this as when I used to jack up the car before the sub-frames, my doors became very difficult to open/close when jacked up. To me this represented a good amount of body flex. After the sub-frames this dramatically improved on the fox, so to me, yes sub-frames on my fox made a noticeable diff. I had a STB on the fox, but had to remove to clear the supercharger. Good luck!

PS The Tokico Struts made the biggest handling diff to date on my 08. It also has LCA's + UCA + Eibach springs

JimC

I have the strut tower brace on my 2013 convertible - came that way from Ford, doesn't show up as any separate option package. In fact coupes with the same options don't have the brace.

But I haven't noticed any difference from my 2006 which didn't have the brace. So maybe it does some good, but not enough that I can tell daily driving it or on the drag strip.

pascal

This^^^^.

The S197 platform is the stiffest to date and before you worry about a useless strut tower brace, spend money on shocks/springs instead.
Actually, a heavier front sway bar would be the first thing I do as far as affordable improvements are concerned...
Ford built this car with cornering in mind (road course stuff) despite the fact that they made it too heavy with a big wheel base, it showed on the race track though.
The FR500C was the most successful (in Europe mostly) factory built race car with no brace, no subframe connectors and no rear sway bar (useless on a solid axle, really).
All this crap is extra weight that you have to drag anyway.
So if it's not needed on a factory race car, do you guys really think you need that junk on your Stang? LOL.


Edit:
The body shell of the FR500C is reinforced via extra welding throughout the engine bay and rocker area but no bracing is added anywhere...
So that's the way to go instead of relying on the factory spot welds only.

SpartaPerformance

I'm going to say that I didn't read any posts other then your original. Sub frames on these cars are not required until the vehicle is well into the 10's. These cars are far stronger then Fox's and SN-95 chassis cars.

UPRSharad

Not that I wouldn't like to sell some strut tower braces and subframe connectors (because we sell those at www.uprproducts.com) but 908SSP is correct in his assessment. He simply chose not to elaborate.

For those of you who don't know 908SSP, this is his car:

http://www.mustang50magazine.com/fea...n/viewall.html

Read the article and it'll explain his take on S197 suspension setup.

My opinion: I'm not saying NOT to buy a strut tower brace or sub frame connectors, but they would be among the LAST mods I would do. (after several other useful mods)