PhoenixRising

So, has anyone installed this on their car? The website make it sound more complicated than it should be......

Secondly - does it improve handling?

this is the one im considering buying:

http://www.americanmuscle.com/19gtv6sttobr.html

undecided.steve

I just installed the Maximum Motorsports one on my 2003 Vert and it is like night and day.
The cowl shake is gone and the front end feels MUCH tighter and on turns there is less sloppiness in the front end....
Seriously I didn't expect much of a difference, but with a vert itis huge...

It is a royal PITA to install however and I would suggest getting it done at a shop.
I got quoted $50.00 from a Mustang shop but being the idiot I am, I did it myself.

BIG MISTAKE.....

I've been working on my own cars for 30+ years and my cars rarely if ever see a shop for anything but warranty work.

You have to drill 16 holes for this baby.
It is one ***** of a solid piece of steel though.
The pics you see on the websites don't do it justice.
Trust me.

The instructions are pretty good but they imply you can just lay this thing in place, mark the holes, drill, install the bolts and you are done.
Not quite.

Because of variences in the body of the car, each one is different and mine lined up reasonably well but not every mounting point made contact with the frame of the car.

IOW if I marked my spots, removed the brace, drilled, the holes would be off a little bit.

What I did, was center the brace, find the part that mated up the closest, drilled that part, bolted it in and then drilled THROUGH the holes in the brace for the other mounting locations.

It worked out great and like I said the car is totally different now.

Next mod is MM full length subframes.

MM FTW...

The Steeda and Ford Racing piece looks flimsy in comparison.

H0SS302

I have an authentic kenny brown (they had a big problem with counterfeit parts, and have all but shut down lol) on my vert. like ^^ said above. the difference is outstanding. there is a series of wide twisties on my way home from college that i use every day. before the strut tower brace i could comfortably take the turn ats 60-65, any faster and the car would be loose. when i got the STB installed, i could take those turns at well over 80. needless to say it does a lot for the cars front end.

avlon06

this only for verts'?

LynnBob Mustang

No, both....

Lynn

jlw2387

I have the Steeda brace and believe me, its not flimsy. Its not a hard install whatsoever, its just a pain drilling through the body of the car. Your gonna need a good quality 3/8 bit and a good, corded (Dewalt!) drill. Just be careful taking off the cowl vent cover, it tends to break in the cold.

undecided.steve

Ok, it must be the picture that everyone uses on their websites that makes it look thin!

+1 on the corded drill and sharp bits.

I purchased brand new carbide tip bits and it was still a PITA.

Don't even try this with a cordless drill unless you have about 10 batteries laying around.

+2 on the Cowl cover, I got a small 1/2 inch hairline crack in mine but I just glued a piece of plastic to the back of it and it's fine.

undecided.steve

Yea, Kenny Brown makes some great stuff!
It's sad that these offshore rip off companies are making garbage and selling it to unsuspecting people.

I almost didn't install the brace because I read a lot about people saying it didn't make much of a difference.
That might be true for a coupe, but for a vert it's like night and day.
Truly a huge difference.

My subframes (MM XL full length) go in next and then a Steeda front sway bar, possibly the Steeda adjustable rear sway bar and I should be all set.

PhoenixRising

Good to hear guys, thanks for the info. I will look into getting something setup on my coupe in the next few weeks

BlackMage

i have a ford racing strut bar for my 96 gt, i noticed quite a bit of difference even with the coupe. the front en sticks a lot better and truly makes it a better handling car! i love it and def would recommend getting one!! i installed mine and only had to drill a couple holes by the firewall cuz there were already holes by the shock mounts. definately pretty easy install there.