Hi, i bought my 97 z28 awhile back and it doesnt have a strut tower brace. Just wondering if its worth spending the money to buy one. What are the advantages of having one, and disadvantages of not? I'm specifically wondering about tire wear as tires for my camaro (275/40/17) on the front are a bit more pricey than the ones for my truck, so trying to make them last as long as i can. Thanks. -Kyle

 

The bad part is having to remove it sometimes to work on the car. I really don't notice it when its off, but I am sure there is a real benefit of having one. I have so many suspension upgrades that the car feels like its on rails.

 

I don't have any suspension upgrades on the front (yet) so i'm sure it would make a bit of difference. Im mainly concerned with uneven tire wear, the front tires are still the same ones that were on it when i bought it which was 5 months ago i believe and they way more worn on the inside than they should be. Trying to figure out if a brace would help that or i need to go get it balanced and aligned which i havent done since i've had it

 

Hard cornering is what wears the edges. My son would toast a set of tires in no time and the centers were like new. Driving style is the key, and if you drive aggressively then it will help, but not stop wear. You only live once, right?

 

IMO it's just eye candy. My understanding is it added needed rigidity to 3rd Gens; forth Gens have less flex and therefore don't need the additional support to box in the front suspension mounting.

 

If your tires are wearing too quickly, first check your alignment settings. And tire inflation, too. You will feel more benefit from sub-frame connectors, rather than a shock tower brace- supposedly the front cradle the engine sits in is rigid enough, though, in my book, more is better. Not really a strut front end. As someone else said, eye candy, not a priority.

 

It makes for a convenient place to ty-Rap eletric water pump wiring and other things to!

 

Strut Tower Braces are a hotly debated topic yet still seem to fly off our shelves. I'd install one as cheap insurance (in cast they DO help) then get your car aligned.

ramey

 

If you are worried about tire wear, get an alignment.

Like stated earlier, the only real problem is you may have to remove it when you need to remove your intake manifold, etc.

Benefits are minimal as well, the front end of our cars are already pretty rigid, there's a big V8 bolted down between the sub frames so a little bar up top isn't going to do much. Especially for a DD.. If you autocross it, you may notice the added rigidity more. I'd say save your money and use it on sub frame connectors, if you don't have any yet.

 

Technically I don't think the engine adds any rigidity, it is not integrated into the body structure as it just sits on rubber mounts?

The stock k-member is a fairly large boxed design and has a large cross section (think of it as a tube, a larger diameter is stronger then a smaller diameter, wall section being equal) so it is very strong and does not twist/flex. In addition to being large (k-members make it easier to fit headers), it is also very heavy, the tube k-members cut the weight by 20-30 lbs though the tube k-members are arguably weaker than stock; adding a stb in conjunction with a tube k-member helps re-stiffen the assembly as it ties the top of the shock towers together, forming a box with the sides being the shock towers, the k-member the bottom and the stb the top. Though it is even more in the way and more bolts to remove for maintenance, edelbrock makes a three point version that also attaches to the firewall.

I don't think you will feel it seat of the pants, but it does help stiffen the car so it is not really just "eye candy." That being said there are a lot more cost effective chassis/suspension mods to be done before adding a stb.

 

We build k-members here. I can vouch for the strength thing. The stock k-member is built like a tank and has to be immensely strong. With that strength comes weight and that's where it really shines, dropping that 25 lbs off the front of the car.

The hard part about the strut tower brace is measuring the performance gain. Does it matter if it reduces torsional flex by 3%? Not sure. It's just so hard to measure. And once we get the data, does it matter?

At the end of the day, I love the look of a Strut Tower Brace and put one on each car I build. If it helps something a tiny bit, so be it.

ramey

 

I noticed a difference in the sub-frame connectors. More solid feeling, less flex and creaking. Not sure if I could tell the difference with the STB- I have one, but I would do the SFC's first. I like the "K" style ones that have support in the middle of the floor pan, also. Good stuff.