STi strut brace - mine won't fit!

[Shale]

Righty, so I have me one of these:

Buuuuut... it has THESE on it!

The bolts on my tophats aren't long enough to accomodate the brace with the feet on it; the nuts only go half-way down, then try to tear the thread off.

So.

1) Do all GC8 STi strut braces have these wee feet?

2) If no... does anyone wanna swap stock for stock for a sans-feet model? $20 your way for your troubles.

3) If they're all like that...are the feet removable?

Cheers guys

[Miller]

My ver 4 Sti brace did not have them....

[Shale]

Win. Just what I wanted to hear. ;D

Funnily enough...mine's a version 4 too

Now to see about aquiring a ver4 brace...

[Guest Bemrose]

ill buy it off you

[Shale]

Hoping for a swap if possible - but if no one shows, you can has

[BC5RA]

Those spacers are there to stop damage being done to the paintwork or at least lessen it.

You could grind them down.

[Tony]

mine has them as well (and its a V4). Just get the grinder out - problem solved.

[Shale]

I'll take it to one of the talented pros out there nearby methinks...and NOT look...the thought of grinding away at such a thing brings tears... :'(

But if that's the option, so be it.

[dubbedup]

soft... a bfh and a chizel will prolly get them out...grinder be easier...

[Guest]

If you do grind them off, do what the Whiteline people say to do... put some thin stainless washers under the brace instead. They'll be about a third as thick as those feet.

You can buy stainless washers of the right size from placemakers for sfa

[Guest dcornie]

or just take mine out of helga

[newsuba]

My v6 brace has them too, in fact I haven't seen a stock brace without them.

Best fix is to get proper length bolts.

Those feet actually help secure the brace because the top of the strut tower is not flat so the flat ends of the brace won't fit securely without those feet; basic geometry, three points define a plane, the plane being the flat end of the brace.

[DRFVDR]

just use a large drill on the flat side to lessen the amount of metal holding them in then tap them out with a hammer and punch them out easy as Pie

[Shale]

 DRFVDR said:

just use a large drill on the flat side to lessen the amount of metal holding them in then tap them out with a hammer and punch them out easy as Pie

That and the washers idea sounds most viable <3

[kamineko]

i'm fairly certain you can just press them out? the plate is alloy so its fairly soft

[Shale]

I noticed it was pretty soft when someone shoved a screwdriver under it and it flexed. :-X

Might see about popping 'em out, though not sure whether there's enough surface for the nuts to sit on once removed.

Might as well switch with Big Dave if his fit properly, given the cars and braces are versions 4 and 6 - but around the wrong way currently ;D

[kamineko]

its quite surprising how flexible the carbon sti brace is as a whole

i much perfer a solid metal brace. turn in is much more direct

[Shale]

Speaking of which, how would you rate the generic stuff. There are plenty of metal braces at Strong, but nothing of recognisable brands. My final option of course is to get something gruntier, and put the STi brace on the Legacy ;D

[kamineko]

generic ones are much of a muchness. i'm happy with my TM special.

the branded ones tend to use better materials, sectioned (hollow) high grade alloy which means better strength-to-weight.

[Shale]

Tis what I thought - was holding out for some Cusco goodness, but missed out on the Genome one Hopai scored (that's where I got my current STi one).

As far as I care, STi carbon is better than nothing and will give Dave's a shot before Megameet After that, might be time for an aftermarket one of decent quality

[newsuba]

 kamineko said:

its quite surprising how flexible the carbon sti brace is as a whole

i much perfer a solid metal brace. turn in is much more direct

The STi carbon brace is largely for bling.

;D

Seriously, the brace needs a degree of compliance hence it's not 100% rigid.

[Pappu1]

just tap the washers out or swap with big dave lol

[Guest]

I would have tht the strut brace Sti or otherways only needs to be strong in one direction only to keep the strut towers from moving relative to each other in the horizontal plane.

The effectiveness of a strut brace is strongly connected to the stiffness of your suspension. So for a car that is fairly standard, the strut brace probably doesn't do a great deal, but as they get modified and stiffened the brace will contribute more

[Shale]

My struts are stupidly stiff. Borderline of awesome and uncomfortable IMO. Certainly not standard...

These. EPIC URL IS EPIC.

[MercuryFree]

 Shale said:

My struts are stupidly stiff. Borderline of awesome and uncomfortable IMO. Certainly not standard...

These. EPIC URL IS EPIC.

*Minus camber than normal.

That may answer your camber question...