Strut tower brace

[Buggy Man]

Thinking of installing a STRUT TOWER BRACE.
Do they really help?
Can you notice a difference?
Any brand preference?

At some point I will also be installing an adjustable rear sway bar.
Making one change at a time so I can evaluate the difference.

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[Cherokee]

Totally unnecessary but it looks cool.

Might help on track day if you’re pushing things near the limit. On a closed circuit.
Or if your into drifting.

If you’re driving hard enough to need that in traffic or any public roads I’d hope the Law would confiscate your truck and revoke your drivers license.
:’P

 

[Buggy Man]

There was a thread about 1 on a Lobo. It might be helpful. Hope it helps.
https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/massive-strut-tower-brace-installed-on-lobo.67902/

Thanks for sending the link. Much appreciated.

 

[KsuMax]

Haven’t tried it in the Mav but it helped me along with a rear sway bar with autocross back in the 90s on my 96 maxima haha

 

[colinl]

Totally unnecessary but it looks cool.

Might help on track day if you’re pushing things near the limit. On a closed circuit.
Or if your into drifting.

If you’re driving hard enough to need that in traffic or any public roads I’d hope the Law would confiscate your truck and revoke your drivers license.
:’P

there is a lot of truth here.

to benefit from a strut tower brace you have to corner really hard, like autocross or hpde. I can't say I recommend doing that regularly on public roads.

also, the strut towers are integrated to the firewall so they're already braced AF. this is very little value even on trucks with sticky tires on a track.

 

[todd92]

Rear sway bar will make a noticeable difference.

Strut bar is a waste of money.

 

[OB1e]

I like the look on wrx owners faces when I gap them on really sharp on and off ramps. Strut bar worth every penny.

 

[Maverick123]

Thinking of installing a STRUT TOWER BRACE.
Do they really help?
Can you notice a difference?
Any brand preference?

At some point I will also be installing an adjustable rear sway bar.
Making one change at a time so I can evaluate the difference.

The rear sway bar will make a WAY bigger difference than a strut tower brace.

I have a strut brace on my track car, I bought it before I knew they were useless. It looks real pretty but doesn't really do anything IMO

If you look at the length of the struts on the Maverick, the strut towers would have to deflect about 1/2" to make a 1 degree difference in camber (which is something most people won't even notice) and I can't imagine this is possible unless the truck is rusted out and falling apart.

The rear sway bar will make an noticeable difference you can feel, but if you want to reduce understeer (which is what a rear sway bar does), you can also do it by playing with tire pressures and / or wheel alignment.

 

[Master Blaster]

The front and rear swaybars are a matched set. Unless you want to be lifting the inside rear wheel with too large a swaybar, you need to put a larger front one in as well. The factory setup works well, so unless you're building a track-only vehicle with much wider tires, I'm not sure why you need a bigger bar that will just kill your ride in potholes.

 

[Maverick123]

The front and rear swaybars are a matched set. Unless you want to be lifting the inside rear wheel with too large a swaybar, you need to put a larger front one in as well. The factory setup works well, so unless you're building a track-only vehicle with much wider tires, I'm not sure why you need a bigger bar that will just kill your ride in potholes.

Sway bars are a way to fine-tune a car's balance between understeer and oversteer.
Most cars are tuned for understeer because it's self-correcting, and that's safer : If your car understeers and you don't do anything, it'll scrub speed and eventually correct
If it oversteers and you don't do anything, it'll get worse and spin
But if you're an experienced driver and you want LESS understeer, a stiffer rear sway bar can help set the balance between front and rear grip to suit your preference

 

[colinl]

Unless you want to be lifting the inside rear wheel with too large a swaybar, you need to put a larger front one in as well.

that's not my experience.

mine is that a larger than factory rear swaybar will often cause 3 wheeling when turning and going over a bump, regardless of whether you have a larger on front or stock.

 

[Brent@ANParts]

I agree, a front strut bar is mostly just for looks on a vehicle like this. If you want one, definitely go for it, but don't expect any noticeable change in handling.

 

[Buggy Man]

Sway bars are a way to fine-tune a car's balance between understeer and oversteer.
Most cars are tuned for understeer because it's self-correcting, and that's safer : If your car understeers and you don't do anything, it'll scrub speed and eventually correct
If it oversteers and you don't do anything, it'll get worse and spin
But if you're an experienced driver and you want LESS understeer, a stiffer rear sway bar can help set the balance between front and rear grip to suit your preference

You are 100% on the money.
The LOBO seems to be closer to neutral than most vehicles out there with a touch understeer (as I have noticed). The aftermarket rear sway bars offer some adjustment which will be useful for fine tuning.
I have had several 60's & 70's GM A-bodies that I have added an HD rear sway bar with great results. Those cars had horrible understeer.

I'm just looking for my vehicle to go where I point it and be fun to drive.

The only cars I have experienced serious oversteer with were a 1961 Corvair and a 1973 911E but that was trailing throttle oversteer due to the IRS rear jacking causing positive camber. To get out of it you have to mash the throttle which is counter-intuitive.
I hope the Mav does not have this trait.

 

[Maverick123]

I'm just looking for my vehicle to go where I point it and be fun to drive.

The only cars I have experienced serious oversteer with were a 1961 Corvair and a 1973 911E but that was trailing throttle oversteer due to the IRS rear jacking causing positive camber. To get out of it you have to mash the throttle which is counter-intuitive.
I hope the Mav does not have this trait.

Even with a big rear sway bar, an AWD car won't spin if you keep the wheels pointed in the right direction and you don't lift ... but if you DO lift, it's gonna be a handful

 

[Buggy Man]

that's not my experience.

mine is that a larger than factory rear swaybar will often cause 3 wheeling when turning and going over a bump, regardless of whether you have a larger on front or stock.

Th

Even with a big rear sway bar, an AWD car won't spin if you keep the wheels pointed in the right direction and you don't lift ... but if you DO lift, it's gonna be a handful

When I was autocrossing front wheel drive cars I would lightly apply the brakes while applying throttle at or before the apex. This would cause the rear end to come around inducing oversteer.
And then there was the "handbrake turn" - for tight turns. Both of these techniques were very useful - often necessary - when driving in snow.

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