We had the good fortune of our man at AutoFun did a sweet install and review!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGkDgtHog60
Notes:
-The holes do NOT mount to both strut tower bolts but rather to one strut tower bolt as well as the m6 hole on the strut tower itself. The plates are sandwiched under the cowling and secured with the included bolts and washers.
]]>Congrats on purchasing your Rear Strut Bar for your E210 corolla! In under 5 minutes you'll have this part installed and be ready to rip the local canyons and enjoy improved handling!
1.) Open your trunk and look to the sides of the trunk. There are 2 clips one on each side.
2.) Remove the cap and remove the m6 bolt behind that using a 10mm socket.
3.) Position the brace and install one side into the bolt hole using the included m6x1.0x20mm hardware and a 10mm socket.
4.) While holding the other end bracket, rotate the bar expanding it out much like a shower curtain. Go until it meets the other side of the car and lines up with the bolt hole that held the clip.
5.) Install the other m6x1.0x20mm bolt that is included and then give rotate the tube a little bit more until its snug.
Notes:
This brace fits sedans and hatchbacks
Do not over tighten the tube or you can damage the car. Just simply snug it down. There is no added performance for cranking the brace down super tight.
-If you get clunking noises, this brace is not likely to be the cause unless you grossly undertightened the bolts. Common areas for clunking noises are end links, sway bar mounts, sway bar bushings, strut hat bushings, ball joints. We have never had this brace cause noises so check elsewhere.
-if you have issues with installation check the TB Performance Products Army Facebook page! There are loads of customers who have installed these parts and can help you out.
-You will NOT need an alignment after this install.
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We''ll begin by discussing what exactly a chassis is. A chassis is defined as the main structure of a vehicle. This superstructure is the basis for all pieces to be bolted to. Motors, transmissions, suspension, sway bars all bolt into this structure. Rigidity on its face, is important in these structures because all of the components that bolt to it need to retain their dimensions so that the vehicle doesn't collapse under its own weight. Furthermore some areas of the chassis govern elements of handling such as toe, caster, and camber as each suspension component bolts into the chassis.
We should think of a chassis like a piece of paper or cardboard. If we managed to bolt wheels to it, it wouldn't be very fun to roll around while making Subaru noises would it? It would be a floppy mess! But if we make it a little stronger, in the trade this is referred to as "torsional rigidity", it becomes a functional model car. Now lets take that cardboard car and put a big fold in the middle of it running the full length of the "car". The car will have all sorts of issues with wallowing as the fold flexes in and out. This is exactly how your exhaust tunnel impacts handling. Its a natural crease that reduces the chassis strength. By adding some braces to that tunnel we can prevent that crease from flexing and make it more predictable. This is just one type of bracing but the same holds true throughout the vehicle.
Another critical junction in a car is where the subframes bolt into the unibody. Unibodies are the trade term for modern chassis that do not utilize a body on frame construction(like a pickup truck) For our vehicles, Unibodies are the way our cars are built. The subframe is a sub structure that contains the rear suspensions or the front suspension/engine and transmission. Since these components need to be bolted into the unibody for the vehicle to work, there are joints where large bolts fasten the two together. This junction provides a massive weakness for chassis flex. This weakness can give the car a wallowing feeling as you go around a corner and your car rolls over slight road imperfections. If you can bolt a brace across this critical joint and give that area more strength you will effectively reduce the deflection of the two portions of the car and make the vehicle handle in a much more predictable fashion. This increase in predictability will allow the driver to go around corners quicker which we can call an increase in handling!
Yet another area of a chassis that can have a significant weakness is the tops of the strut towers. Strut towers are the area where you coil spring and damper mate with the chassis of the car. This can get a little tricky with multi-link rear suspensions, which I will cover below. In between the front strut towers is where your engine and transmission are carried inside of that subframe we discussed earlier. Since the struts are carrying the full load of the car, it is not uncommon for them to deflect going around a corner. This deflection causes changes in camber, caster and toe as the tower moves about. When these portions of your alignment shift suddenly, the handling is less predictable and thus the car is slower. By running a bar or brace across this gap and linking the strut towers we can reduce this deflection and once again increase predictability and thus handling!
Inside of the vehicles subframe itself is also an area of weakness. LCA's(lower control arms) bolt into the subframe via bushings and bolts. On the horizontal plane of the car, the LCA's mount via an outrigger that comes off the subframe. This region is usually floating out on its own and as such its predisposed to flex. Even more so if this area is on the drive wheels such as a FWD(front wheel drive) car. The rear portion of these LCA's mount via a bushing. When a driver suddenly gets on the throttle or goes into a corner in a spirited way, these areas will deflect, the horizontal mounts shifting in and out ever so slightly and the bushings shifting independent of one another. This movement combined with the sudden changes to toe and caster contribute heavily to wheel hop and torque steer. By locking them down with a brace such as my Traction Bar or Torque Gusset Traction Bar, the driver is able to get on throttle earlier and harder while having less wheel hop and torque steer. Interestingly enough these braces happen to reduce motor mount vibrations by acting as a chassis damper.
So why do we need braces? Didn't the OEM's(manufacturers such as Ford, Mazda or Toyota) design these with teams of engineers to make sure that the chassis is well designed? This is a very good question! Just like power adders, OEM's definitely try their best to give buyers the maximum performance at the best price. However, some areas of the chassis get overlooked just like the engines total power output. Quite honestly the OEM's try their best to make a rigid chassis and each subsequent generation of cars gets even more rigid than the previous but some areas are too costly and would drive up the MSRP to price points not feasible or competitive for consumers. Other areas are not practical from a mass production assembly standpoint. So while the OEM's are doing a great job on the chassis side of things since the 80's and 90's, there is still a ton of improvement and performance left on the table for consumers to bolt on!
]]>Making a vehicles suspension perform better for spirited driving, track driving or just plain hooning around requires special parts and attention to what's going on under there.
What makes performance suspension better?! Coil overs, lowering springs, adjustable dampers all have something in common. They all usually make the vehicles suspension "stiffer". The spring rates are increased so that braking and acceleration dive is reduced while also limiting ride height to keep air from ballooning under the car. Dampers are tuned to rebound to match these stiffer springs and sway bar diameter is increased or lever arms adjusted so that the car doesn't roll as much. Each of these components has a profound impact on how harsh a vehicles ride is. Each one will yield smiles per gallon in the canyons but can be a back breaker for daily driving. Most people are looking for some sort of balance because ,at the end of the day, we don't live in The Fast and The Furious...No matter how much we say "Family".
Notice a suspension part not included in the above list? That's right chassis braces, such as strut bars, aren't there. The reason for this is absolutely fascinating! Braces are designed to reduce chassis deflection which means they are there to PREVENT movement. The parts listed above are all designed to move. So what is the big idea here? Well since the braces do not move they do not have an impact on a cars ride quality. In fact some braces can improve ride quality by allowing the suspension to work more efficiently or to prevent an aging cars creaks and groans. Now there is one exception. Torsion bars will limit how much a torsion beam suspension can move and as such it acts much like a sway bar and can increase NVH(Noise vibration and harshness) a slight bit.
As for the rest of chassis braces, such as strut bars, torque gussets, traction bars and trunk braces?! Bolt them on and enjoy improved handling without any real consequences! Have your cake and eat it too...just share some with me. I love cake.
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