chuck13

Ok,I'm not gonna get into the issue of whether the shock tower brace is actually of any benefit on our cars,I just like the look of em.And i figure they can't hurt,right?

But here's the thing.I ordered a new DNA brace from the bay,and it did'nt fit.I mean did'nt fit by almost half an inch,almost as if the shock towers were 'tilted' inwards by that much!I tried it on my buddies TA,and it dropped into place.

So here's the question.Being as everything on the front end mounts to the shock towers,if they were indeed out of limits would'nt everything be fubar?
The hood closes perfectly with about 1/4 inch gap on both sides,and the car drives perfectly,no pulling one way or the other,and stops straight and true.
I'm just curious if anybody else has run into this.

BTW,car is a 2000 TA WS6

Chuck

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Was it indexed correctly? Meaning, if you spin it 180°, would it fit/tilt differently? I'm not familiar with the brand you specified, some of the designs are different than others, so this may or may not matter.

Corvett z07

iTrader: (2)

I'm not familiar with the shock tower braces on 4th gens, but I know that the chassis isn't the most taut in the world. You could try jacking up one of the front corners to see if that gives you enough twisting in the chassis to be able to fit the STB on. I honestly have no idea if that'll work or not though. I'd imagine the two frame rails + K-member would be hard to twist but idk, wouldn't hurt to try my theory I guess. Also try what ^ said with turning the bar 180° as well. I really don't know anything about STB's but my current car came with both a front and rear one from the factory and the chassis is quite a bit more taut than my 4th gen I had. I'd imagine that they would do something, definitely not hurting anything other than getting in the way for engine repairs, or in my case, trunk space

chuck13

Yeah,it'll only go on one way,the flanges won't fit but in one direction.And you know,I did try jacking up the front of the car to see if it would 'droop' enough to allow the bar to fit.I don't know what I would have done if it had!Anyway,I shipped it back,thought about cutting and welding it but.Like I said,it fit on my friends car,although the motor and tranny are out of it.But I hope our cars aren't that flimsy!

JD_AMG

Strut tower braces work great on cars with struts. Since the 4th gens have coiloves shocks its really just a visual mod.

As you can see they are not, you jacked up the car and it didn't change anything. If you want one for looks order from a known reputable company.

Chris Paveglio

iTrader: (2)

I'd blame poor GM fit and construction first. Unless your car had been hit and you didn't know about it maybe? I got my TA used, it had some "repairs" done to it.

chuck13

Well yeah,that's really all I'm after,the car handles fine as it is.I just like the looks of em.And no,I really didn't expect the STB to fall into place after I jacked the car up,but,like the dude in the Dirty Harry movie " I gots to know"

chuck13

Its a used car,so really who knows?It was cheap enough that I wasn't concerned about a Carfax,but it does have a clean non rebuilt/salvage title.Of course that doesn't mean thee car hasn't been hit,but I haven't seen any signs of major body work.Overall the car has had a rough life,the previous owner was using it to house his (many) cats......

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Sounds like you have your most likely answer then. The car was seen as junk by at least one previous owner, so there is no telling what sort of things might have happened to it. I would chalk this up to it being an example with a rough and highly suspect history, 'clean title' or not.

chuck13

You know how some people just shouldn't have nice things?That was this dude;I have heard many different stories about how nice the car was until "cat man" got hold of it.And I don't suppose he is the sharpest tool in the drawer,being as he tried to replace the dimmer switch by pulling the steering wheel...And taking the headlights apart.Oh well.Like I said,the car runs and drives great,and EVERYTHING (!) works on it! It will never be 'concours perfect',but that's ok.As long as the cat smell doesn't come back.

Corvett z07

iTrader: (2)

Learn something new everyday

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Jack the car up by the center of the k member under the engine. I bet it will fit then.

chuck13

Nope,tried it,didn't work

StoneColdLT1

iTrader: (8)

Car was probably hit hard in the fender long ago in its life when the value was still high and was probably repaired without any title issues by a **** poor body shop.

As for the tower brace, that's a highly debated topic. If the upper A arms connected to the K-frame or something like the older f bodies, I would agree that it's a visual mod, but they connect to the shock tower. IMO, they're not something you need but I wouldn't say they do nothing either.

Zlow28

iTrader: (11)

I sold a used STB bar a while back that would fit perfectly on my car and my 98 ws6 and my previous 96 z28. The guy who bought it from me told me it didnt fit his car even after jacking up the car. So i gave him a refund and sold it to another guy. And the same exact thing happened. Both guys said they bought their cars used, but as far as they knew they had never been in any accident. I refunded the second guy his money too but i just let him keep the bar cus shipping was more than the bars value. I think it was either BMR or UMI cant remember.

5550racing

I have a 2000 TA too. I kind of want to buy a strut tower brace just to see how it fits. You know, for science.. I'm about to replace my original shocks after 264K miles. New ones are on the way . I bought my car in 2005 as a running and driving repairable but with a salvage title at 50K miles. it was hit sideways in the front kinda soft which mainly tweaked the driver side rail forward of the core support a little. Nothing a frame machine and new bumper brackets couldn't fix. 75K or so hard miles later I decided to do headers and motor mounts (those energy suspension ones that go in the original clam shell that don't give any apparently...). I'll never forget that. Headers slid right in.. then it took me two nights to figure out a combination of ratchet straps, prybars, hydraulic jacks and hammers and all kinds of **** to basically spread the car apart to get the motor bolted back in without wallowing holes or cross-threading bolts. I don't think a shock tower brace would have prevented anything, but knowing first hand just how flimsy these cars are, I don't think it would hurt anything. Unless of course you're GM and you need the car to crumple and bend and stuff for safety. I dunno.

patSS/00

iTrader: (6)

Maybe that means after enough miles/years without a STB the towers will get out of alignment just from normal flexing. Seems like a good reason to have STB + subframe connectors + tunnel brace.

Zlow28

iTrader: (11)

Might be. The biggest reason i have one is because it gives me a place to hold on to when im working on the engine bay lol

JD_AMG

LOL, no it doesn't. You can believe whatever you want but I bet if someone took it off without telling you, you wouldn't even notice. I have a pretty sensitive butt dyno too, Ill notice a couple psi difference in tires, a shock adjustment just 1 sweep difference(within like 100ft of driving), so its not like im totally numb to changes to the car.
I had to remove mine when I dropped the engine out, after i got everything back together I forgot to reinstall it and was driving for a while without it without even noticing, even did an auto-x event without it and there was no difference. When I realized it wasnt there I reinstalled it and again, no change what so ever, did a few more auto-x events, still no difference, multiple high speed runs, no difference. Great place to put your hand when working on the engine though, and it looks cool. The way some people think these cars flex is so over exaggerated its unreal. No one has ever shown any actual evidence of it, and certainly not with any actual numbers like putting the car on a chassis machine. And I think there is good reason for that, it would debunk the claimed flex.
Im not saying there is 0 flex, all cars have some chassis flex its just a matter of how much it takes to get them to flex, street driving on street tires is no where near enough to do it. A 6000rpm clutch dump on drag slicks on a prepped dragstrip and you may get some, but the STB isn't going to help that.

JD_AMG

:facepalm:
All of those cars have struts, a strut tower brace works for those because of how struts work and put force on the chassis, look it up. 4th gens do not have struts. Lol ignorace is bliss!
I can counter your argument with the same logic: oh yea why doesnt the corvette have a strut tower brace?