hotchkis strut tower brace??

[Steel185]

I found a good deal on one ($55) and I'm unsure it this is really all its cracked up to be. On the hotchkis website its says its aluminium, it that strong enough to be worth it? I guess its better than nothing, for street and random strip use will it be worth it? I'm thinking at this price i can't let it go. What do you guys think?

[Tarheel'Z']

pic would be nice but hotchkis puts out a decent product so like you said for 55 bucks im sure you cant go wrong

[captainofiron]

Honestly I dont think a strut tower brace does anything, if its a triangular strut tower brace then its a different story, but the 4th gens are considerably stiffer than the previous generation which they really needed this piece to handle well

[grn95t/a]

i run skinnies and no front sway bar on mine. without the stb in place she is quite abit sloppeir. but with it in place it makes it more drivable.

[MeanGreen94Z]

the triangle one attaches to the windshield sheetmetal.. i would NOT get one of those

[captainofiron]

the triangle one attaches to the windshield sheetmetal.. i would NOT get one of those


I have read of dude cracking windshields with those when they launch hard

[formulafireman93]

strut tower braces are more for handling in cornering not drag.

[harner]

I have this one: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=HSS-2003R&N=700+4294924760+4294908153+4294907958+400083+4294 922528+115&autoview=sku

It's steel, and there was a slight difference with it installed. Big enough difference to get one, yes. If I had to do it again, I'd go with a much cheaper alternative. Take a look around on Summit and you'll find much cheaper solution. $55 is a good deal for a Hotchkis, though. Just make sure it comes with the brackets and hardware.

[captainofiron]

I have this one: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=HSS-2003R&N=700+4294924760+4294908153+4294907958+400083+4294 922528+115&autoview=sku

It's steel, and there was a slight difference with it installed. Big enough difference to get one, yes. If I had to do it again, I'd go with a much cheaper alternative. Take a look around on Summit and you'll find much cheaper solution. $55 is a good deal for a Hotchkis, though. Just make sure it comes with the brackets and hardware.

what differences did you notice?
Also just curious, but what other chassis mods do you have and you do strip or road course stuff

[harner]

When I first put it on the car, I took it on some back roads and took some turns faster than I normally would have. Not enough to cause any danger to myself or anyone else, just to see how stable the car was. It was a little stiffer, nothing drastic but enough to notice.

I don't have any chassis mods besides the STB. I have plans to eventually, but I care more about the car going fast and sounding good than how it rides.

I take the car to the strip once a year and have no plans on road course.

A STB, to me, should be an important mod for any fbody. It's not like they are hard to install nor expensive.

[captainofiron]

strictly speaking as an engineer. if you take just basic mechanics and physics into consideration, no force would be transferred to the top of the strut going in a transverse direction.
Now of course it always seems that every dynamic system will not behave the same in real life as on paper.
BUT the front suspension on the 4th gen (on paper) should take all the force on the tire in a turn and should transfer it to the lower control arm, so you shouldnt see any deflection at the top of the strut either to the left or right.
Thats just in theory though.

a boxed configuration will of course always be more strong than a u channel configuration.

I think the best suspension mod that I have done to my car was the 3 point UMI subframe connectors, after I slapped those babies on man, it was solid.
my car always shook a little at higher speeds and the passenger side seat if it was empty would shake and vibrate, especially if the road wasnt smooth.
But now, its amazing.
I recommend all 4th gens do this to their car

[Wilburbeest]

strictly speaking as an engineer. if you take just basic mechanics and physics into consideration, no force would be transferred to the top of the strut going in a transverse direction.
Now of course it always seems that every dynamic system will not behave the same in real life as on paper.
BUT the front suspension on the 4th gen (on paper) should take all the force on the tire in a turn and should transfer it to the lower control arm, so you shouldnt see any deflection at the top of the strut either to the left or right.
Thats just in theory though.

a boxed configuration will of course always be more strong than a u channel configuration.

I think the best suspension mod that I have done to my car was the 3 point UMI subframe connectors, after I slapped those babies on man, it was solid.
my car always shook a little at higher speeds and the passenger side seat if it was empty would shake and vibrate, especially if the road wasnt smooth.
But now, its amazing.
I recommend all 4th gens do this to their car

What he said^. Our cars are a double A-arm setup, not a true strut setup. This basically means that the force is directed to the A-arms and K-member rather than the towers. I used to have a tower brace and I took it off.

[KissMyWhtSS]

Honestly I dont think a strut tower brace does anything, if its a triangular strut tower brace then its a different story, but the 4th gens are considerably stiffer than the previous generation which they really needed this piece to handle wellThe front of a 4th gen is relatively rigid with the engine being there, but I did notice a difference when I put my BMR STB on my '97 Z. Your average drag strip driver won't notice much of a difference, but I pushed my '97 Z a little on the street after installling it, and after installing my 275's all the way around. I felt like there was a noticable improvement and would have another STB on my SS but hotchkis is the only brand of STB that will fit a SS with the ram air airbox in place and haven't found a good enough deal on one.

[captainofiron]

The front of a 4th gen is relatively rigid with the engine being there, but I did notice a difference when I put my BMR STB on my '97 Z. Your average drag strip driver won't notice much of a difference, but I pushed my '97 Z a little on the street after installling it, and after installing my 275's all the way around. I felt like there was a noticable improvement and would have another STB on my SS but hotchkis is the only brand of STB that will fit a SS with the ram air airbox in place and haven't found a good enough deal on one.

Oh yea because you have that airbox mounted on top of the intake right?

Does the hotchkis wrap around the airbox?

Also, do you think maybe the noticed difference in handling was maybe more with the tires and less with the STB?

[KissMyWhtSS]

Oh yea because you have that airbox mounted on top of the intake right?

Does the hotchkis wrap around the airbox?

Also, do you think maybe the noticed difference in handling was maybe more with the tires and less with the STB?I did the STB a couple months before the tires. I was talking about just the STB. The tires made an even more noticeable difference in high speed turning. I'll ask 97Z28 to comment in this thread also. He autocrosses his car and one of his few mods is a STB.

[captainofiron]

ah cool cool. Yea when I did the mods to my ws6's suspension I talked to Shon Herron, he is a really cool guy and helped me out alot, plus he gave me a discount on stuff through his store and free shipping. Cant beat that

[ZGOBYBY]

Yeah... a girl in my car club cracked her windshield launching her '98 w/ an LS6 in her Z and she had a Hotchkis STB.

[BIGT94z]

Yeah... a girl in my car club cracked her windshield launching her '98 w/ an LS6 in her Z and she had a Hotchkis STB. i find that hard to believe man. in my old 94 i ran a hotchkis stb for 2 years and had prolly 100 launches/passes on it. she must have had the 3 point stb which is no bueno :hmm: