Strut tower bracing & subframe connectors

[Tom Slick]

Anyone looked into strut tower bracing & subframe connectors for their Caprice?

I've thought about the strut tower bracing... have looked at the White Strut Tower Brace (Australia) and the BMR version... I like the White version much better...

Any thoughts, comments, other ideas or solutions?

Later,
Tom Slick

[Navy Lifer]

Tom, I had previously looked into this myself, and came to a realization that, while there MAY be some benefit to it at a very high performance level, the average use of the car, with the size and wear rating of the rubber on the ground, that there is not going to be enough chassis loading to make any benefit that a brace MAY offer even detectable. The Zeta basic chassis structure is significantly stiffer than what I've ever been used to in the past.

My basis/position here is from observing the Gen5 Camaro 1LE/ZL1 model(s) - both receive a front strut brace, and both have MUCH greater contact with the road surface, with larger & relatively "sticky" rubber and very wide wheels--these cars will see much higher chassis loading, and the engineers had to justify it's value to be able to create and fit the tower brace as original equipment on those models.

Back in the mid/late 80's, I owned two different versions of Cavalier with V6 & manual trans. I made a strut brace for the 1985 model, and I did feel that I could tell a difference. Later, on the other car, an 89 RS wagon with V6 & 5-speed manual, I updated the car with the production strut brace GM added to the Z24 model in that same era, and it did make a difference--again, engineering had determined there was a benefit, and that was why a brace became a production part. The J-car, even though a unit-body design, was still fairly flexible compared to many other vehicles.

Now, I do have to say that I'm quite certain that the knowledge gained since that time ('80's) in vehicle design, engineering, vehicle dynamics, computer modeling advancements (CAD/FEA, etc) has made the Zeta platform, in it's multiple variants, a much better engineered and far stiffer platform, with no need for the addition of the brace until the 1LE & ZL1 (and I'm going to assume the new Z/28 will have it, too).

With all that said, my only thought is that we would all be interested in what a tower brace may or may not do, based on manufacturer's claims and/or any observed TRUE benefit that can be detected and validated from a brace on the Caprice. I'm not saying I'm skeptical, and if I thought for a minute that there was a preponderance of evidence to show positive benefits, I would strongly (re)consider doing something in this area myself.

As for sub-frame connectors, I've only looked at the info online at BMR--if I was building a track car, this might be something of value, but I'd want to study this much more than I have. I don't know what BMR's claims are, but if that area of the car IS deficient, I would be looking for any differences in the same area(s) on the updated VF/WN platform(s) to determine whether GM/Holden revised the area to provide some degree of greater stiffness without resorting to set of girders mounted under the vehicle (hanging down, from what I could see), along with the added weight--our cars are already "heavier" to start with--what do the BMR parts actually do, is there anything OE that achieves the same thing, and can it be back-fitted or duplicated on VE/WM?

Right now, I'm more inclined to spend my money elsewhere.

[storm9c1]

Hopefully the first mod prior to adding any braces is a programming mod. The stock programming (stability control, traction control, etc) is so conservative on these cars, I wouldn't expect much improvement just by adding braces alone. Similarly, the other mod would be wider, sticky tires. Then maybe do some testing to see if bracing helps or not. The chassis might be up to the task in stock form, but my guess is that as soon as other mods are completed, it may start to push the chassis beyond stock capability, and presumably might need some bracing.

Most of us probably already know this detail, but I'm mentioning this for the benefit of newcomers who are eager to bolt stuff on expecting big gains.

(Just trying to be practical)