AOW162435

After months of searching for either a GT2 (Matter Design) one-piece strut brace or the old-style adjustable brace from RUF, I found one modeled after the RUF part and made in the US. This is a super nice piece, CNC machined, anodized and very, very stout. The bar came with the proper hex nuts and serrated washers.










Andreas

chris walrod

OK, where did you find it? Looks like a RUF copy, which is my favortie design for many reasons technically, mostly because it doesnt use spherical bearing, which goes against the whole purpose of a strut brace! A brace such as this design resists movement in compression and tension, but unlike braces that use spherical bearings or fastened joints, this also resists movement in sway or peel, if you will.

texas911

Are there any kind of pads that go in between the sheetmetal and the strut ends?

AOW162435

Chris,
My reasons exactly.

I purchased the bar from Perfect Power, Inc.

For comparison, here is a pic of the RUF bar that I searched for:




Andreas

AOW162435

No. I think any material between the mounting blocks and the strut towers will not allow you to properly torque the nuts, and would compress over time. If properly installed, these blocks should not shift and cause marks.

Andreas

nikdog

have you had a chance to install it and Are you happy with your brace. looks like a nice piece. I talked to Sol today, the owner, they are out of stock and dont sell enough of them to manufacture more until they have at least an order for 5 or 6
units, he is open to a group buy but wasn't sure about discount on pricing yet [not inexpensive item $300.00+ s+h] anyone else interested in ordering one or more of these[ little too big for a stuffing stuffer!!!]

FotoVeloce

Yes. I *might* a pair for my cars, especially if one more meands the diff between a GB production run and waiting until ?????

AOW162435

The brace is in The machining is dead-on and the finished product is rock solid. A few of the body squeaks have disappeared and the carpet fits without a problem...





This brace, as well as the RUF version it was modeled after, were initially designed for the 964. For the 993, Porsche decided to use shorter studs for the front strut mounts. This minor difference made it impossible to install the brace as designed, as the socket nuts were not able to engage the threads. To solve this, I removed the necessary studs and installed four proper bolts with the same thread. I 'adjusted' the bolts to the perfect length and snugged the bar in place. A minor hiccup for a satisfying end result. While many of these mods are viewed with a jaundiced eye by some, I did notice crisper turn-in during a brief test run.

For those interested in obtaining the same bar, I can not recommend Perfect Power enough. The owner, Sol, was amazingly helpful and willing to do just about anything to make this work. I presume he'll consider another batch of these if the interest exists. Regardless, I'm happy with the outcome.

Andreas

FotoVeloce

Excellent. Thanks for the followup post.

A couple of questions.

How did you R&R the two shock hat studs to fit the bar? Do they pop out with a little hammering from the top?

Are they easy to replace with bolts once removed? Is access simple or obstructed/complex?

THANKS!

AOW162435

Foto,
Yes, I removed the offending studs. I attempted to tap these out initially, but found that using the proper-sized (#2) bolt remover worked perfectly. The remover grabbed the threads with enough tenacity to allow the bolt to spin free of the small splines. Then it was a matter of just tapping the studs out.

I would recommend doing this work with the car parked on a level surface. Even though my 993 sits lower than stock, I was able to gain access to the bottom of the strut mounts with my monkey arms. The old studs simply fall to the floor and the new bolts can then be inserted from below. Tricky, but very easy. Another set of hands would have been useful to hold the new bolts, but I made do with some tape over the holes. This allowed me to push the bolts up from below and have them stay in place because of the tape. Once the bolts were in position, I took a few rags and stuffed these under the bolts. The rags were wedged between the sheet metal and the upper part of the coil spring. Again, another person would have made this even easier. I torqued the new combination to 30 ft lbs, as the replacement bolts are certainly stronger than the stock studs.

Andreas

Joe S.

Wish I could find one of these...

AOW162435

Joe,
Gert claims to have an original - which he will not part with at any cost. I've tried

Andreas

Joe S.

I'd even settle for a copy, with at least correctly drilled holes.

AOW162435

That rules out a batch located in Ambler. PA....

Andreas

Joe S.