I just made an offer of $100 for a new one on ebay for Vertex, which they accepted. Anyone ever install one of these?

My former Techart brace went to another Rennlister when I was convinced I'd be happy with my 996 Targa ... doh!

 

Yup, piece of cake. That's what I currently have. I tried a few but I like this one most. Just follow the standard directions.

 

What did you like most about it? The install steps? The look? Did it improve the feeling of the car the most? Curious, as I'm contemplating getting one...

 

I liked that the brackets are very beefy (I've seen others that can get bent), the bar is light but very solid, that it has no ball joint, and that it's inexpensive. Just MHO.

I would be skeptical of anyone who says they noticed a difference in the feel of their car due to a strut brace. MAYBE the car creaks a little less going sideways over curbs, but that would be about the extent to which you could ever notice its existence.

 

Solid Bar and good low-cost option. We carry both their aluminum ones, as well as true carbon fiber bars for about 50 dollars more. PM me if interested. All strut bars are pretty straight forward to install, few bolts on each side and you're set.

 

By "solid bar" I assume you mean "solid design" and I agree. They used to advertise it as having a solid bar, but the bar is actually hollow, as their current ebay ad now properly states.

 

$100 ... can't beat that. I was surprised they sold it for that price.

I was happy I had a strut brace when my 95 C2 was totalled in a 45 mph head-on collision; the body shop guy told me it did a nice job keeping the shock towers together (and helped keep me in one piece).

 

any problem with the shock mounting studs being too short? that seems to be a problem regardless of strut brace brand on some cars.

a recent thread described actually removing 2 studs on each side and replacing with bolts. I would like to add a brace but, can see I have little thread above the top of the current nut.

was that addressed in the mounting directions?

thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!

 

Stace,
I was the "stud remover" in that recent thread . The Schnell bar should be no issue, as the ends are very flat. There should be plenty of thread to go around.

Andreas

 

$100 bucks is a good price, I paid $135 for a gold anodized one. Like Eric stated, can't realy tell the difference but I also have not made any ugly corners that would cause the frame to move laterally. It just makes sense to have a strut brace between the strut towers with all that space in the front compartment. My 993 already had one on when i got it.

Stace, I don't remember any issues with the mounting studs being too short on my 964. I'll have to take a look at it when I see it this weekend. Replacing the studs with longer ones should not be difficult if you have too.

 

Don,
The strut mount studs used on the 964 were at least 6mm longer than those used for the 993. Thus the issue with a few of the bar designs out there. Check out my thread for the details.

Andreas

 

I found the existing stud length to be acceptable, but just barely. That is, the nut is fully engaged, but just barely IIRC.

 

The Schnell Vertex Bar is great! Got it last year and I really like it. Chris

 

Another advantage of the Schnell strut brace is that it also fits under the carpet, in case you do not feel like cutting holes in it...

 

I have a Vertex brace, and it installed exactly as advertised.