GTSPEC New 4 Points Mid Chassis Brace For FX35 (first Gen)

Hey Yakbuddah , I have Invidia cat back system and many other members here. Have not heard anyone with installation problem. Your must be installing the new Invidia Cat as well. Interested to see how that turn out. Like PMG said man, stick with it.

I was having the most difficult time installing the 4 Point Ladder brace at first. I took her in a shop for $20, have her up on lift, the shop use their heavy duty impact to loosen the lower control arms nuts, drove home and smooth installation from there on. For some reason the driver side did nut budge with my 650ft/lb impact on 15 gal air compressor. The torque specs for that nut is only 89 ft/lb, lol

Good luck with the install man.
 
la_fx35 said:
Hey Yakbuddah , I have Invidia cat back system and many other members here. Have not heard anyone with installation problem. Your must be installing the new Invidia Cat as well. Interested to see how that turn out. Like PMG said man, stick with it.

I was having the most difficult time installing the 4 Point Ladder brace at first. I took her in a shop for $20, have her up on lift, the shop use their heavy duty impact to loosen the lower control arms nuts, drove home and smooth installation from there on. For some reason the driver side did nut budge with my 650ft/lb impact on 15 gal air compressor. The torque specs for that nut is only 89 ft/lb, lol

Good luck with the install man.
Click to expand...

I always PB Blaster or WD-40 for a day in advance.

I've run into that for almost any install!

---------- Post added at 11:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:55 AM ----------

Those with BC will have rub issues with this! That's pretty low on just H&R's!
 
PB Blast is the best thing to loosen rusted/corroded nuts and bolt. I always spray them a day or two ahead before starting working on them, but some reason, it not working on this time.
 
la_fx35 said:
PB Blast is the best thing to loosen rusted/corroded nuts and bolt. I always spray them a day or two ahead before starting working on them, but some reason, it not working on this time.
Click to expand...

Word! I just used it yesterday to free a fairly corroded axle bolt on my A4. Prior to being PBlasted, I was literally standing on a 18" breaker (+/- 270ft/lbs) bar to no avail. I sprayed it with PBlaster, waited about 10min and it came loose with less than half the force. I've used it many times before as well and found that sometimes a few well-placed mallet strikes in addition to the oil will break a super corroded connection.

Posted from my BlackBerry using BerryBlab
 
yakbuddah said:
I am not sure what happened but i ran into some problems...major problems
1) The exhaust did not fit...seriously did not fit, it looked like it was about two inches too long or somethingon the car(the cat converter was 2" too long" either way i needed to be two inches shorter
2.The mid brace also did not fit..it actually interfered with the flange on the cat converter
3)Installed the BC coilovers and the spacers, I had rub on the rear but not the front, I lifted the rear, from 1.5 finger to three fingers still rubbed in the turns....So I took the spacers off the rear....i need to figure out what is going on before I try it again.....
spent the whole day and all i got was the stereo system upgrade kenwood Nav/DVD, Two amps, subwoof box, and all around component speakers, diamonds and JL C5's awesome sound of course with a killer alarm, remote start, engine brace, front 4-point ladder brace.....
I was very disapointed aboutthe exhaust and the mid engine brace...


Has anyone had or know anyone who has encountered these problems....So close but yet no cigar...not a good day today at all....damn.
Click to expand...

Wish I had done a separate thread for my Invidia install, as-is its buried in an Invidia thread... check this ///7113&page=6 I had the same exact problem. All I could determine was that post 06' 45's cats are 2" longer than previous years but I never found a definitive answer as it never came up again. It can be done, you just need a bit of pipe cutting/welding done. Also if your tail pipes hang a bit low I have a solution for that now as well.

So I have the Mid chassis brace still in the box (was waiting for my BBK install) and had major reservations about the clearance as the BC's would leave me with 3.5" ground clearance close to the center of the car. IF we have the same issue with the cats my assumption is that the mid chassis won't fit my ride anyway now. Did you happen to take any pics of the brace contact points?
 
Anyone care to comment some more on how this brace feels? Did anyone add this after all the earlier braces, & can give a before & after?
ty
 
The Mid Chassis brace was the last brace I put on. It make the ride sort of a "happy bumpy" for lack a better term. It a good feel of the bumps. I definitely tie all the other braces together give ya good tight feel all around.

///14232
 
Based on Andy's "Mid brace approval" rating I am going to try installing this brace again on my next trip into the shop. If I can't get it out of the driveway that will be a big red flag and it will most likely be going up for sale......
 
Looking forward to it Andy. I've had for how long now...a year? killing me that I can't complete the full GT Spec package :wink:
 
:laugh: While I enjoy mine for a year now. No I took it off during the winter months. Am I the only one with the Mid Chassis brace on? Anyone?
 
la_fx35 said:
The Mid Chassis brace was the last brace I put on. It make the ride sort of a "happy bumpy" for lack a better term. It a good feel of the bumps. I definitely tie all the other braces together give ya good tight feel all around.

///14232
Click to expand...

ty for the link.
I'm a bit bumpy right now already. I like how the ride feels now, but if U say it's an improvement, then maybe I should jump in. I'm looking for that WOW comment. Like 'You have to have this!; Amazing shit!; I can corner at 80!'
happy bumpy doesnt do anything for the imagination of crisp handling. Try again?
 
Well GTO, if you're nearby you welcome to drive it yourself. The feel on your ride is a personal preference. You don't know me enough to know what I like and how my driving style to judge what makes me happy will do it for you. All the experiences I have said on here about this brace was base on my personal preferences. I can tell you that I like the feeling the Mid Chassis add to my ride. I have all their braces on and I can feel this brace tie them all together. Hope that helps.
 
Installing this now. I got the front two bolts easily, but the mounts for the rear two are a little sketchy to me. I'm worried they are going to fall out because I can easily pull the "install a mount" in and out of the hole. The metal they are using there is a lot thinner than what I remember it was like with the front brace that also used these mounts. I have yet to try with an impact gun, but when just testing by hand the whole mount was spinning so I don't know how it will go. And yes I was holding the long cylinder still. Going to jack it up some more to get more clearance for the impact gun now.
 
I know two of those do not get installed w/ those crush rivets (I think the rears). Check to make sure. They do not give you extras. There should be nothing falling in & out of a hole.
 
It worked once I hit it with the impact gun, although I did round off two bolts haha. Luckily I had the extra one from the front brace left over or I would have been SOL for sure. They seem to be in there well, and if I remember correctly once you install the bolt to hold the brace it should help secure it better. The brace does sit pretty low though. I guess they built it like that for clearance. It might just barely be lower than my y to mid connection. Gonna give it a test run now when I go to the dealer to pick up a hook I broke in the cargo area.
 
:top: Test runs:

I only drove around a bit, but I hit some of the spots I wanted to. Feels really nice with turning and stuff, kinda reminded me of the STB feel at first. Also seems smoother over the little dips where storm drains are. Only reason I can compare is because I was driving my GF's sister somewhere a few days ago and went over the same dips. I just got the new tires on though, so that could be helping a bit with the rear grip wise.

But yeah, overall I definitely like it. Just hope it stays mounted now and doesn't scrape. I like that the bolts can be easily accessed from the side. I'll probably double check them tonight.
 
StuLax18 said:
:top: Test runs:

I only drove around a bit, but I hit some of the spots I wanted to. Feels really nice with turning and stuff, kinda reminded me of the STB feel at first. Also seems smoother over the little dips where storm drains are. Only reason I can compare is because I was driving my GF's sister somewhere a few days ago and went over the same dips. I just got the new tires on though, so that could be helping a bit with the rear grip wise.

But yeah, overall I definitely like it. Just hope it stays mounted now and doesn't scrape. I like that the bolts can be easily accessed from the side. I'll probably double check them tonight.
Click to expand...

Would you say it contributed to over or under steer?

Sent from my DROID RAZR
 
My setup has a touch of tail happiness, which is what we all want. The mid bar only added to it, but not by any huge difference. I think it's a worthy upgrade

DSCN8105.jpg
 

Attachments

  • DSCN8105.jpg
    DSCN8105.jpg
    75.5 KB · Views: 42
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top