I have an 87 GT that is well maintained and basically stock. I have replaced all the suspension components and ball joints..etc. I recently installed the Fiero Store's rear sway bar and was very pleased at how much it helped the car. My question is this...has anyone installed the rear strut tower brace from The Fiero Store and if so, has it helped noticably? Any input is greatly appreciated!! Happy motoring!!!

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Keith
Topsail Beach,NC
86&87 Fiero GT
86&96 Corvette
04 HD Softail
73 Lotus Europa TC
86 Lotus Turbo Esprit

on the fiero its primarily cosmetic due to the fact that the trunk wall is tied right into the strut towers - if you really wanted to you could weld in a 1" box beam along the trunk wall to reinforce it a little more - but I doubt you'd see any difference

If your car is stock then there are many other places that money could be better spent. You would get more results out of upgrading other components of your suspension. A few things that come to mind are poly bushings, kyb or koni shocks, coilovers or lowering springs. If you pull back the trunk carpet and look at the trunk wall you will see a pretty good size support that connects both strut towers together. I have been told by some that an aftermarket strut tower brace does add some rigidity to the car but its such a small amount that you can only tell it in the most extreme of conditions, and thats assuming you are a good enough of a driver to notice the difference.

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Chris

3.4 TDC SWAP COMPLETED...this is going to be a fun car

I totally agree with the posts saying it is mostly just aesthetics, but I bought one a while back anyway. I don't know about the fiero store one though, I got mine from Darrell Morse.

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1988 Fiero GT
Cleveland Fiero Club

They look really cool, especially Darrell Morse's, but they're strictly cosmetic. The trunk firewall makes the rear chassis very stiff.

JazzMan

[This message has been edited by JazzMan (edited 09-21-2005).]

All true but I think that it does look very good! Mine is from the Fiero Store...

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www.yellowfiero.com/fiero.html
17" DEZENT T wheels with 215/40 tires front and 235/45 rear, KONI shocks, EIBACH lowering springs, drilled/slotted rotors, SS brake hoses. PU dog bone, all bushings and engine mounts, K&N air and oil filters, OZELOT exhaust, Mercedes SLK yellow paintjob, Mr. Mikes leather seats, door skins, shift and e-brake boots. MP3 deck and custom subwoofer behind passenger seat, F355 style front. Fiero Store rear swaybar, strut tower brace, black carpet, air intake. Rodney Dickman's competition short shifter, SS vacuum lines and deck lid strut. Billet aluminum dash kit from Kitcarman.

lol - nice new sig yellowstone

another thing to consider is that a strut bar may not fit with some of the potential engine swaps (mostly the dohc kind)

[This message has been edited by jdee74 (edited 09-22-2005).]

The one fron Darrell Morse http://www.thefieropage.com/Darrell_Morse/darrell_morse.html is more out of the way of things. Here is what mine looks like.

quote Originally posted by Kohburn: on the fiero its primarily cosmetic due to the fact that the trunk wall is tied right into the strut towers - if you really wanted to you could weld in a 1" box beam along the trunk wall to reinforce it a little more - but I doubt you'd see any difference

A couple years ago I spoke to Matt Adams (He's the son of Herb Adams, a GM engineer who raced Fieros and designed and marketed some of the first real performance parts for the suspension) and he felt that the body in the back was stiff enough as well and didn't need reinforcement.

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John DuRette
Custom 85 SE/87 Coupe
"Kinda makes you nostalgic for a Members Only jacket"

quote Originally posted by USFiero: A couple years ago I spoke to Matt Adams (He's the son of Herb Adams, a GM engineer who raced Fieros and designed and marketed some of the first real performance parts for the suspension) and he felt that the body in the back was stiff enough as well and didn't need reinforcement.

But then again, Matt or Herb Adams didn't have an Engine pushing 400 ft lbs of torque in the a$$ end of their Fiero !!!

I'll probably make a post next season, after I install mine, let you know if it makes any difference. I have no complaints as it is now, but Darrel's bar is a nice looking part addition to the compartment, and very affordable.

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Car History: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/025670.html

[This message has been edited by California Kid (edited 09-23-2005).]

I made a brace for mine from the brace in the 96 to 99 bonneville. Shortened the brace, cut the brackets and rewelded and attached to the strut towers in the same way as in the stock Bonneville install. Comparing my Fieros without the brace to my 86 with the brace the rear has much greater torsional stiffness (tested by jacking on one side of the frame and measuring the deflection on the other, comparing both cars.)

Rolland

Some say it is good others say it is worthless. If I had some extra money I would do as someone already stated...just weld in a square bar. That couldn't hurt any. It would be out of the way and you could add as many as you want considering menard's/lowe's doesn't run out. The best part is it is very cheap. Ii do agree that if you have a monster motor or carve corners you might NEED to upgrade.

[This message has been edited by goatnipples2002 (edited 09-23-2005).]

Cut Your Trunk ....No .

Its A Waste Then

quote Originally posted by ZeroC: Cut Your Trunk ....No . Its A Waste Then

What?

I Like them........DM's here!

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88GT/Auto/Beechwood Leather/SunRoof/Wing/JVC-CD-Sub-Woofer/225/45/17 Michelin Pilots/All Opts Ex.T-Tops

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[This message has been edited by 2000RagTop (edited 09-23-2005).]

quote Originally posted by avengador1: The one fron Darrell Morse is more out of the way of things...[/IMG]

Definitely true. I wouldn't put one of those others to have another useless part in the middle of my plugs and cables making it harder than it is to get to parts. But then the DM so out of the way it doesn't add so much bling