strut brace fitting

[no2lurch]

i just got a strut brace for my estate and i was wondering... do i need to jack the car up at the front before i fit it?

i know on my old capri, it was best to open up the strut tops slightly by jacking the caqr up at the fornt before fitting the brace to give it some more rigidity.

is this the case with the 406?

[waue1978]

I just bolted mine straight on while the car was parked out the back. Took 10mins with no hammer fettling required.

[no2lurch]

no hammer fettling required.

i'm tempted to fit mine at lunch then!

[no2lurch]

i'm tempted to fit mine at lunch then!

althought i dont have a tox set with me! doh

[waue1978]

Easiest to fit the drivers side first as the other side has a slot rather than a hole. Also, make sure you have the longer bolts with it as the standard ones won't be big enough.

[no2lurch]

yeah i got the longer bolts - brace and bolts from ade off the coupe site.

[Bailes1992]

Tell me what it does to the handling as I'd love to get one on my car when I lower it

[waue1978]

Not a massive amount that I've noticed to be honest. Think I noticed more of an improvement when I put the 16" alloys with the wider tyres on. But for the sake of £30 it is one of those things that I'd rather have & not notice than not have & maybe need it.

[Bailes1992]

Got some 16's in the garage that need refurbing and tyres

[waue1978]

Mine need refurbing, but I'm reluctant to pay £200+ to refurb 4 wheels, then another £200 for 4 matching tyres when I could get a decent set of 17s or other 16s for less than £200.

[highlander]

I just used the standard bolts. My car hasn't fallen apart (yet). No jacking involved. You should have the car nice and level, like in a good car park, or in a garage.

The estate is supposed to have better handling than the saloon anyway, so you may not notice as much of a difference as I did.

I found that the saloon rolls fairly sickeningly during tight cornering - until you fit the strut brace - there's none of that now, the car stays a lot more flat and stable during cornering.

AND THEN! I got new tyres fitted - Bridgestone B250s - and the car now corners like it's on a rail - so much grip, sooo much better handling - a world of difference.

I'd like to get some stiffer suspension springs (possibly lowering it a bit) and get some bigger wheels - but that's a fair bit more expensive than a strut brace.

[plod]

IMO in greatly reduces understeer, especially in the wet

[no2lurch]

What size torx socket do I need?

[highlander]

I used a T50 to do mine