What strut brace

[FarmerPug]

I have read the old threads about it and it sounds like its good, it removes body lean, but now i have went onto the electronic bay there is about 3 different ones:

1:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PEUGEOT-406-COUPE ... _500wt_928

2:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PEUGEOT-406-COUPE ... _500wt_928

3: some jokers looking this for a metal bar, well good luck to them;
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PEUGEOT-406-COUPE ... _500wt_928

£30 doesnt seem to bad, but could the brace be painted with a bit of spray i have the same as the cars, and is it hard to put in, there isnt any special technique to avoid breaking anything, i see some come with bigger bolts

[HimBigChief]

Mine was somewhere about that price posted. You'll need the longer bolts. Open bonnet, undo the three torx on each strut, put strut brace on, fit longer torx bolts back in. Job jobbed. Just make sure that it clears your bonnet. It didn't clear the sound proofing on my bonnet and was raising it up slightly at the back, so I re-adjusted the strut brace courtesy of a big sodding lump hammer.

[Doggy]

Mine was somewhere about that price posted. You'll need the longer bolts. Open bonnet, undo the three torx on each strut, put strut brace on, fit longer torx bolts back in. Job jobbed. Just make sure that it clears your bonnet. It didn't clear the sound proofing on my bonnet and was raising it up slightly at the back, so I re-adjusted the strut brace courtesy of a big sodding lump hammer.

Did that leave you with a gnat's more negative camber?

[FarmerPug]

hitting it with a hammer seems a bit extreme when some carpets in the way, would the strut brace not eventually make a suitable imprint into the soundproofer, anyhow its not enough to put me off. Did you find your cars handling any better, my suspension is all original and i still want to keep the cushy effect, its one main reason for buying the car

[highlander]

When I bought mine, it had already been "persuaded" to fit into a saloon by its previous owner (Mountain).

Doesn't look any the worse for wear, and for the money, it's a fantastic addition to the car; the old girl feels like she corners on a rail now. Some slightly stiffer shocks wouldn't go amiss, but she handles pretty well as she is.

[FarmerPug]

would it be necessary to do some negotiations with the brace to make it fit in, i dont want big hammer dents in the bar, and what effect is negative camber

[plod]

For the money, it's one of the most effective additions to the handling of the car.

Drastically reduced understeer on my car.

I bought mine off Ade1122, and as the chief said, the use of a persuasion tool, sorts out the fitting issue.
I don't personally think the bonnet lining thickness is greater than the difference the bar makes, so use of the persuasion tool is essential.
Whack a rag around it, before hitting it, if you're bothered about damaging it.

[FarmerPug]

what thickness is the bar, and when you hit it where are you lowering it, what part is it hitting against the bonnet

[HimBigChief]

Basically I just hit it near the strut top mounts to get the whole length of bar slightly lower. I tried it with the lining off, and it hits the bonnet, raising the rear of the bonnet up when it's shut by a good 5mm or so IIRC.

[plod]

About 6 inches along the bar away from the Offside strut top, is where I did mine.

You may find you have the "bracket of no discernable(sp?) use" in the way - in which case it'll need bending down.

[FarmerPug]

im not making fun of your spelling but what is the bracket of discernable use which gets in the way, as for the issue of it being a bit high ill order one and cross that bridge of lowering it if required, but i asked the seller who said it fits saloons ok, perhaps a change has been made, but even so a good whack with jezzas favourite tool and a tea towel round the bar to stop nasty looking dents should do the job, i assume with all of you doing the same it doesnt disturb the handling.

[HimBigChief]

I can't really tell you what difference it made as I fitted mine at the same time as I fitted the lowering springs, a load of replacement bushes/track rod ends, and also got it 4 wheel aligned at more or less the same time, so hard to say what made the biggest difference, but the car handles well now! That said, a few bits have started to wear out after a year of hard driving (about 25k miles of country roads and A roads) so I need to get it up and have a wiggle and see what needs replacing.

[plod]

I thought I had a pic of my engine bay but appears not

If someone hasn't posted it up by tomorrow I'll take a pic of mine and post it up so you can see what I mean
What it is, is there's a bracket on the offside strut that no one seems to know why it's there
It's in the way of fitting the strut brace - a pic tomorrow will show you what I mean

[waue1978]

Don't go too mad with the hammer just yet though - I bought one from Ade & mine bolted straight into my car with no persuasion required at all.

There's a pic of it here:

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10942

[plod]

Maybe yours is pre bent lol


Sorry couldn't do pic of bracket as thought I'd finish work just before 5 but didn't till half 7