front/rear frame brace effectiveness?

[TType84]

hey guys..

i was wandering around home depot today looking at material to make frame braces..

the backseat ones i just grabbed some 3/4" conduit, it should work nicely.

but i was wondering about the 2 braces sold by Jeff D, @ http://jeffd.50megs.com

he made his for a monte.. so I was wondering if those braces would be useless on regals because we have metal bumper brackets (ok so they have some kind of shock absorbtion... but still) and then we have big metal bumpers and metal bumper reinforcement...

do montes have all of that reinforcement too?

i really do want these braces.. but if regals wont benefit i guess it would be a waste of money..

anyone know the answer?

 

[GNICETRY]

I have the rear brace. It was the easiest thing I have EVER done to my car. I noticed a little difference, less noise. It wasn't as noticeable as the rear/front frame braces(Kirban), but for $20 we need every thing to stiffen these cars as they can.

 

[TType84]

what kirban braces are you talking about?

the factory front diagonal braces and the rear seat braces?

im about to go outside and make a set of rear braces right now

 

[ALBERTAN]

Ok Nick I have done all of these. Here is the lowdown...

Rear Seat Braces - I made mine out of conduit from a hardware store also and painted them semigloss black. They look good and I did notice a bit of an improvement when I took if for a drive. Nice easy mod for almost nothing. Recommended.

Front Frame Braces - I obtained the Grand Prix triangulating braces. I was never able to get the final brace on as I never got the requisite washers to space it away from the stock IC. But I did install the two crossmember to frame rail braces after shooting them black also. HUGE improvement in ride quality. I would never own a TR without these braces...period. It's a completely different car with them on. I have them off right now as I just installed a V4 and the car floats like crap and is scary making fast lane changes (the ET Streets don't help ). Very, very, very highly recommended. You get the point. Get a set NOW!!!

Rear Frame Braces - I too saw that Monte site you referenced. Though I was a little suspicious, the other braces worked so well I figured I'd go buy a piece of square steel tubing and try it. Absolutely no improvement was noticed. That site says I started thinking about the fact that the frame rails are not connected together past where the springs are, kinda like a giant tuning fork! Not good!. Let's think about this a second... What are you tying that brace into? An existing bumper bolt on either side of the end of the frame rails. Therefore does it not stand to reason that this brace does nothing the bumper itself is not already doing? Tuning fork indeed... I pulled this thing off after a hundred miles or so and tossed it like the piece of dead weight it is. Definitely not recommended.

Good Luck. HTH.

 

[salvageV6]

The Kirban front cross brace along with the daigonal front braces from either Kirban or other GM cars all work extremely well.

Gotta make or buy some rear braces someday.