eSeM

This morning I had a go at fitting a the X-Brace onto me car. I have a friend who has a pit in her garage so to make things easier I took my car round to her place.

I removed the 4 bolts as per instructions and I then tried positioning the brace and inserting the front 2 bolts first.

I found that if I did this I wasn't able to get the rear bolts to meet the thread as the brace was tight against the existing melal plates.

I then tried putting the rear bolts in first but it looked like the front, LHS thread was about 2mm out and I was unable to get the bolt in.

This is what it should look like.



To be honest I didn't spend very long trying this as I had to be somewhere else and I was woried about threading the bolts and/or holes.

Anyone else had any difficulty fitting their Braces??

I plan to have another go at it tomorrow morning.

NookieBear

Steve,

I didn't have the luxury of a pit but it took me around 2-3 hours. Three bolts go in and then it's lever/bash/smash the last one into place. Well worth the effort though.

Don't know if there is a secret to doing the install but I sure as hell didn't find it. Probably don't do the bolts up tight until all are in, but they kept popping out when I tried this. I believe the best way is to have 4 people down the pit with one corner each and hold the bolts in place as you all do them up at the same time!!!

Have fun

Del.

Scooby

Hi Steven,

We had this exact problem when fitting mine. When fitting the front two bolts, the back two were about 3mm out. Tried slacking some of the other bolts off around where the rear mountings are, but this didn't really help.

In the end, had to file the holes out on the x-brace itself. Filed a small amount from all four corners instead of taking 3mm out of one hole. This only took about 10 minutes with a round file.

Hope this helps - at least you know that the braces all seem to be slightly out and its not something specific on your car.

eSeM

I was getting a little worried.

These replies were exactly what I was hoping for. Thanks!

bluenoon

Hi Steven,

Mine is still in the kitchen but I am even less likely to have a go now!!

Who cares though cos I passed my test, and the 2 wheeled Honda is taking priority at the moment.

Dave

eSeM

Congrats! Did you go for the Hornet?

I used the Scooby method and it took me 15 minutes this morning to file and fit the brace.

Lurking Lawyer

I've been dithering over fitting either the strut tower brace and/or the X-brace. I remember Muz posted a month or two back about which one he recommended if you were just going to fit one, but a search doesn't turn up the thread I have in mind and I can't remember which it was

This thread reminded why it was that I couldn't be bothered with the faff of a X-brace, so can anyone remember whether Muz said there was any appreciable benefit in fitting the strut tower brace alone?

Glad to hear you got yours sorted, Steven.

Scooby

Glad you got it sorted OK Steven! You tried it yet?

Mark, the lower X-Brace should make the most difference. With double wishbones, the strut brace has little structural effect. Does look purdy though! Keep getting tempted by carbon fibre strut braces!!

Pontio

is the Spoon Front Cross Beam Bar any good?
are the rear strut bars any good too?
Where did you purchase that X brace from?

Lurking Lawyer

Pontio, the X-brace was from Muz, the site sponsor I mentioned on the other thread where you asked. URL to his website is in the photo at the top of this thread.