about strut tower brace fonction???????

[windtalker]

hi from France

someone can tell me if the strut tower brace for no turbo PT cruiser is really good fonctionnal????
i find one around 170 us dollar for my PT 2.0 limited auto gearbox!
i have interest for it but wanna have some user's opinions!
so i thank you for your next response
best wishes usa
Philippe

[Sci-Fi]

Welcome to the forum, and yes, the tower strut bar is functional and you can feel the difference in handling.

What brand or who makes the tower strut bar you are considering purchasing? Freedom Design is the best buy (lowest cost), but in general, all tower strut bars are equal in what they are designed to do. It's a matter of buying what you like or the design of the bar.

Warning: Do not buy the APC tower strut bar. It is junk. Here are 2 reviews on the APC tower strut bar:
http://ptenthusiasts.org/cgi-bin/rev...pl?apcstrutbar

[quicksilverdon]

You will feel the difference in steering with a strut bar. The car is more responsive to any turn of the steering wheel. Follow Sci-Fi's advice - some strut bars have been know to hit the hood, so search posts here or other PT forums so that you know the one you're buying has no problems.
Also - be careful with tightening the nuts on the strut towers after you put the strut bar in - they don't take much torque and several people have broken the bolts off.

[windtalker]

hi SC

thanks for your response

i find two strut tower bar

one is BTG STRUT TOWER BRACE around 170 us diollars

other is POLISHED STAILESS STEEL STRUT TOWER BRACE around 80 us dollars?????

why such a difference
i suupose btg is the best

thanks again
philippe

[fritz_t_coyote]

quote:Originally posted by windtalker
one is BTG STRUT TOWER BRACE around 170 us diollars

other is POLISHED STAILESS STEEL STRUT TOWER BRACE around 80 us dollars?????

why such a difference

The materials used and manufacturing techniques make all the difference here.

The freedom design bar is a simple, elegant piece of carefully bent stainless steel tubing welded to the endplates that bolt to the strut towers.

BTG is a beefy, heavily machined hunk of extruded aluminium.

Both do the same essential job, and improve handling over stock.

I have not seen a measured performance comparison.

[Sci-Fi]

quote:Originally posted by windtalker

hi SC

thanks for your response

i find two strut tower bar

one is BTG STRUT TOWER BRACE around 170 us diollars

other is POLISHED STAILESS STEEL STRUT TOWER BRACE around 80 us dollars?????

why such a difference
i suupose btg is the best

thanks again
philippe

Aluminum is more expensive than Stainless Steel and requires a bit more care to keep up the looks. When the BTG first came out I went down to PT-Tuning to look at it more closely, and it was originally designed for supercharged PT's and later for PT's that had NO modesty covers installed. Believe the Export PT's still come with the modesty covers, U.S. models do not. You can do a search at various PT forums and find several people had filed/modified their modesty covers where it hit or rubbed on the strut bar, or added rubber/foam strips to those areas, or permanently removed their modesty covers. Both tower strut bars are finely engineered products, so it comes down to what you like the best.

Just FYI: Recently, there was one BTG owner that reported a problem of the MAP sensor breaking because it was hitting on the bottom of the BTG strut bar from the engine torque/flexing. But it took over a year before it broke and the only one so far that experienced that problem. Might want to double check clearances if you decide on the BTG strut bar to avoid any future problems. Can read the thread here:
http://ptenthusiasts.org/PTForums/sh...ower+strut+bar