Get Rigid... MX-5 Suspension Braces

[Alex]

Is anyone here running one of these? Is it really as good as they claim and worth the $$$?

IMO prob the best chassis brace out-there is FM butterfly brace

http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?dep ... 20%2090-97

Quite a few of the Sydney guys have them, myself included.
I thought it was worth it (for the price I paid)

[sliq]

i plan on getting this in a few months time. just for bling

[madboy]

i plan on getting this in a few months time. just for bling

I simply don't like the fact that it uses your alignment bolts to secure it.

[Ando]

I had the Racing Beat rear brace removed this morning. It made the rear too stiff for my OEM rear sway and suspension. I think it needs to be matched up with a serious suspension setup.

[rascal]

Doesnt it just bolt to the body and not the suspension?
In which case how could it make it too stiff?
It would just stop the chassis flexing and let the suspension do what it should.

Just curious as saw these and thought they could only be good..

[madboy]

Doesnt it just bolt to the body and not the suspension?
In which case how could it make it too stiff?
It would just stop the chassis flexing and let the suspension do what it should.

Just curious as saw these and thought they could only be good..

FM butterfly brace is to the chassis, Racing beat rear brace is to the rear subframe

[Ando]

****UPDATE****

I have had the OEM suspension replaced with KYB Excels and King springs. I also added a rear trunk tower brace.
The shorter springs meant that the front brace couldn't clear most speed humps without having to virtually stop the car, and some savage humps on the rooftop car park of Westfields Chatswood pushed the mid brace onto the cat and I had to limp home making all sorts of vibrational noise .

I took the car straight to my fave guys at Marks & Wallings in Artarmon where the diagnosis was simple: remove the braces and redo the wheel alignment... I was out of there in 30 mins with no booking etc.

So, now I have front and rear tower braces, progressive lowered springs and new OEM style shocks.

Removing the braces didn't alter the feel or dynamic of the new setup. The car feels great and clears all speed humps easily. Phew! I hated the lack of clearance issues.

All is good for now and I can see new sways on the horizon, but no hurry here.

[Juffa]

****UPDATE****

remove the braces

So, what is happening with the braces you removed....hint hint.

J

[samx5]

One of the members in our Club had similar symptoms to what you first described with his NB8B with 80,000 on the clock.

After a precision alignment it improved but not to the extent it should have. The suspension was then tested on one of those “shake ’em” up machines to check the shocks and bushes. All seemed to be right but it was decided that the shockies must be almost passed their used by date so in went a new set of Bilsteins and springs.

The problem still existed and in fact got worse. It was decided that the shocks needed to be re-valved so off they came and re-valving was done. Still no great improvement. After much swearing it was decided to go with a known setting and the shocks were re-valved to the same specs as the SE. Still no good. On Club runs he just couldn’t keep up through the corners in fear that the car would skip off the road.

The member by this stage was starting to rip out his hair. He’d dropped big $$$ and still the suspension experts couldn’t work out what was wrong. So one last test was carried out. A hydraulic impact ram was applied to the inside bottom of the front rims to test the lower bushes. As it impacted on the rims it was obvious that the problem had been found. There was outward movement where there should have been none. It took a lot of force to show this up where previous test had failed.

So some more big $$$ were injected into the bushes replacement and the problem was solved. So before you race off and purchase a truck load of braces to fix perceived body flex suspension problems, have your bushes check with this magic hydraulic ram.

Interesting, I've got a book on MX5's (Mazda MX5 and Miata 1989-1999) which mentions that the lower wishbone bushes will need to be replaced at the 100,000km service, almost as a regular thing like the timing belt. Mine is perhaps not as compliant as it should be, will look into it.

[Rob E]

****UPDATE****

I have had the OEM suspension replaced with KYB Excels and King springs. I also added a rear trunk tower brace.
The shorter springs meant that the front brace couldn't clear most speed humps without having to virtually stop the car, and some savage humps on the rooftop car park of Westfields Chatswood pushed the mid brace onto the cat and I had to limp home making all sorts of vibrational noise .

I took the car straight to my fave guys at Marks & Wallings in Artarmon where the diagnosis was simple: remove the braces and redo the wheel alignment... I was out of there in 30 mins with no booking etc.

So, now I have front and rear tower braces, progressive lowered springs and new OEM style shocks.

Removing the braces didn't alter the feel or dynamic of the new setup. The car feels great and clears all speed humps easily. Phew! I hated the lack of clearance issues.

All is good for now and I can see new sways on the horizon, but no hurry here.

Gday Ando,

So from reading this i am lead to beleive that the Front lower and Front middle brace made no appreciable difference to the feel of the car, once new suspension was installed ? I am just a little surprised by this, if i am reading correctly as it seems to contradict earlier comments.

Do you know what sort of ride height you are at for the Ultra braces to scrape? If you are needing a home for the bashed up front lower brace i can probably help

Cheers
Rob

[plohl]

Appologies to pring up a dead thread.... but - with the Racing beat LCA brace, could you get to the diff fill and drain bolts? like with a socket?