Well, I hunted one down and put it on today. And, like everyone else, forgot to take any photos while doing so. :twisted:
Anyway, installation notes:
For those who don't know, these things bolt between the front lower control arm nuts and two bolts on the control arm pin brackets. It effectively anchors the front of the control arms together, then ties them into the subframe. I recall someone said at one point that the brace tied into the sway bar mounts-- it doesn't, fortunately.
Although the instructions that are included are in japanese, there's a diagram that makes it fairly straight forward. You simply remove the two stay bolts, then the two front control arm bolts, and install the brace.
The 14mm stay bolts are easy. The 22mm control arm nuts are not. The torque spec for these nuts is 156 ft. lbs. In reality, there's a good chance that these have never been off many cars, and may have a good deal more torque. Mine wouldn't budge even with my ~300 ft. lb. impact gun. I resorted to putting a 18" breaker bar on each bolt, laying under the car, and kicking the bar with both feet. They eventually broke loose. Very not fun.
Anyway, with the nuts off, you can put the brace on, which brings us to fitment issues:
Once again, I get to say that a 3" exhaust is too big for the AT. I haven't finished my 2.75" system yet, and am still using the 3" motoria. And, surprise, the brace fouls on the midpipe. There just isn't physically enough space between the oil pan and all the crossmember stuff to properly run a 3" midpipe. I'd say the way to go in this area would be to use a split section of 2" or 2.5" pipe, with channels welded into it to give you the flow you need if you're running 400+ horse.
But anyway, mine rubs, so I'll be pounding on it some one of these days to get the necessary clearance.
The second fitment issue has to do with the control arm nuts. With the brace on, the arm pins are at the outmost position in the oval holes in the brace. This makes it effectively impossible to get the nuts on. However, putting a bit of pressure on the middle of the brace with a floor jack allows you to get the nuts on fairly easily. I recommend tightening them up to ~50 ft. lbs before removing the jack if you have this issue, so the ends don't move back to the original position when you torque the nuts.
Driving impressions:
I'll start off by saying that the cusco brace is second only to my Teins in an all out improvement in handling. The front end is much tighter with better feedback. However, the difference is not immediately apparent when driving normally. In fact, when I started out driving with it, I'd resigned that I had just blown $200 bucks and two hours of my life for no real reason.
Then I got the car sideways changing lanes. It used to be that with the Teins and whiteline rear sway bar, I could crank hard on the wheel to a point and it would just turn. Beyond that point, however, and it would shimmy somewhat and generally be unhappy. With the brace on, I can yank on the wheel as much as I want and it just turns, until the tail comes out anyway.
So, highly recommended, but if you're running a 3" exhaust, be prepared to give it some love with a BFH.
Edit: Now w/ pic.
Anyway, installation notes:
For those who don't know, these things bolt between the front lower control arm nuts and two bolts on the control arm pin brackets. It effectively anchors the front of the control arms together, then ties them into the subframe. I recall someone said at one point that the brace tied into the sway bar mounts-- it doesn't, fortunately.
Although the instructions that are included are in japanese, there's a diagram that makes it fairly straight forward. You simply remove the two stay bolts, then the two front control arm bolts, and install the brace.
The 14mm stay bolts are easy. The 22mm control arm nuts are not. The torque spec for these nuts is 156 ft. lbs. In reality, there's a good chance that these have never been off many cars, and may have a good deal more torque. Mine wouldn't budge even with my ~300 ft. lb. impact gun. I resorted to putting a 18" breaker bar on each bolt, laying under the car, and kicking the bar with both feet. They eventually broke loose. Very not fun.
Anyway, with the nuts off, you can put the brace on, which brings us to fitment issues:
Once again, I get to say that a 3" exhaust is too big for the AT. I haven't finished my 2.75" system yet, and am still using the 3" motoria. And, surprise, the brace fouls on the midpipe. There just isn't physically enough space between the oil pan and all the crossmember stuff to properly run a 3" midpipe. I'd say the way to go in this area would be to use a split section of 2" or 2.5" pipe, with channels welded into it to give you the flow you need if you're running 400+ horse.
But anyway, mine rubs, so I'll be pounding on it some one of these days to get the necessary clearance.
The second fitment issue has to do with the control arm nuts. With the brace on, the arm pins are at the outmost position in the oval holes in the brace. This makes it effectively impossible to get the nuts on. However, putting a bit of pressure on the middle of the brace with a floor jack allows you to get the nuts on fairly easily. I recommend tightening them up to ~50 ft. lbs before removing the jack if you have this issue, so the ends don't move back to the original position when you torque the nuts.
Driving impressions:
I'll start off by saying that the cusco brace is second only to my Teins in an all out improvement in handling. The front end is much tighter with better feedback. However, the difference is not immediately apparent when driving normally. In fact, when I started out driving with it, I'd resigned that I had just blown $200 bucks and two hours of my life for no real reason.
Then I got the car sideways changing lanes. It used to be that with the Teins and whiteline rear sway bar, I could crank hard on the wheel to a point and it would just turn. Beyond that point, however, and it would shimmy somewhat and generally be unhappy. With the brace on, I can yank on the wheel as much as I want and it just turns, until the tail comes out anyway.
So, highly recommended, but if you're running a 3" exhaust, be prepared to give it some love with a BFH.
Edit: Now w/ pic.