Thanks to everyone who helped me on the other thread. Much appreciated

The things i noticed:

• The minor creaks the car developed over the years are gone, the rear feels very solid now. Most noticeable coming out of an incline/driveway at an angle.
• The rear also feels softer/smoother over minor bumps and undulations. As noted in other threads, it seems the dampers are now doing most of the work instead of having the chassis help with absorbing the shocks.
• Noticeably less oversteer. This caught me by surprise at first.
• I can't say for sure that there's less roll, but it does feel that way, possibly due to the point above.

Thoughts on the bar itself.

• Very well made, it seems. It weighs about 13lbs.
• There are no real installation instructions. The only instruction that came with it is a generic how-to on using the blind-rivets and the included tool... in Chinese. As it was my first time using this type of rivet, it took me a while to figure out how it worked. Thank goodness for the internet, that showed me the way
• The rivets are to be installed using an impact, but i ended up using a wrench (found it easier, and i could gauge when to stop).
• As mentioned by the others, GT Spec seems to have a habit of shipping these out with the bolts and mounts in the wrong location. You'll want to sort this out ahead of time if you want to minimize being under the car.
• Installation is a breeze, between jacking the car up, installing everything and putting the car back down, it took me about two hours. That included taking photos and looking for my socket set.

I have a bunch of photos posted on gShack for anyone interested in looking, including a shot of where the bolts were and where they should be.

http://gshack.org/?p=250

An animation of how those rivets work, for those curious.

 

Nice write up.

Curious how you managed to get the rivets started with just a wrench?
I tried that, but found I needed the impact to compress them.

 

So with those rivets... in theory you can never get the brace off of the car?

 

Thanks. A big thanks to you again for all your help with it

I initially tried the impact, but i forgot to charge it so it wasn't doing anything, the insert would slide right back out. So, i called it a day and put the car back down. The next day, before taking the impact out of the charger, and on a whim, i figured i'd try a torque wrench. After about 5 or so turns the insert held itself and after a few more full turns locked itself in place. Actually did this part with the car still on the ground.

The rivets are only to give you the threads for the bolt that holds the bar to the chassis. If you remove the bar, the rivets stay in place. Since you get three rivets (one is a spare), you'll need to order another from GT Spec if you plan on selling the bar later on.

 

That is awesome! I guess i have to get this for my car then. haha

 

^WHS
The rivets stay in place but the bar can be unbolted.
When I parted out my mods I was able to order new rivets for the person that bought my brace.

BUT: It took me three months to get the new rivets. (back ordered)
I was lucky enough to find a member that gave me his spare rivet.
So, with his spare & my spare, I was able to get the parts to the new buyer.

When the new rivets were back in stock, I shipped them to the member that helped me.

 

It's definitely worth it.
I did the other rear bars at the same time & would also recommend the M shape rear brace together with the 6 point chassis brace.
It works to tie the rear points of the 6 point brace together.

 

^ amen and amen. The more i drive the car around, the more i like it. In fact i put 80 miles today just for the heck of it. On the freeway the car is so smooth now and, again, tight turns are so easy to make and the car doesn't feel like it's leaning as much. It feels just... right.

 

ok, just to clarify??....How do I install those 2 threaded Inserts? Do I stick it in the hole in the Chassis, and wrench it down hard? or use an Impact gun to wrench it down? or can i do it by hand? Also do i need to use high force to get these things in there? Or just use low to medium force to install these? Or is there a good Link on how to use these besides that Animation one..which gave me somewhat an idea on what to do, LOL

Really sucks there no real direction for these inserts than the damn chinese or whatever it came with! LOL. plese LMK, I just got my 6 -point, and is going to install it tomorrow! Appreciate the Info! Thnx,

 

You can do it either way, by hand or with an impact. I initially followed Ian's recommendations of using an impact, but my compressor is out of commish and my cordless one wasn't charged at that time. While i waited for the battery to top off i decided to try it by hand, which worked. You just need a long enough wrench (i used my torque wrench).

The inserts literally slide into the hole, using the tools and a wrench/impact you then start cranking down. After a few turns the inside of that insert will collapse onto itself. If you'll look at the insert, the middle part is not smooth, that's the part that collapses. Between the washer on the outside, and that collapsed part on the inside (which acts as a washer/collar), it seals and holds itself in the frame rail.

Whichever method you choose, try to measure how much of your threaded bolt (i.e. tool) is now sticking out, measure it against the collapsible part of the insert so you know whether you're done attaching it. Although once you start feeling any significant resistance with the wrench, that usually means it's done.

Here's a likely better video that shows how the blind rivets work.

 

Ok, FInally got the 6-Point Installed On Sat...Install was not too bad, after I finally got the Blind Rivets Installed! Thnx for the Vids MIKE...I just used my cordless Impact..and it was a breeze to install those things.

Now I got the 2-point, and the 2 small Frot tie bars and the rear Lower Tie Brace. with all these additions, the Steering Response is Awesome! It's moves with a little turn of the wheel, and the car just feels more solid!

Have not had a chance to take some turns hard yet, but I'm sure it will be better! And hope it does not scrape over speedbumps! I already got damage on the Front 2-point brace, as Speedbumps here are Gigantic in some places! LOL..just wanted to give my Input! if u want a more solid feel to your Ride! I recommend the GT-Spec braces.

 

bringing the old thread to live!

my rear end seems to travel by itself during the speed highway turns. I have stock g35x soft suspension with the RWD rear swaybar and GTSpec front strut bar

how do you think, will this 6-point brace help me or should I buy hotchkis awd swaybars instead?

 

Can you expand on exactly you mean by the rear-end traveling by itself?

 

well, when i start to make a 45^ degree turn, doing 90 mph my rear end begin to bounce from side to side and I cannot go higher speed and keep the car stable!

 

sounds like bad shocks to me.