6G Celicas Forums

Hey guys, If you were to get one strut brace only, which one would you get. The front or the rear.

I have a factory strut brace in the engine bay but I got no idea how good it is.

I heard that if the car is a front wheel drive, get a rear strut bar. It will work better than a front one and vice versa for a rear wheel drive car.

Any ideas?

If you have a coupe, get a the front, it already has a rear. For a hatch, I would still say front just because the rear is a pain to put in.

The rear one shouldn't be that hard to put in should it? Take out the boot panels to get to it and maybe the backseat?

Depends on the rear strut bar...
if it is an adjustable one and comes apart then yes it's relatively easy -
undo the strut bar so that you have the bar and two mounting supports, take the panels off, connect up the strut bar supports, replace panels, connect up strut bar and adjust.
However, if it is a one piece strut bar then it's going to be fiddly.
You going to have to connect it up w/o removing the panels.
From what I can see on my hatch there are two small square removable covers in the panel that come off, putting the support end of the strut bar through them looks awkard, and then there's the rear mounting screw/bolt that's going to be fiddly to get at.
Good Luck
P.S. I'm just waiting for my strut bars to arrive (4-10 days) and then I'll being do the job myself.

I think that it will be easier to put on the bar, adjustable or not by taking out the panels anyway.
I know what your talking about when you say the square removable covers. You will have to take out the the whole panel on both sides because the bar won't fit in the square opening.

What brand bar did you get?, did you get a front one as well?.
Tell us how it goes

hey sikboy,
from my own personal opinion, i'd go w/ a front bar if you're just gonna be able to get one right now. this being because that would tighten the car up more in turning than a rear bar, the rear bar would just add a tiny bit of stabilizing. other options you could look into in the future are sway bars for the front and rear, and also JIC makes a lower arm bar that acts basically like a lower strut tower brace...and tightens the front end up and keeps it from flexing, only from under the car.
hope that helps,
-John-

does anyone know where to get a rear strut brace... I have not been able to find one online and I really would like to get on ASAP... I had one custom made but It broke after awhile

OK, I received my strut tower bars today.
The Front one is an OEM Toyota Strut Tower Bar (Made in Japan).
It is identical to the TRD one.
The Rear one is made by RS*R in Japan and is a straight bar adjustable one.
(Ref. No. TBT0009R for the ST202 & ST205).
Unfortuanetly, I can't tell you any more than that because it's all in Japanese.
BTW: Yes they do fit my AT200 (97 ST).

I already have my back panels out, oooerrr missus!
...just for clarification, with your panels off, don't forget to thread the bar through them before installing.
(Put the bar on and then try putting the panels on...doh!)

I found the RS*R site - http://www.rs-r.co.jp/
(Hope you can read Japonese!)
For the strut bar, select the 2nd menu item on the left hand side of the window and then from the corresponding side pop-up menu the second link from the bottom.
The one I have "looks like" the S15/Silvia.

good stuff!, all you have to do now is tell us how it handles and the differences before and after.
Also bang for buck factor?

I paid $275 shipped (...that's USA -> France) the pair.
I think that's a damn good deal considering that I have seen the front one alone at around $200 + shipping.
Anyway, I'm putting them on this weekend.
However, I'm off on xmas hols for a couple of weeks, so I'll let you know the difference when I get back.

Put the strut bars on yesterday and ...... WOW!
What a difference.
It has to be the best investment I have made so far.
The handling is sooo much better.
(BTW: I live in the mountains - lots of twisty roads).
Before when going round corners, at any speed, the car was wollowing and rolling.
Now, I have no wollowing at all and very little roll. It's a very stable ride.
(BTW: I have standard suspension).
I can just imagine that, with a new set of shocks and lowering springs, it's going to have no roll at all and will handle as if it is on rails.

hey vphmc got and pics of your new strut bars ?

sounds like its going to be my next investment. You said that your front strut bar is OEM, so is it one that goes from the strut to the firewall and to the other strut? I have one that came stock with the car and was wondering if its the same one. where did you get them from, Any websites?

Strut braces are great.

I've replaced the standard Toyota one from the front with a TRD triangular brace. In the rear, I've got the ST205s brace.

The front brace made the most difference, great on the bends. The rear just seemed to tidy up any last bit of roll the car had.

Altogether, brilliant. Installation only takes a couple of minutes and is will worth doing.

Thanks for the reply Johnny That was exactly what I was looking for. I didn't know that the GT4 came with a OEM strut bar at the back. Is there any chance that you can get a post a pick of it? I just bought my girlfriend a JIC Magic strut bar for the front of her MR2. I hardly drive the car so I can't really tell the difference between the stock bar and the JIC bar. She said that its more steady and she can take corners faster and it doesn't get the understeer shutters.

Does anyone know of JIC and are they a good brand? I got her bar for about $230 AUD which is about $120 USD.

No worries SIKBOY

I'm planning on taking a load of up 2date pics of the car tomorrow. So will post the strut pics then.

Here you go SIKBOY. Pics of my struts.

Thanks Jonboy. I have to get that front strut bar that connects to the firewall. It's mad styles

where are yall finding these bars so cheap?