Cowl Brace on Convertibles, Who's done it?

[Adam the Lighting Guy]

Hi Guys,

For those with a convertible without a PP1 package, who has installed the Ford Performance cowl bracing & how effective was it? I've already got the strut tower brace but I hate watching my rear view mirror vibrate going over bumps etc.

Thanks in advance for the replies.

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[S550HPP]

Id say it's effective and a must have.

 

[Adam the Lighting Guy]

Are you speaking of personal experience?

 

[gvn49]

just a fyi on our 2020 mustang ecoboost premium convertable I bought the Ford Performance Strut Tower Brace set When I went to install I noticed I had a steel cowl brace, magnet will tell if steel or not, so I got out the calibers and measered both, they were the exact same size so I didn't bother installing the cowl brace but it seamed to stiffen up the front end with both the exsisting cowl brace and tower brace. Now your milage may be different as none of the bolts seamed to have been messed with so I assume this cowl brace was factory original. Also other threads don't recomend Ford torque specs as quite a few have broken bolts on the shock towers thread search will give you more info.

 

[Adam the Lighting Guy]

OK, made a rookie mistake.

My car already has the brace being its a CS as I discovered yesterday while under the hood. It is somewhat camouflaged if you've never looked for it before. Even with it though, still have a bit of shake which I suppose now is to be expected with this platform. The only other Vert' I've had the experience of putting any miles on has been a BMW Z-4. That car was a vault in terms of solid rigidity.

 

[S550HPP]

The only shake I hear is window slap when up and top down.over harsh bumps, otherwise it's solid.

Strut brace? Do you have the belly K brace?

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

The only shake I hear is window slap when up and top down.over harsh bumps, otherwise it's solid.

Strut brace? Do you have the belly K brace?

I was just about to ask that question.

 

[Johnnybee]

OK, made a rookie mistake.

My car already has the brace being its a CS as I discovered yesterday while under the hood. It is somewhat camouflaged if you've never looked for it before. Even with it though, still have a bit of shake which I suppose now is to be expected with this platform. The only other Vert' I've had the experience of putting any miles on has been a BMW Z-4. That car was a vault in terms of solid rigidity.

Yep, as far as I know all convertibles came with the cowl brace standard, as was the additional bracing at the back the coupes don’t have. Have thought about a tower brace as well but haven’t gotten around to it yet, 6+ years in.

 

[S550HPP]

Must have the strut cross brace tied into the firewall to strut tower brace...CS should have is already

 

[Torinate]

OK, made a rookie mistake.

My car already has the brace being its a CS as I discovered yesterday while under the hood. It is somewhat camouflaged if you've never looked for it before. Even with it though, still have a bit of shake which I suppose now is to be expected with this platform. The only other Vert' I've had the experience of putting any miles on has been a BMW Z-4. That car was a vault in terms of solid rigidity.

Yes. The Z4 was certainly my a vault!!

Took off my strut brace when the super charger went on. Honestly, I’ve spent a lot of time in this convertible as well as my friends coupe and it’s actually really difficult to tell a difference. Never tell when the top is up - only when down and you see the slight movement of the A pillars on occasion.

I think the people think ragtops are just weak little floppy cars because that was the case many years ago. They have evolved as well. And really, I honestly don’t believe that predictable flex is always a bad thing.

 

[Kenbike]

Have a 2015 GT Convertible with a Whipple and the car is solid.
Also have a 2021 GT500 and it is really solid!
Could not tell much difference in the 2015 with the strut tower brace removed., add jacking rails at the same time so that may have helped slight to add strength to the car.

 

[Evolvd]

My 2017 EB Vert has the cowl brace and I added the FP strut tower brace to it. Next up is the Steeda 2-point belly brace.

 

[S550HPP]

My 2017 EB Vert has the cowl brace and I added the FP strut tower brace to it. Next up is the Steeda 2-point belly brace.

I wouldn't the crash tested OE chassis brace take off from recyclers over after marke steel spears...

 

[Evolvd]

I wouldn't the crash tested OE chassis brace take off from recyclers over after marke steel spears...

Huh? The one I installed was brand new from ford performance.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

What did he say?

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