2- or 4-point front-subframe brace?

[J.P.B.]

I am not looking for comparisons among different manufactures; my question is more general. What are the benefits of 2- and 4-point braces, and under what kind of driving (and driver) will those benefits be noticed?

I suppose I should add... "or, no brace at all?". I am not suggesting that there might be no benefits; just that it might sometimes be better to choose another mod first.

I suppose we should assume that there is already a strut tower brace on the car. But, maybe it's worth thinking about the benefits both with and without having a strut tower brace?

And, I am thinking about a car that is daily driven as long as the weather is good, and is driven on a road course regularly over summer and into the Fall.

Many thanks for your thoughts!

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[Roadway 5.0]

2-Point: stiffens front, gives more steering feel, provides more mid-turn feedback. Very inexpensive and allows for large headers/long-tubes.

4-Point: safe to assume all of the benefits above, but more. More expensive, but still a great value. Restricts large headers.

My impressions, owning the Steeda 2-point, is you will feel the improvements all of the time when talking steering feel. Get into a corner and you get more feedback as well.

I highly recommend getting the strut tower brace be done in conjuntion.

 

[Mustang_Lou]

Are you concerned about impact harshness?

My observations from the 4-pt, which is bolted directly to the lower control arm, is you'll feel ruts in the road as sharper impacts.

I took mine off a few days after install and am going to cut the front arms off and make it a 2-pt when the weather warms up.

Others told me there was no change to NVH and I heeded their advice but that's my personal observation.

I appreciate the vendors who put these products to market but way too many times you only hear about the pluses but never about the negatives.

 

[J.P.B.]

@Mustnag_lou Thanks for the info. I would very much like to hear your comparison with the re-install as a 2-pt. Very interesting comparison since it will be on the same car, and I presume the set up will be exactly the same otherwise.

 

[BMR Tech]

Are you concerned about impact harshness?

My observations from the 4-pt, which is bolted directly to the lower control arm, is you'll feel ruts in the road as sharper impacts.

I took mine off a few days after install and am going to cut the front arms off and make it a 2-pt when the weather warms up.

Others told me there was no change to NVH and I heeded their advice but that's my personal observation.

I appreciate the vendors who put these products to market but way too many times you only hear about the pluses but never about the negatives.

We have sold thousands of them, and have (4) cars with them - and have YET to hear or feel that.

If I believed that to be true, I would tell people - but we do not believe that the NVH increase is measurable enough to be felt by 99.99% of the consumers who acquire and install.

 

[BMR Tech]

Additionally, I had a customer tell me that a brace eliminated their tram-lining.

These feedback of amazing results, or unwanted results from bracing systems are placebo for the most part.

 

[J.P.B.]

@BMR_Tech What do you expect will be the benefits (and what driving conditions) of a 4-point versus a 2-point brace? How impart is also having a strut tower brace installed?

 

[BMR Tech]

The benefits to bracing are much different than the benefits to most pieces that we all install on our Mustangs.

The most important benefit to bracing is adding a higher level of rigidity to the chassis and key-points, to allow for the suspension to do it's job better. Deflection anywhere in the system is bad, however removing ALL deflection is not practical for most.

You want to find the balance between compliance and rigidity. With the chassis bracing we offer for the front, which are the 4pt and the 2pt, the primary focuses are as listed below:

CB007 2pt: This piece was intended to be used to box in the rear portion of the front subframe ("K-Member") to help support increased loads from aftermarket modifications, larger wheels and stickier tires etc.

CB006 4pt: This brace was designed as an "above and beyond" version of the CB007, as it boxes the rear subframe as well as adds additional rigidity to that portion by connecting to the rear mounts of the FLCAs which see heavy loads during road course abuse. Naturally, the 4pt brace will do a better job by capturing 4pts of the subframe that see heavy loads during track use.

The CB007 is what I usually recommend for most "Average Joe" build that focus on improved street handling.

The CB006 is what I usually recommend for most builds where the customer says they plan to run a wider wheel, stickier race style tires and track the cars frequently.

 

[Nagare]

The way Rodney at Steeda put it when I asked him is the only reason to go with the 2 pt over the 4 pt is if you can't fit the 4 for some reason.

I'd imagine Kelly would say something similar. I think BMR's 4 point doesn't clear Kook's headers and also the V6 for some reason or another.

Still interested in the answers because these might be the next part I grab for suspension if I go any further, have to see how the car handles once I put in my STB and cowl brace.

edit » was on the reply screen before he submitted it there. Kelly, would you say there's any reason to do it with wheels that are within OE specs (mine are 8.5" right now) and for occasional autox use?

 

[J.P.B.]

Kelly, I am running and 18x10 square stance, and I am driving daily in good weather, and weekend track days over summer and Fall. So, you think there would be a noticeable benefit of going 4-point?

Also, I am about to upgrade my GT to the FPPP Track Shocks and Strut kit and your SP083 springs.

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