1995 3000GT: TEC Rear Strut Tower Brace Installation

• Why Do I Want To Do This?

  • Bracing the strut towers increases chassis stiffness, which in general, yields better handling. Bracing the rear strut towers also helps the rear tires maintain proper alignment with the road during cornering.
  • This particular strut tower brace is beefy enough to be used as a video camera mounting location and (with optional M10 studs and an extra brace installed) a harness bar.




• How Long Will It Take Me To Do This?

  • To install the brace, you'll need about 30-45 minutes in addition to whatever time it takes you to remove the interior panels in your cargo area. Plan on a couple hours so you can take breaks to drink your beer and admire your work.




• Anything I Should Do Prior To Attempting This Procedure?

  • Remove the 3 large plastic interior panels in your cargo area.




• What Mitsubishi Parts Will I Need?

  • None.




• What Other Parts Will I Need?

  • TEC Rear Strut Tower Brace




• Where Can I Get the Stuff To Do This?

  	Part	Company/Contact	Part Number
  	TEC Rear Strut Tower Brace	Chris Thorne at TEC Performance	N/A





• What Tools May/Will I Need?

  • Phillips Screwdriver (#2)
  • 14mm Socket (Deep Socket preferable)
  • 15mm Socket (Deep Socket preferable)
  • 10mm Socket Deep Socket (cars with glass sunroof only)
  • U-joint for Socket Wrench (optional)
  • 14mm open-ended wrench
  • Socket Wrench
  • Some kind of metal cylinder of 1/4" diameter (rod, punch, drill bit, etc,)




• Erik's Review

  • This bar is amazingly solid. It doesn't flex. Ever.
  • Installation was really easy and the adjustable preloading is a really nice feature.
  • If I had a dime for every time someone has said "@#$%, that's the nicest-looking strut tower brace I've ever seen!" I'd be a rich man. It's functional, and it'd go very well in a show car.
  • After installation, I noticed a little shift in the handling toward oversteer, especially at lower (under 50mph) speeds. This brace, coupled with a front brace and front and rear upgraded sway bars, has dramatically changed my car's handling for the better.
  • When used as a video camera mounting location, this bar provides a rock-solid base for the video camera. Much of the in-car video on this site has been shot from a mount on this bar.

The Procedure

	Parts Included With the Brace
	Here's what you get with the TEC brace - only one side of hardware shown. Both brackets (lower is optional support bracket), locking collars for the ends of the brace, the bar itself, and grade 10 fastening hardware. The ends of the brace are threaded, so the collars thread on either side of the bracket to lock it in place; much like the height adjustment on coil-overs works.
	Another View
	Here's another angle of the pre-assembled brace.
	Closeup of Parts
	Closeup of pre-assembled brace. Note the (3/8") thickness of the bar. That thing ain't gonna move. At all.
	Assemble Brace
	Assemble the ends of the brace. I left a little play between the threaded collars so I could easily adjust things upon installation. The stud with the nut on it sticking out of the near side of the brace is used to mount the ECS electrical harness rather than having it just flop around. IMHO, that's excellent attention to detail in the design process.
	Alternate View
	The other side of the assembled brace is shown above. Here you can clearly see the optional support bracket. The two bolts that hold it down are not fully tightened at this point.
	Mount One Side of the Brace
	Here's the RH side of the brace placed in its mounting position. Note that there's a bit of slack/play in there - that's intentional for test-fitting purposes. Note how well everything fits - no wrestling, jiggling, wrenching, cursing, or anything else needed to get the brace into position.
	Mount Other Side of the Brace
	Here's the LH side placed into position.
	LHS Bracket
	Another view
	RHS Bracket
	Another view
	RHS Vertical View
	Tighten Nuts and Bolts
	At this point, I tightened the collars to be finger-tight and flush against the mounting bracket. Then I partially tightened the nuts that attach to the studs on the struts on each side. Then I proceeded to tighten the nuts on the optional support brackets, the bolts on the optional support brackets, and the nuts on the strut studs. I did this a few turns at a time, working similarly to how you properly tighten lug nuts (don't do one side completely and then do the other side). The spec on the nuts on the upper strut mounts is 33 ft*lbs.
	Attach ECS Harness and Fully Tighten Collars
	Make sure you attach the ECS wiring harness to the stud on the bracket if you have ECS. Then fully tighten the collars on the bar by inserting a 1/4" spanner or 1/4" punch (or in a pinch, the smooth end of a 1/4" drill bit will do).
	Preload Brace As Appropriate
	As far as I understand it, drag racers want to preload the brace to push outward on the strut towers to combat sagging during the launch. Road racers and auto-crossers want to preload the brace to pull inward on the towers to keep the rear wheels in proper alignment during high-g corners.
	Reinstall Trunk Parts
	I had my interior trunk trim out for other reasons when I took these pictures, so that's the reason for the bare metal in the trunk. Eventually, I'll have pictures of the completed trunk area.