[sp4149]

With Flash's recent announcements, I am wondering what I should choose for the best results on a limited "968 entertainment" budget. Or must I do all? I have a deposit in for a cab chassis stiffner from last year. Our 95 Cab is pretty much stock except for Konis all around.

What next? The lower suspension brace sounds attractive, especially if a new alignment is not needed. However does it need a new strut tower brace as well? I haven't considered the strut tower braces because of the limited clearance under the hood and I don't want any additional obstructions when working under the hood. (Others may not like the 968's pop-up headlights, but after working on our early 944s cooling system with the headlight mechanism's horizontal bars in the way, I love the 968 pop-ups) My initial thought would be just install the lower suspension brace, with the cab chassis stiffner installed when available.

The question is "Do I need the strut tower brace to benefit from the lower suspension brace?" Most of the posts were by owners who already had strut tower braces. I don't want to break the bank and do all possible upgrades; but I also don't want to do anything that compromises the handling if installed just by itself. I have had clearance issues already with the hood that others don't seem to have, so I'm very leary of the strut tower braces. For whatever reason (Tip?) I seem to have between a quarter and half an inch less clearance (than others) at the back of the engine compartment.

-sp4149

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[LES]

Good question but let's take it one step more. With the swaybars, lower chassis brace, strut tower brace and the chassis brace, what is the most approriate way to upgrade if you can't do everything at the same time? I would also like to hear your thoughts on what the added stress will do to the car and what replacements/upgrades should be considered. In his thread on the swaybars, Flash addresses these questions but also state that around town and not driving at the limit, the bars would be fine. Does that mean we can hold off on the shock and strut upgrades? What I'm looking for is some advice on how to proceed and what to expect in terms of cost if I go down this never ending road. As far as type of driving, let's look at these questions from the perspective of a weekend driver with occassional DE's.



Looking forward to your thoughts.



Doc

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[flash]

after making sure that everything in the way of bushings is at least up to snuff, if you are looking see which way to go in "bolt-ons" first, i would do the strut tower brace first - i've always said this - that is where the most flex is, especially in a cab - it also requires no other changes - this will allow you to take advantage of more aggressive alignment specs, because the camber change is now limited a lot more, which means you can add more to begin with



then i would look at swaybars - M030 are absolutely fine for all but the most extreme situations and needs (yes, i'm one of those nuts)



then, shocks and struts - you can consider spring upgrades at this time, and make the determination based on how you will be driving - 250# front and an additional 100# rear is a VERY nice all around setup (unfortunately this means another alignment if you did an alignment at step one)



then, the lower brace, but this is where you start to look hard at the castor blocks and upgrading them - if you do, it means another alignment



if all of that is still not enough, then you can swap out springs and swaybars again, but it's a whole lot easier at that point



hope that helps

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