Matched Cusco Strut brace installed

by **domgtb25t** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 6:15 pm

Thought i would show some pics of my new strut brace with brake stopper thanks to PHAT, I Had it painted by a mate of mine so it would look a bit more subtle, Think it turned out pretty good.

Took it for a short drive and you can notice a difference but i would not say it is massive however it sure looks the goods. I did run into one issue though the abs cover seems to sit really hard up against the brake stopper bracket and the clip is now covered so i am not sure how i will get the cover of when i need to short of removing the brace oh well....

I am looking into getting both the Cusco front H and Cusco 4 point rear Braces along with the Cusco front and rear sway bars of PHAT these along with the Strut brace currently installed should make everything heaps better correct me if i m wrong. Has anybody installed all of the above what are your thoughts?

Here are the pics:

Sorry for the bad pics again my misses has the camera so these were taken on the iphone.

by **teK--** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 6:21 pm

domgtb25t wrote:I am looking into getting both the Cusco front H and Cusco 4 point rear Braces along with the Cusco front and rear sway bars of PHAT these along with the Strut brace currently installed should make everything heaps better correct me if i m wrong. Has anybody installed all of the above what are your thoughts?
.

If you have done no other mods you are wasting your money buying all these braces, unless you want them purely for bling factor. Rubber bush compliance is much greater then flex from the parts you are intending to brace.

by **overl0ad** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 6:31 pm

good 1st step towards better handling.

just don't forget about endlinks when you do your sways.

another good mod is the removal of the tennis ball. i think phat has some as well.

by **domgtb25t** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:17 pm

teK-- wrote:
domgtb25t wrote:I am looking into getting both the Cusco front H and Cusco 4 point rear Braces along with the Cusco front and rear sway bars of PHAT these along with the Strut brace currently installed should make everything heaps better correct me if i m wrong. Has anybody installed all of the above what are your thoughts?
.

If you have done no other mods you are wasting your money buying all these braces, unless you want them purely for bling factor. Rubber bush compliance is much greater then flex from the parts you are intending to brace.

I was speaking to PHAT the other day and am looking at getting a few things done to push some more power out of it but thought i would do all the suspension/handling stuff first.
Do you think that installing the additional braces i was talking about are a waist of time. Also i think the bushes you mentioned are on the list PHAT is putting together.

by **domgtb25t** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:18 pm

overl0ad wrote:good 1st step towards better handling.

just don't forget about endlinks when you do your sways.

another good mod is the removal of the tennis ball. i think phat has some as well.

End links will have to mention that when i place the order. What do you mean removal of the tennis ball?

by **Kekotic** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:08 pm

domgtb25t wrote:End links will have to mention that when i place the order. What do you mean removal of the tennis ball?

I think he's referring to the bushes on the front control arm that make the steering feel a little doughy, PHAT's bushes fix that and make it very precise.

by **domgtb25t** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:19 pm

Oh yeah PHAT showed me these the other day he says they make a huge difference also good for preventing lift of the front end on take off.

by **Mr Cali** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 9:09 pm

I have the same strut brace and wanted to paint the ends a different colour as well just haven't decided on a theme as yet.

by **domgtb25t** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 9:31 pm

Yeah I hate the blue stands out like dogs balls not the kind of thing that belongs on a luxury car in my opinoion. Yes I know that that's the cusco color but just don't think it belongs on a liberty well not the style I'm going for anyway.

by **tangcla** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 12:52 am

Since when did the ends come black instead of Cuscoblue?

by **Kekotic** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 1:00 am

Just buy the STi one instead.

Cusco one that includes the brake stopper isn't as effective as standalone version....according to some car genius...

by **overl0ad** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 7:19 am

the carbon version of these braces come with a gunmetal finish

by **smythie** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 9:36 am

domgtb25t wrote:Oh yeah PHAT showed me these the other day he says they make a huge difference also good for preventing lift of the front end on take off.

Actually they allow more lift - they remove the anti-lift and anti-dive Subaru built into the suspension.

dom, don't worry about the calls for sway bars. IF you are going to do sway bars, do both at the same time. Doing just the rear will create an oversteer problem for you if you ever get it near its handling limits. With stock sway bars they already have an oversteer tendency at the limit - snap oversteer. You don't need to be making this worse.

by **blacktop™** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 10:38 am

i really like how you've painted it black...even though you got rid of the awesome cusco blue colour that everyone loves. i think i might consider doing the same.

how did you mate paint them exactly?

by **teK--** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 12:22 pm

smythie wrote:
domgtb25t wrote:Oh yeah PHAT showed me these the other day he says they make a huge difference also good for preventing lift of the front end on take off.
Actually they allow more lift - they remove the anti-lift and anti-dive Subaru built into the suspension.

That's right, the name (that Whiteline uses) is pretty ambigious since it should technically be called a pro-lift kit instead of anti-lift. A lot of other companies just call them positive caster bushes.

Also, they are most beneficial when cornering.