Anyone want a UniBrace?

[Manaz]

Hi all,

I'm about to order a UniBrace (formerly known as the TST Rear Strut Brace - if you don't know what it is, look it up!) for my Bora.

The price last time I checked (waiting for an updated price now) was USD$275, plus $185 shipping. However, shipping for two of them is only $225 - or $112.50 each, a ~40% saving on the shipping.

With the dollar being as strong as it is at present, two would come in under the $1k threshhold to avoid GST and Duty.

If you're interested, let me know.

[SoVeReIgN]

Tempting, but at $400 odd a little pricey.

Convince me? Worthwhile?

[balkanac]

Thats a bit too much for a strut brace really. Why cant someone make a normal rear strut brace for these cars?

[dubsquad]

Might be pricey, but it looks alot better than the normal ones.

Cheers
Leigh

[Manaz]

Tempting, but at $400 odd a little pricey.

Convince me? Worthwhile?

The idea is thus - the suspension mount points on your Golf (most any car, to be honest), form a trapezium - a four sided object. Without changing the length of any of the four sides of that shape, you can fairly easily change the angles by pushing on one or more of the points.

The larger the shape, the less force is required to achieve deflection, or the more deflection is achieved with a given amount of force. The back end of the Golf, being very open, is a large shape - and thus the rear end geometry of the car is relatively easily moved "out of wack".

Rear braces attempt to fix this by bracing the rear of the car diagonally, creating triangles - which are geometrically immovable without changing the length of one of the sides. This stiffens the whole rear of the car up.

What makes the TST brace so good? High quality construction (check the numerous posts on the Vortex forums for proof), the ability to take it out (and put it back) easily if you need to put a large load in the car, looks almost OEM (sits largely flush with the back of the seats when they're up), and it braces the rear really well.

Is it worth ~$400? Depends what you're trying to achieve. I'm hoping to track my car at least semi-regularly, and stiffening the car up will help to improve that experience.

[Manaz]

Thats a bit too much for a strut brace really. Why cant someone make a normal rear strut brace for these cars?

A normal strut brace just runs from the top of one strut to the other, and whilst it stops the tops of the struts from becoming closer/further apart, it doesn't stop the whole rear end from changing shape (it keeps the struts parallel to each other, but not perpendicular to the ground). The TST brace does both - keeps the struts parallel to each other AND stops them changing angle in relation to the ground/floorpan axis.

[balkanac]

cool, i learned something today
But how come normal braces work fine on other cars? I know you can get lower ones for the front, can you get a lower one for the back?

[Manaz]

cool, i learned something today
But how come normal braces work fine on other cars? I know you can get lower ones for the front, can you get a lower one for the back?

They work to a point. If the brace just runs on a diagonal, it helps "triangulate" the geometry, tightening it up - but if it doesn't join the strut towers together at the top, there's still an ability for movement up there.

If there's a combination of strut top and diagonal bracing, that's more effective again, as it does two jobs (keeps the tops of the struts at the same distance apart, keeping them parallel, and stops the left/right lean from occuring as well).

In a Golf hatch in particular, horizontal bracing between the strut tower tops is virtually non-existant (as the roofline is so far away from the strut tops). In my Bora, it's not so bad because the parcel shelf helps to brace to a degree.

In the end, each type of brace is a compromise, they'll do some things well and some not so well. The Unibrace/TST Brace is bigger/heavier, contains more material, but it tries (and by all accounts succeeds) at bracing the rear setup in much the same way as a combination of strut top and diagonal bracing would do - but with a look that's less obviously after-market, and infringes less on boot-space (and is easily removable if that's required).

It costs more because it does more. In the end, that may or may not suit everyone - but if it does suit someone, I'm hoping to be able to help them get one in at a substantial discount to the norm.

Regarding lower bracing - not sure if it's needed as much as it is on the front, as the back of the car is built differently due to no requirement for steering, etc.

[Treza360]

I'll vouch for these. I have a TST brace in my car and it's awesome. I like it especially at the moment with the seats out and you can here it creaking away as the chassis tries to move against it. Relatively easy to install yourself (if you're game to drill holes in your car) and also easy to remove with just an Allan key. Don't worry the holes can't be seen with the seats up.
Cheers,
Trent

[RolfGolf]

Whatever did happen to the plan of fabricating something like this locally? (It was mentioned in a thread last year from memory.)

[h100vw]

It was a fella in Perth IIRC.

Gavin

[Manaz]

It was a fella in Perth IIRC.

Gavin

Yep - I was trying to organise that, but he dropped off the face of the earth.

[gavs]

Hmmm, good point....

He was going to send me the dxf of the file and I was going to try and cut one here at work and fabricate it myself....

[Manaz]

Nobody wants one? Going to place the order early next week!

[Big_M]

If I grab me a R32 might just need one !!

But alas cannot commit just yet.