first, the long story short - amazing difference.

i drive my 92 daily to work and the many of the major non-highway roads just suck. on these roads, you can hear, feel, and see the front end of the car shake and shimmy. with the brace installed, much of this has been diminished. bad news is now i can hear all the other stuff rattling in my interior. :D

i noticed my steering felt more even, but this may be because my alignment might've changed ever so slightly - for the better. (R-D Racing includes shims so you don't need a new alignment after the install).

some details :

- workmanship is great. black clearcoat, nice and shiny. no burred edges, great welding. no tweakage. perfect fit in the engine compartment after some work.

- included instructions was a page of text, and a page of pics. pics are helpful. i didn't have any big problems with the install but i don't know about the variance of the placement of some of the parts depending on vehicle. for example, if my engine sat another 1/8" forward, i would've had some trouble.

- biggest pain was getting the serp belt out, and worse when putting it in. i actually figured out an easy way to do this. i took a 5/8" box wrench with a rope attached to the other end. slip the box wrench on the tensioner - pull up on rope HARD with one hand, slip belt on/off with the other. there is very little room to get a ratchet in there.

- R-D racing suggests you cover the brace in some padding or cloth during the install so the paint doesn't get dinged. it was very good advice. i wrapped mine in newspaper. HOWEVER, before i wrapped it i forgot to check which end went in first and i managed to get the thing in the opposite way! :mad the brace is asymmetrical so just check before you shove the thing in, spending an hour trying to get it past the idler pulley. after spending another 1/2 hour trying to get it out, it took less than 10 minutes to get it in in the right way.

- okay, great, it's in. last thing to do is get the included shims in to fill in the gap (i think there were 4 pairs of different thicknesses included), and put the A-arm bolts back in. well i was on my last bolt when i saw that the stock bolt was now too short! the camber brace might take up 1/2-3/4" depending on the gap you have between the brace and the frame rail. if you are going to get a camber brace, measure the amount of thread you have left on your A-arm bolts.

i wrote Dave Cooper of R-D Racing and he sent me a longer bolt immediately. apparently mine was a very rare case. anyway, from when i put my order in, Dave exemplified what customer service should be.

those of you sitting on the fence on getting one - i say get one. maybe Dave might throw in another CF group purchase deal. :D

:cheers:

 

Nice news! :cool: I was wondering if I should get one on my '91? Is it worth $165?

 

I love mine too.:)

 

Thanks for that excellent tip! So you used NO shims?
Dave sent me mine awhile back. I don't know what I'm waiting for to install it :confused: I'll do it this weekend!

 

i did use three shims. forgot which sizes, but i had a total of about a quarter inch of a gap to fill.

if you plan to take the car for an alignment after the install, shims are not necessary.

again, install was not bad other than my bonehead mistake of putting it in the wrong way, and getting the belt out and back in.

good luck. i'm sure you'll love the results! :cheers:

 

I love mine, If your on the fence,get it!! You won't be dissappointed!! Customer service is great with R-D Racing!! The Cross-Bar is another excellent addition to any Vette.

 

Just finished installing mine. It was cake. Like 20 minute job total.
One thing:

same here. My bolts were too short. I omitted those thick beveled washers temporarily. I will try to get some longer bolts somehow.
WOW!! This thing is great!!! The front end is really solid now! I love it! Major improvement!!! Front end is sooooo tight! Fantastic! Steering response and handling are awesome!


[Modified by 89 Paul in Cal, 7:10 PM 6/15/2002]

 

I drove Gary96LT4's Vette with the camber brace, and it drove like a totally different car than mine. I've got to get one.

 

STL94LT1,
I was just wondering the other day if you had gotten a Camber Brace yet. I picked up a Cross Bar from R-D Racing a couple of weeks ago and it makes a big improvement also!!

 

Did mine on Sunday. Took 30 minutes. I did not have to remove the serpentine belt. The socks worked well. No scratches. I didn't use the shims as I am getting it aligned because I also lowered the rear at the same time. Thanks Dave. :cheers:

 

Has anyone had any issues with the install on a lowered car? My main concern obviously is the front of the car being lowered. I plan on installing a lowering kit (1" drop) in the next few weeks, then purchase the Camber Brace. :cheers:

 

Lowering your car will not affect the brace in anyway.

A lowered Vette and a Camber-brace will make it handle like it's on rails. :yesnod:

Thanks for all the great comments and feedback.

Dave

 

Hey

Great Mod, Handles much better. Get it, you'll love the difference :D

Gonzo

 

Sure, talk me into spending even more money.

 

I install my brace this past weekend. I noticed a major improvement in the turns... :D I had some problems with the install... I had almost zero room to install the bar on my LT4. It might be because I have the BE-Cool Radiator installed and looks like it sits back a little more; in comparison to the stock unit in my friend's LT4/CE. During the install I ended up removing some of the red "camber brace" letters. Oh well.. It works and that’s what matters... It says "Cam A E" I think ahahhaha




[Modified by Bluewasp, 10:18 PM 6/18/2002]

 

Does anyone have pictures of this installation? What does it bolt to?

 

If it wasn't raining cats and dogs I would run outside and pull the cover to snap a few pics, but it bolts to the front A-arm bolt. If you look at the upper a-arm you will see the black frame part, not sure whats it called, and you will then notice some shims and followed by the arm itself. Well the bar bolts to the inside of the frame. It would like like bolt head, camber brace, frame, shims, arm, nut and there are two washers in there someplace...

[Modified by Bluewasp, 10:22 PM 6/18/2002]


[Modified by Bluewasp, 10:27 PM 6/18/2002]

 

:nono: New decal is in the mail :yesnod:

 

well took the top off for the first time today with the camber brace, and while obviously less stiff than when the top is on, it is a great improvement. no flexy flyer action on Grand River (the chunk of asphalt the state of Michigan considers a road).

 

I have to add my kudos to Dave and his Camber-Brace! I am quite pleased with the handling of my car with it installed. Dave's customer service is next to none. I also had the "short bolt syndrome" with the right side due to the many shims from my recent alignment, and Dave sent me a longer bolt by UPS Next Day Air at no charge. I popped that new bolt in, and everything is perfect! Thanks, Dave! :cheers: :D