DTE strut brace
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 7,506
Likes: 0
From: Hillsborough NJ
DTE strut brace
I'm just wondering how many of you big horsepower guys feel the need to put the DTE Strut brace on your rears. I've seen varying opinions (though the shop I use really does believe in them...and I have one, but I'm a "small" power guy compared to some of you here
).
Speak up...don't be afraid.
).Speak up...don't be afraid.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,521
Likes: 146
From: Watertown CT
Former Vendor
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 10,876
Likes: 8
From: Las Vegas NV
St. Jude Donor '06 & '12
I have a strut brace as well. I love mine. with the exception of it hitting my exhaust pipe on the passenger side. That drives me NUTS.
But all in all, I wont NOT have a strut brace.
Check with cajundude. He's making some pretty trick ones. I think I even convinced him to integrate it into his new billet diff side covers he's making.
But all in all, I wont NOT have a strut brace.
Check with cajundude. He's making some pretty trick ones. I think I even convinced him to integrate it into his new billet diff side covers he's making.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,872
Likes: 7
From: Richmond VA
Ok, I'll be different. I do race and I do not have one. I decided to upgrade both shafts instead. I was told that the brace doesn't keep the diff together, it just keeps the tranny safer if the diff blows. I put my $ in making it stronger so it is less of a chance to blow. Also, I dont launch very hard either.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,382
Likes: 0
From: Va Beach VA
St. Jude Donor '07-'08-'09-'10
FedEx Bowl 4 St. Jude '09
I do not have one at the moment but when I do my trans and diff swap I am going to add one. I am still not sold on if it helps that much but it cant hurt and for a few hundred bucks why not add one.
Last edited by obxfunn; Dec 3, 2007 at 09:35 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 26,794
Likes: 614
From: Elmhurst, IL (West Suburb of Chicago) & Home of MEGA Horsepower
St. Jude Donor '06
I have one on my Blown Z although when I take my car to track (dragstrip) a couple times a year I launch easy and when I went this year I was on street tires. Have done more road racing than drag racing since supercharging my Z06 b/c of what is posted in the next paragraph. 
On my old 98 427 C5R Auto car, i was into drag racing more and did not have one (DTE Brace), and I broke in my auto when my rear end flexed up and broke away from my tranny (taking out the tranny case and rear end case).
I was told it may have prevented this upward flexing if I had one on my old 98 A4 427 Roadster (C5) but who knows.
That old PROTHRUSTER YANK 4000 hit like a sledghammer with my old 427 C5R motor in it!
It probably doesn't help out as much as folks think it does but I am certainly no expert on that topic!
That being said I agree with the above poster who says for only a couple of hundred bucks it can't hurt (and it certainly is affordable compared to how expensive all this other high perf. C5 stuff is)!
On my old 98 427 C5R Auto car, i was into drag racing more and did not have one (DTE Brace), and I broke in my auto when my rear end flexed up and broke away from my tranny (taking out the tranny case and rear end case).
I was told it may have prevented this upward flexing if I had one on my old 98 A4 427 Roadster (C5) but who knows. That old PROTHRUSTER YANK 4000 hit like a sledghammer with my old 427 C5R motor in it!
It probably doesn't help out as much as folks think it does but I am certainly no expert on that topic!
That being said I agree with the above poster who says for only a couple of hundred bucks it can't hurt (and it certainly is affordable compared to how expensive all this other high perf. C5 stuff is)!
Last edited by Mopar Jimmy; Dec 4, 2007 at 12:16 AM.
Life Time NCM #2196
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 82,586
Likes: 1,698
From: Converse TX
I am with Nouman another small power guy with the brace
Race Director
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 12,725
Likes: 14
From: ECS : WTF did you break now and HTF did you break it this time
Don I tore my trans case, diff case and trans output shaft into pieces with my car without one. Here's the kicker.......teh Z was stock with a shifter and a catback.......and me launching like an animal. It went in when the turbos went into the Z......quite a few passes launching the car like i hated it at times (like the day I called the shop and said i'm goin to a rental at atco and the car is coming there afterwards, it might not run by the time I get it there, but I charged teh winch battery)
The new FRC has one and the shafts...
The new FRC has one and the shafts...
Pro
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 734
Likes: 0
From: Austin TX
I had one on when I lost my Stage 2 differential. It pretty much blew the whole passenger side of the case off. There are pics somewhere around here. Actually pulled/blew the bolts out of the diff casting. When I removed the diff the transmission case was undamaged. Thankfully I still had my stock differential. I reinstalled that, along with the brace and haven't had any issues to date.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 7,506
Likes: 0
From: Hillsborough NJ
I had one on when I lost my Stage 2 differential. It pretty much blew the whole passenger side of the case off. There are pics somewhere around here. Actually pulled/blew the bolts out of the diff casting. When I removed the diff the transmission case was undamaged. Thankfully I still had my stock differential. I reinstalled that, along with the brace and haven't had any issues to date.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,059
Likes: 12
From: AKA Harvey Mushman-I know just enough to be dangerous "Those who sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither"- B. Franklin
Senior Member
Cruise-In V Veteran
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 4,275
Likes: 4
From: Vancouver WA
I have a strut brace as well. I love mine. with the exception of it hitting my exhaust pipe on the passenger side. That drives me NUTS.
But all in all, I wont NOT have a strut brace.
Check with cajundude. He's making some pretty trick ones. I think I even convinced him to integrate it into his new billet diff side covers he's making.
But all in all, I wont NOT have a strut brace.
Check with cajundude. He's making some pretty trick ones. I think I even convinced him to integrate it into his new billet diff side covers he's making.
Mine hits the exhaust pipe too. I had some other clearance issues too on my A4 that I have resolved since then. But the exhaust pipe rub can be fixed pretty easy. The brace just needs a bevel cut on it. I also have been working on a design for my own set of billet Right and Left side billet covers. I have some ideas that may help beef up the whole differential case along with it, plus a few more bells and whistles with it. This is something I started on last year, but got the car running and pushed the project in the closet. Now that the weather is turned to crap, I can raise my car up and do some more measuring for clearances and finish up my CAD file.