Thread: Got a ZZPerformance Front Strut Tower brace

Definitely getting the rear as well- nice cost effective mod with amazing engineering. The car handles so much better now




Place where wiring harness is moved and you remove a small stud- will paint soon to prevent rust.






Put a ZZP sticker on it, lol.



Look at that tiny little pulley

Anyhow, I really like this mod- had one on my first GTP but this one having more miles really benefited from the additional structural rigidity

The rest of the suspension must be pretty aged if it helped that much.

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

The rest of the suspension must be pretty aged if it helped that much.

My original one that I bought new was helped a lot. And yes, the suspension is aged, the car is 17 years old lol.

I don't like the bolt attachment of mounting bracket to the brace... Seems counterintuitive to have a pivot point right at stress location. It may offer an upgrade over having nothing, but I believe a SOLID bar attaching to the strut is better. Looks nice though!

Personally I have Don Rome brackets with GMPP Strut Braces and agree that you can't just change one component of the suspension.

Along with your braces should come new struts/springs, LCA's, Heavier Sway bar - ie, Dorman or Adco, Poly Sway bushings and end links. And don't neglect the rear... You want to see a difference? Add rear strut brace, Adco sway, Poly's and poly end links and of course beefier BMR trailing arms. Get an alignment and add camber bolts with -1.0 adjustment... Tires will wear faster but you'll have more grip and the understeer will be much less noticable. Will corner like it on rails (comparative to 4,000lb car with all weight up front) hahaha...

Have fun!

I have two sets of the Regal GS strut bars, never got the Don Rome brackets, although they look nice. Ultimately, this is a way slicker looking piece and I'm definitely doing the rear.

I like all the ideas coolone has in his reply, I probably won't get that far with it though, just a couple simple things. I really like doing things one at a time anyway to get a feel for what the part does or doesn't do.

Those look good I didn't realize they updated their STBs. Look more like the BMR ones now and are probably slightly more rigid. I didn't notice a massive improvement when I installed the front and rear BMR but it helped for sure.

Originally Posted by SomeDudeAtHome

Those look good I didn't realize they updated their STBs. Look more like the BMR ones now and are probably slightly more rigid. I didn't notice a massive improvement when I installed the front and rear BMR but it helped for sure.

Yeah. They redid them in February I think. I contacted them for purchase and they said to wait for the redesign. I really like it, it makes a big difference on this car. Big for me anyway, I'm not tracking this car or anything and decent ride is important so a lot of suspension mods are just not my cup of tea.

As as far as the pivot points on the bar to bracket, it makes sense to me that a solid bar would be more rigid but this bar works great and looks great, plus it's compact. No charge on is batch for the red paint either, previously it was a few bucks more.

Originally Posted by SaukRapids

The BMR ones are almost twice as expensive. Not a bad move to put the savings toward the rear one.

Word up

Back in '08, I installed a solid, dual bar strut tower brace bought from ZZP. It was built by "OTTO Racing", it was all chromed, and wrapped around the 3 strut mount studs on each side. I still have it on the GP. I have never seen this strut tower brace on any other GP. In fact, after googling the name, the company doesn't make them anymore apparently. I don't remember the price on it.

Also, about dressing up the engine bay, I am disappointed that ZZP stopped selling tubular engine braces. I am not sure of the manufacturer of those. ZZP stopped selling them a few years ago, and when I asked about them, ZZP said they were going "in a different direction" with engine braces. Now, I don't see any engine braces on their website, strut tower braces.

Originally Posted by NotEnoughGPs

Back in '08, I installed a solid, dual bar strut tower brace bought from ZZP. It was built by "OTTO Racing", it was all chromed, and wrapped around the 3 strut mount studs on each side. I still have it on the GP. I have never seen this strut tower brace on any other GP. In fact, after googling the name, the company doesn't make them anymore apparently. I don't remember the price on it.

Also, about dressing up the engine bay, I am disappointed that ZZP stopped selling tubular engine braces. I am not sure of the manufacturer of those. ZZP stopped selling them a few years ago, and when I asked about them, ZZP said they were going "in a different direction" with engine braces. Now, I don't see any engine braces on their website, strut tower braces.

That sounds like a nice strut bar, do you have any pix? It sounds like the one I put in my Formula, that is tubular and has 3 attachment points IIRC (It's under a car cover right now or I'd look).

As far as tubular engine braces, do you mean the dog bones? Someone should do that, but maybe a little shorter- there's supposed to be a minimal benefit to pulling the engine up a little.

Originally Posted by NotEnoughGPs

Back in '08, I installed a solid, dual bar strut tower brace bought from ZZP. It was built by "OTTO Racing", it was all chromed, and wrapped around the 3 strut mount studs on each side. I still have it on the GP. I have never seen this strut tower brace on any other GP. In fact, after googling the name, the company doesn't make them anymore apparently. I don't remember the price on it.

I bought my 99 with one of those bars on it a couple years ago. Didn't fit that well I didn't think and I didn't care for it lol. Traded it for a set of stock wheels/tires. But you're right. They're about impossible to find.

Got the rear a couple days ago and had a chance to put it on today and take a test spin. Very nice addition, I could feel the chassis being more stable on some of my normal routes. Caught a few creaks as the piece got torqued on the initial drive, but it's quiet now.

Very happy with it- just need to modify the trim to accommodate the bar.

Looks way better than my buick braces!!

Originally Posted by rickisrad

Looks way better than my buick braces!!

I have a set of those for front and rear and just couldn't get into the idea of drilling to use them- considered Don Rome's brackets at one point, then moved and can't find 'em anyway so ZZP it is