Pictures never do Darrells products justice but here are a few, installed this today, took all of 10 min.
Almost everything is powder coated.
Its just an awesome piece of work in my opinion !!

Nice. I have the same one on my 88 Formula

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quote Originally posted by Fierokid87: Nice. I have the same one on my 88 Formula

Thats cool, they are nice aren't they !!

Well anything that is nice, and people buy, the fierostore has to 'develop'.

Yes, Fierostore is coming out with the same tower brace for 88s. Lets show support to Darrell who has been making them, and avoid the fiero store ones.

BTW, it looks great!

byt atleast Darrels is reasonably priced unlike WCF's theirs is $189 and im sure FS will be $200

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Rich AIM one fast 2m8

What kind of improvement did you guys see in handling ? It's so close to the trunk wall (trunck wall support structure) - does it do anything noticeable ?

[This message has been edited by PaulJK (edited 11-12-2003).]

Why did you mount it on top of the stock strut brackets? Seems you would want the brace brackets below the stock ones.

quote Originally posted by 88-DOHC: Why did you mount it on top of the stock strut brackets? Seems you would want the brace brackets below the stock ones.

Good eye. I just got mine on last week. Yea I think that is on very wrong. Stock brackets should be on top of the brace brackets. Check with Darrel to be sure but I am pretty sure it is wrong.

On a simillar topic, I have seen the bar itself mounted on both the trunk side of the brackets and the engine side of the brackets. I tried both. On the trunk side I have more adjustment on the bar length and can preload the tension more. Prob is on the passenger side it hits the decklid undersupport just barely. Wore off the powdercoat on the bar about the size of a bb.

If I mount the bar to the engine side of the bracket it doesn't hit anyhwere but I get much less tie in because the endlinks are screwed all the way in.

Anybody with experience on this? Darrell? Little help?

[This message has been edited by 88GTNeverfinished (edited 11-12-2003).]

quote Originally posted by 88-DOHC: Why did you mount it on top of the stock strut brackets? Seems you would want the brace brackets below the stock ones.

Yes you are both correct, but not to worry I just basically stuck it on there for now to see what it looked like and to take a few pics.
I finally found a good suspension guy and we are going to be doing some intensive work on both front and rear suspension Fri. I am haveing a lot of trouble with the car wandering way to much. Especially since everything is new !! (Tried a lot of things PFF members suggested in another thread I had. Polyed the rear last weekend, including sway bar bushings. Greased everything that could be greased and adjusted the preload on the steering rack)
Anyway since I have the bolts for the struts double nutted, I just removed the top nuts and put the braces on then bolted it back down. Once we fiqure out this suspension peoblem I will set it up like it is suppose to be.
Also the bar should mount on the backside of the braces (trunk side) I mounted mine like it is until I decide what to do with the pin switch for the trunk light. I will have to move it to mount it like it is suppose to be. I'm thinking of just running a switch to it so I can turn it off and on when I want.
Thanks guys for pointing this out, good eye !!

[This message has been edited by Zoom88 (edited 11-12-2003).]

I was looking into buying one, but I understand the trunk support pretty much cancels out any purpose for the brace. Can anyone tell me if it does help? Also, is there one for the front compartment, it would make more sense up there? Thanks.

well it looks good. nice and red. i dont mean to flame or anything but shouldnt the bar sit right in between the struts to actualy stiffen that area. it looks to me like that bar it just for looks and not so much serves the purpose that was actualy meant for. are there any tests reports done on this that i can look at if any one knows of.

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mod it until is perfect.

http://members.cardomain.com/boricuaso

They are nice aren't they. Mine is Blue,now I'm changing the GT to Grey, go figure, not color coordinated anymore.

Yes they do look nice. Mine is a under $10 homemade one. If really helps you in the slaloms and those nasty chicago boxes.

i read on the forum a long time ago that it was just for looks and didn't do anything because the trunk is so close to the strut towers. it looks neat though.

For those who doubt the benefit of the part, Darrell has a money-back guarantee. If you don't think it has helped you... then you get your money back. It's that simple!

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Looking for Fiero posters?

Oh man! Here we go again! It seems like about every six months or so I have to defend this part. For those of you who have never read or heard about this, Here is the deal: I know that there is many differnt oppinions on whether or not this thing works. About four years ago I got a request from one of our club members to build him a strut tower brace. Not wanting to build him some thing that he didnt need, I proceded to design a brace that actually did strenghen up the top area of the strut towers and tie the two struts together. I uesd a computer program named COSMOS. This was an early version of a finite element analisis program. Once I had the rear sheet metal area drawn up I could actually apply side loads to simulate cornering, different road conditions like potholes and uneven pavement. I discoverd that even with the flimsy sheet metal brace that is place along the trunk wall that there was still a fair amount of flex. Maybe not enough to affect a daily driver, But we were building a performence suspension so a minimum of chassis flex was the ultimate goal. I then tried several different approches to provide the most strengh and still fit within the confines of the engine compartment and not interfere with normal maintenence (Read Compromise). The tops of the struts provide the most leverage for the size (diameter) of the strut bar. Think about what you would use to turn a stuburn bolt, A short wrench, or a long one. The same design pricipal works here. BTW, Did you ever notice that on almost all V6 powered 86-87 Fiero's, Pontiac installed a 3/16" thick plate between the sheet metal and the top strut mount? This kind of contradicts some folks therory that the Fiero doesn't need any extra suspension stiffeners.
Through the years I have been improving the end brackets and paint finishes because besides selling a part that works, I insist that has to look cool too! I also have lowered the price twice since I started making them due to buying materials in larger quantities and shopping around for a good powdercoating vendor. When is the last time that WCF or the Fiero store done this?
To show that I totaly support the need for the strut tower brace kit, I have allways made this offer. If any one buys a strut tower brace from me and does not feel that it has helped there Fiero handle better, then all you have to do is send it back and I will give you a full refund. I dont want to sound arogant, but so far I have not had one return out of 250+ strut tower brace kits. Sorry for using up so much space. Thanks to all who support our hobby,

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Darrell Morse
Custom Fiero components

[This message has been edited by morse86@aol.com (edited 11-13-2003).]

Are they hard to install? what do you do to put them on? Do they go on top of or under parts already there?

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1988 Gary Tucker (GT)

**Note.. watch out for the deck lid position switch.. (little pop up button on left side) if this isn't trimmed or removed your bar will rub the deck lid.

Other than that, they look cool for DD's and for those who like to really pitch your cars into corners you will notice a difference.

Darryl, thanks for the education - nice work !!

Well, Darrel just covered all of my questions, lol. But I'm still cursious...how much of a diffrence in handeling did you see when you put it on?

Darrel makes some great stuff!!! The only thing I've gotten so far though is his thermostat cover, but I'm going to get thouse allnumium (sp?) craddle mounts soon (when I switch engines). I don't mean to post off topic, but darrel, could you pay extra and have the powder coated to prevent them bonding with the steel?

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www.freewebs.com/fierogti

<>{RazorWing}<>

quote Originally posted by GARY TUCKER: Are they hard to install? what do you do to put them on? Do they go on top of or under parts already there?

If you are refering to the black caps, They just push over the cup washer thats on the top of the strut. If you are refering to the strut brace end brackets, They go under any existing engine grill brackets.

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Darrell Morse
Custom Fiero components

quote Originally posted by Boricuasoy: shouldnt the bar sit right in between the struts to actualy stiffen that area.

Not necessarily. Without getting into all of the engineering of it, the strut bar is what is called a "2 Force Member" since it's only connected at each end. As such, the shape of the bar has very little to do with it's strengthening ability.

Basically, if you have a strut attached at each end, if it's straight, curved, figure 8, it doesn't matter. The actual tension and compression act along the centerline between the two mounting points, not through the bar itself. You will get a slight twisting moment on the bar due to the offset of the bar, but since the offset is so small compared to the length of the bar, it should be minor.

i may have asked this before and forgotten, but have you ever tried having two arms going from the struts to the front firewall somewhere? i got one for a convertible that i haven't put on yet, and i'm thinking of trying to weld up tabs on the brace ends and a bar or something on the fire wall to connect arms to. not being on my regular job (for access to a welder) and not knowing how well it would clear another engine configuration if chosen has kept me from trying it.

quote Originally posted by morse86@aol.com: I origionaly thought that only 84 & 85s had this type of switch but I am begining to wonder. Does any one know the facts about this feature so I can update the instalation instructions. Thanks,

Darrell my Formula did not come with a trunk light or the pin switch, it is something I added. I took it off a 85 GT parts car I had! I do not know if any other years than the ones you mentioned came with them or not. But it will be no big deal to move.
Once again thanks !!

quote Originally posted by Philphine: i may have asked this before and forgotten, but have you ever tried having two arms going from the struts to the front firewall somewhere? i got one for a convertible that i haven't put on yet, and i'm thinking of trying to weld up tabs on the brace ends and a bar or something on the fire wall to connect arms to. not being on my regular job (for access to a welder) and not knowing how well it would clear another engine configuration if chosen has kept me from trying it.

When I was in the design phase of this brace a triangulated one was concidered. I went with the current "single bar" design because of a couple of resons. Most important was durring the design process it just didnt seem to make much differenc loading the strut towers front to back. The towers had more of a tendency to twist, not bend forward or backward. The second reason was the increased costs involved with more brakets and hardware, and also the possibility of having to drill any of those dreded holes ARGGGG!!!!!!
The extra bars would more than likely get in the way of doing routine maintenence like changing plugs etc. Another draw back was that what would fit one model might not fit another.
So, to keep the price within the typical Fiero owners hobby buget and still provide a product that works good I did have to make a few compromises. Hope this helps. Thanks,

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Darrell Morse
Custom Fiero components

In case any one is interested, I do have the strut bars available in different colors. Thanks, Darrell Morse