2nd Gen; Strut Tower Brace

[oldwino]

Here are the parts and pics for a 2nd gen. strut tower brace;

Purchased from gmpartsdirect.com;
Bar - 25768516 $56.31
RH bracket - 10360987 $12.18
LH bracket - 25768515 $12.18
Plus $18.07 S&H

Took about a month to get those and found that the bolts didn't come with them. Ordered the bolts from a local dealer.
The 4 bolts are; PN 11589401, $6.40 each + tax.

6 longer strut mount bolts are needed, due to the bracket thickness. These are PN 11513268, $1.60 each + tax at local dealer.



Installation;

1. Removed the rubber piece on each side that was covering the strut bolts.
2. Removed the 3 strut bolts(15mm socket) and put the bracket on and reinstall the 3 bolts finger tight only on each side.(May need to move the brackets around to get the bolts started through the bar. I did on the right side).





3. Place bar in brackets, start the 4 bolts(13mm socket) and tighten finger tight. (I had to remove the cap on the coolant reservoir to get the outside bolt into the right side bracket).



4. Retighten the 3 strut bolts on each side to 35 lb/ft. This spec is from the FSM. (EDIT; I plan on finding some new bolts that are about 5mm longer to maintain full thread contact. The bracket is almost 4mm thick.)
5. Tighten the 4 bracket bolts to (25)17 lb/ft.(I chose to use this torque as it seemed to be enough to me. If anyone knows the exact spec, please post it).
6. Reinstalled the rubber pieces on each side.



The clearance around the coolant and brake fluid reservoirs is good.





One more pic of the finished product;



Going for a drive to see if there's any handling improvement.

EDIT; Just got back from a drive to see the tax man. Steering response feels like it's definitely improved and maybe less roll when cornering. The car has a more solid feel to it. Worth it, IMHO.

[robaurora01]

alright thank you, my next upgrade after my repairs.

[scottydl]

Excellent! Added to the Performance "How To" thread at the top of the forum.

[kbpickle]

Torque spec for the four bolts: 17 ft-lbs, according to the 2005 Pontiac Bonneville Cross Vehicle Brace Replacement tech sheet that the dealer printed out for me.

[oldwino]

Mar 16, 2009 17:21:49 GMT -6 kbpickle said:

Torque spec for the four bolts: 17 ft-lbs, according to the 2005 Pontiac Bonneville Cross Vehicle Brace Replacement tech sheet that the dealer printed out for me.

Thanks. Glad I stopped when I did. Was only going to 20 originally, but didn't. Will modify original post to reflect the proper torque.

[Rocinante]

Thanks for the pictorial. Did you replace the bolts with the 5mm longer bolts?

Would you happen to know if the strut brace will fit on a second gen with the V6?

[oldwino]

I haven't replaced them yet. The current bolts are 10mm X 16mm. I found some grade 10.9 that are 10mm X 20mm and some grade 8.8 that are 10mm X 25mm. Will need to add flat washer and a lock washer to the new bolt as it's just a standard bolt and not exactly the same type as the current bolt, which had a wide flat on the head.

As for fitting a V6, I would think so, but don't know for sure. The bottom of the bar is about 1-1.5 inches below the top of the strut tower.

[Deleted]

what about a classic brace??? anyone heard of this

[kbpickle]

Yes, it fits my silver 2001 3.5L V-6, no bending, twisting, etc., but I can see it's pretty close to the brake reservoir (~3/8").

I don't know how much variation there might be from one 3.5L V-6 to another 3.5L V-6. On mine, it was only ~ 3/8" clearance, so it's probably worth it to be careful and to watch the brake reservoir during the install.

And you may want to find some clever way to check the hood clearance the first time you gently close the hood. I didn't check it, because I couldn't figure how to see through solid aluminum. I just closed the hood and hoped that it would be OK, since others had successfully installed the brace. I can report that there is an imprint of the brace in the insulation blanket on the underside of the hood - - so, again, it's close.

kbp

[oldwino]

Zach, see the Aurora Performance "how-to's" sticky at top of the thread.

Just to clarify why I think I need longer sturt mount bolts. Before I removed the 3 bolts, I reached up under the fender to feel where the bolt comes through the mount. Can't see it without jacking up the car and taking the wheel off. The bolt was all the way through the nut on the sturt mount and sticking out past the face of the nut.

After installing the bracket and tightening it down, I felt it again and the end of the bolt was just flush with the face of the nut. This probably means that I've lost maybe one thread of the thread contact area. I'm going to replace them to be on the safe side.

If anyone has a part # for a replacement, I'd appreciate it. The originals are 10mm X 16mm. A 10mm X 20mm would do the trick.

[robaurora01]

man I can't wait to do mine.....im painting it the same blue as my car tho first before install

[bojanks]

good work, i'm adding that to my list of upgrades as well. i hear ya rob, mine's in the shop right now, fixing a coolant leak, and searching for an oil leak. fun stuff.

[webenergy]

Great how to! Gee is your engine clean! Might be a good upgrade. Does the strut brace take away from and comfort or hit bumps harder?

[robaurora01]

lol rick like that matters to you and your 18 inch rims lol

[webenergy]

Details, details, lol!

[Aurora40]

Cool! What car do they come out of? Possibly you could order the strut bolts from that car, they'd presumably be longer.

[oldwino]

Mar 21, 2009 6:12:34 GMT -6 Aurora40 said:

Cool! What car do they come out of? Possibly you could order the strut bolts from that car, they'd presumably be longer.

I'd thought about that, but haven't been able to go by the local dealer yet to check. The car I used when ordering the parts was an '05 Bonneville GXP. The bolts I talked about in the earlier post where some that I'd found at work. The current bolts are grade 10.9.

As to the clearance issue, I double checked mine and it has a slight impression on the felt piece on the hood. The felt piece is about an inch thick in that area, so I don't think it will be a problem.

[oldwino]

Mar 20, 2009 16:45:18 GMT -6 webenergy said:

Great how to! Gee is your engine clean! Might be a good upgrade. Does the strut brace take away from and comfort or hit bumps harder?

Went on a 160 mile road trip yesterday to visit relatives in Cincinnati and didn't really notice any difference in the ride comfort. I think the main improvement is in the steering response and cornering.

[robaurora01]

I just went on a trip yesterday and I was surprised at the stock handling of the car she handled like a dream over something that I almost lost control of but do to the car itself it swerved amazingly and avoided the potential accident that might of happened.

[oldwino]

Finally got around to getting new longer strut mount bolts. The old bolts are 10X1.5X16mm and the new ones are 10X1.5X30mm. Was not able to find anything in between. Clearance is good underneath the mount plate in the wheel well.

GM part# is 11516328. $1.60@ +tax, 6 needed.

Thanks again to aurorabrain for his help with locating parts. Updated original post to add these bolts to parts list.

[robaurora01]

I almost forgot about doing this, next month or two it shall be done

[Custom88]

*cough*
aurorah.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Zoom&action=display&thread=10903&page=2#116507

The thing with me is that I didn't need to use different strut tower bolts. The stock Aurora ones seemed fine. I did however need the bolts that connected the bar to the brackets, which the original poster mentioned. . I can't believe it's been since 2005 that I installed that bar on my old Aurora. time flies!

[oldwino]

I didn't NEED to either but I didn't like the fact that they didn't go all the way thru the threaded portion of the strut mount plate with the brace bracket on. Rather be safe than sorry. One of the bracket part numbers changed since you did it, also.

[Custom88]

Awesome. Good info for the future definitely. . I"ll probably be doing this mod again eventually. I've already spent too much in the first week of ownership getting the 02' up to what I had done to the 01. lol.

[rejs1970]

ok i'll look for a bonneville. I'll also measure the distance between the shocks and looks for anything else that matches...
and by the way, i yanked off a sploiler from an intrege but left it there, i didn't want to walk back the the front to see if it woulda fit. I did lay it accross another 2nd gen that had the trunk already gone and it looked like it was a few inches wide. Anyone else have any luck on finding one that would fit the trunk and look ok. is it worth the trouble?
thanks

[robaurora01]

it has been done and looks decent by no means is it hideous

[awehlage]

Does anyone have an updated part number for the 6 strut tower bolts? The part number listed does not show up in any parts catalog. Thanks in advance!