Re: Strut brace for 5KCSTQ!

[CondorK@aol.com]

      Well actually I just ordered a steel strut brace for my 5KTQ last week.
 The guy had an ad in EC way back...sold the first batch, then made a second
batch.  There were 5 left, so I didn't hesitate.  A friend of mine knows the
guy who made them....somewhere in New York, so he said he'd get me one.  It
supposedly comes in 3 pieces and he said he was going to paint the ends gray
and the bar bright red.  I said that would be fine.  I still have not found
out a price on it, even though I have ordered it (scarry, huh?), but I think
it will be somewhere around $300.  BTW, these are steel and custom made for
the 5000TQs.  I will find out more info when my friend calls back next week
with the price.  Then, I will find out the guys name and number, and whether
he plans on making them again any time soon. I have heard that the S4 strut
brace will work too with some slight modifications.  

         BTW, My friend, who ordered the bar for me, and is going to paint
it, told me that he has it on his car and it really gives the car a more
solid feel.  I also have a lead on a guy in N.Y. who will custom make larger
diameter sway bars for this car.  I will let y'all know when I get more info.
 Sorry, this is so vague for now....but I don't even know if that guy plans
on making any more bars in the future.  I will let him know there is a lot of
interest in them.  

        I think the stress bar will really help with front end stability.
 The one thing I noticed after upgrading  to Eric's struts is that body flex
seems to be more noticable.  I think a strut brace and wider sway bars will
solve this problem (although not easily, or cheaply).  

      And, finnally....I got a flat tire the other day.  Then I learned that
I left my lug nut wrench in the garage!  #$@^%^&!  Luckly I was only a couple
of miles from home, so I drove the car back home at 10 miles and hour on the
flat tire, and then had to put on the spare.  BTW, There is a hole the size
of my fist in the tire I destroyed.  Anyways, the spare is actually not too
bad.  It is a full-sized Continental, although quite a bit thinner.  The sad
part is that there is more tread on the spare than on my other three tires!
 Also I have learned that cornering really sucks with the spare!  Anyways,
now I will be forced to buy some new tires.  I think I will get a new set of
Dunlop D60 A2's this weekend.  BTW, how fast can you really go on a spare (it
says max of 50 MPH)?  




                                                                       Later,
                                                                          Dan